Paycheck Calculator

How to Calculate Your Take-Home Pay

Take-home pay starts with gross wages — your annual salary divided by pay periods. From there, payroll subtracts pre-tax deductions (401(k), health insurance, HSA, FSA), then federal income tax, state income tax where applicable, local city tax in places like New York City or Ohio municipalities, and FICA (Social Security plus Medicare). What remains is net pay — the number that actually hits your bank account.

This paycheck calculator runs that math for all 50 states plus Washington DC using 2026 federal brackets, state rates, and common local taxes. Select your state, enter salary and filing status, and results update live. Compare your estimate to our salary calculator to see whether your gross offer is competitive before you accept. Expecting a bonus? Use our bonus tax calculator to estimate take-home before tax season.

Real payroll uses IRS Publication 15-T withholding tables and your W-4 — amounts may differ by a few dollars per check. Use this tool to budget and compare offers, not to file taxes.

What Gets Deducted From Your Paycheck

Every W-2 paycheck typically includes these line items. Order varies by employer payroll software.

Federal Tax Brackets for 2026 (Single & Married)

Federal income tax is progressive. See official federal tax brackets on IRS.gov. Taxable income is wages minus the standard deduction ($15,750 single / $31,500 married filing jointly in 2026).

Single filers

Married filing jointly

FICA Taxes Explained (Social Security + Medicare)

FICA funds Social Security and Medicare. Employees pay 6.2% Social Security on wages up to the annual wage base ($184,500 in 2026 per SSA). Medicare is 1.45% on all covered wages with no cap. High earners pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). Employers match the base Social Security and Medicare amounts, but not the 0.9% surtax.

FICA is calculated on wages after most pre-tax deductions. Sources: IRS Publication 15, SSA wage base.

Which States Have No Income Tax

Nine states do not tax wage income at the state level. You still pay federal tax and FICA everywhere.

• ✓ Alaska
• ✓ Florida
• ✓ Nevada
• ✓ New Hampshire
• ✓ South Dakota
• ✓ Tennessee
• ✓ Texas
• ✓ Washington
• ✓ Wyoming

Dedicated state pages: Texas paycheck calculator · Florida paycheck calculator. Convert hourly offers with our hourly to salary converter.

State Paycheck Calculators

Jump to a state-specific page or open the universal calculator with your state pre-selected.

How to Increase Your Take-Home Pay (5 Legal Ways)

1. Maximize pre-tax 401(k). Contributions reduce taxable wages and grow tax-deferred. Even 1–2% more can lower federal withholding while building retirement savings.
2. Use an HSA or FSA. Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts pay for medical or dependent care with pre-tax dollars. HSAs roll over; FSAs are use-it-or-lose-it but still cut taxable pay.
3. Tune your W-4. Large refunds mean you over-withheld all year. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator aligns federal withholding with your actual liability.
4. Negotiate gross salary. Every extra dollar of base pay compounds across your career. Use our salary calculator to anchor your ask with market data.
5. Level up your earning power. Build a stronger resume with our resume builder, then check fit with the job match score.

Paycheck Calculator Examples ($50K, $75K, $100K, $150K)

Biweekly net pay for a single Texas filer with zero dependents and no pre-tax deductions (no state income tax). Select your state in the calculator above for your exact numbers.

How Filing Status Changes Your Paycheck

Your W-4 filing status tells payroll how much federal income tax to withhold. Single filers use one set of brackets and the $15,750 standard deduction (2026). Married filing jointly combines income across wider brackets with a $31,500 standard deduction — usually lower withholding per spouse than two single filers at half the household income. Head of household sits between single and married rates and requires that you pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying person.

Married filing separately rarely saves money unless you have a specific reason (student loan IDR plans, separated spouses, etc.). Dependents under 17 reduce federal tax through the child tax credit — modeled in this calculator — but payroll may not reflect credits until you file if your W-4 is stale. Update your W-4 after major life events: marriage, divorce, new baby, second job, or large itemized deductions.

State filing status usually follows federal, but a few states have different rules. This calculator applies the same filing status you select to both federal and state estimates for consistency.

Gross Pay vs Net Pay on Job Applications

Recruiters and ATS forms ask for gross annual salary — the number on your offer letter before taxes. Banks and landlords often care about net pay because that is what covers rent. Confusing the two is one of the most common budgeting mistakes new hires make. If a posting says $65,000 and you are in California, your biweekly deposit might land near $1,850 after tax, not $2,500 ($65,000 ÷ 26).

When comparing offers, run both through this calculator with the correct state. A $70,000 offer in Florida can net more than $75,000 in New York once state and city tax hit. Cost of living still matters — Florida housing and insurance are not free — but take-home is the right starting point for monthly budget math.

Hourly workers can annualize first (rate × hours × weeks), then calculate net. If you need the reverse, use our hourly to salary converter before running take-home math.

Why Your Paycheck Changes by State

Two people earning $80,000 gross can take home wildly different amounts depending on state and city. A software engineer in Austin keeps more than the same salary in San Francisco because Texas has no state income tax. A nurse in Columbus, Ohio pays both state tax and a city occupational tax that a nurse in Nashville does not. Remote workers should confirm where wages are sourced — some employers withhold based on office location, others on residence.

Pay frequency also changes per-check amounts without changing annual gross. Biweekly pay divides salary by 26; semi-monthly divides by 24. Two paychecks per month on semi-monthly is not the same as every-two-weeks biweekly — you get two extra biweekly checks per year. Budget in net per period, not annual divided by 12, unless you are actually paid monthly.

Use this calculator when comparing offers across states, negotiating relocation, or sanity-checking your first pay stub at a new job. Pair it with the hourly to salary converter if the posting quotes hourly and the application wants annual pay.

Methodology

Federal income tax uses 2026 IRS inflation-adjusted brackets and standard deductions, minus the child tax credit ($2,000 per dependent under 17). State tax uses each state's 2026 flat rate or progressive brackets from state Department of Revenue publications. Local taxes apply when you select NYC, Ohio city, or Philadelphia options. FICA follows IRS Publication 15. We update rates annually — verify against your pay stub and a CPA before making tax decisions.

This is a budgeting estimate, not payroll withholding software. Employers use IRS Pub 15-T tables which can differ slightly from annual bracket math.