Paycheck Calculator
See what actually lands in your account: gross pay in, federal tax, FICA and deductions out.
401(k), HSA, pre-tax premiums.
Leave at 0 in the nine states with no wage income tax.
W-4 step 4(c), if you use it.
Take-home per paycheck
$2,092.60
Take-home per year
$54,408
| Item | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,500.00 | $65,000 |
| Federal income tax(12.0% marginal bracket) | -$216.15 | -$5,620 |
| Social Security(6.2% up to the wage base) | -$155.00 | -$4,030 |
| Medicare(1.45%, no cap) | -$36.25 | -$943 |
| Take-home pay | $2,092.60 | $54,408 |
- Federal marginal bracket
- 12.0%
- All tax as % of gross
- 16.3%
- Standard deduction used
- $16,100
Those two percentages measure different things, so the second is often the larger: the bracket is federal income tax only, while the second figure includes Social Security, Medicare and any state tax you entered.
How this estimates. Tax year 2026 brackets and standard deduction from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. It annualises your pay and applies the standard deduction, which is how your yearly liability works out — your employer instead withholds using the W-4 percentage method, so an individual paycheck can differ. It assumes the standard deduction rather than itemising, and no credits.
State tax is a flat rate you supply, because the fifty states differ far too much to model — brackets, local taxes and different definitions of income. The nine states with no wage income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. Married filing separately is not offered because its published brackets are not part of the source table, and halving the joint figures is wrong at the top of the scale.
Note that pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) cut your income tax but not Social Security or Medicare — those are charged on gross wages. This is an estimate, not tax advice.
How it works
- Pick how often you are paid and enter your gross pay for that period.
- Choose your filing status, then add any pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k) contribution.
- Enter your state income tax rate — leave it at zero in the nine states with no wage tax — and read the breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does this differ from the amount on my actual payslip?
- Because your employer withholds using the IRS percentage method driven by your W-4, which is designed to land near the right total across the year rather than to be exact each period. This calculator instead annualises your pay and works out the yearly liability, then divides it. The annual figures should be close; a single paycheck can differ, particularly if your hours vary, you had a bonus, or your W-4 claims dependents or other adjustments.
- Does a 401(k) contribution reduce all my taxes?
- No, and this is the detail most people get wrong. Pre-tax contributions reduce your taxable income for income tax, but Social Security and Medicare are charged on gross wages regardless. So a 401(k) deferral saves you income tax at your marginal rate and saves nothing on the 7.65% FICA. The calculator models it that way.
- Why is my total tax percentage higher than my tax bracket?
- Because they measure different things. Your bracket is the federal income tax rate on your last dollar of taxable income. The percentage of gross figure includes Social Security, Medicare and state tax, and it is measured against gross pay rather than taxable income. Someone in the 12% bracket routinely loses over 20% of gross once FICA and state tax are counted.
- How is state tax handled?
- As a flat rate you enter, because the states genuinely cannot be modelled in one box — some have brackets, some are flat, some add city or county taxes, and they disagree about what counts as income. Nine states levy no income tax on wages at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Leave the field at zero there.
- Why is married filing separately missing?
- Because its bracket thresholds are not in the source table used here, and deriving them by halving the joint figures is wrong at the upper end. Offering three filing statuses that are right is better than four with one quietly invented.
- Are Social Security and Medicare capped?
- Social Security is: it applies at 6.2% only up to the annual wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026, so the most an employee pays is $11,439. Medicare has no cap — 1.45% on every dollar — plus an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers. All three are reflected here.
About this tool
The gap between your salary and your bank balance is made of four things: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and whatever your state takes. This calculator shows all of them, per paycheck and per year, using the 2026 brackets and standard deduction — so you can sanity-check an offer, plan around a raise, or work out whether a 401(k) increase is affordable.
It is worth understanding what the numbers mean. Federal income tax is progressive: your bracket applies only to the portion of taxable income inside it, which is why your effective rate is always lower than your bracket. FICA works differently and catches people out — Social Security is a flat 6.2% but stops at the wage base ($184,500 in 2026), while Medicare is 1.45% on everything with an extra 0.9% for high earners. Together those two mean even a low earner in the 10% bracket loses a fixed 7.65% before income tax is considered.
The pre-tax deduction field models the interaction that catches almost everyone: a 401(k), HSA or pre-tax insurance premium reduces the income your federal tax is calculated on, but Social Security and Medicare are still charged on your full gross wages. A $10,000 contribution therefore saves you income tax at your marginal rate and saves nothing at all on FICA. Seeing both columns move — or not move — makes the trade concrete.
Two limits, stated plainly. This estimates your annual liability rather than reproducing your employer’s withholding: employers use the W-4 percentage method, which aims to be roughly right over the year, so a single payslip can differ from the per-paycheck figure here. And state tax is a flat rate you supply, because fifty different systems with their own brackets, local add-ons and definitions of income cannot be reduced to one honest default. Brackets come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and are reviewed annually. This is an estimate, not tax advice.