Paycheck calculator

How to use the paycheck calculator

1. 1Pick the state you work in. If you live in a different state, see the FAQ on working across state lines.
2. 2Choose salary or hourly. For hourly pay, enter your rate, regular hours per week and any overtime hours, which are paid at 1.5 times your rate.
3. 3Choose how often you are paid: weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, monthly or once a year.
4. 4Copy your Form W-4: filing status, the Step 2 box if you have more than one job or your spouse works, and children and other dependents from Step 3.
5. 5Add pre-tax deductions: a traditional 401(k) as a percentage of pay and health insurance premiums per paycheck.
6. 6If your city or county taxes wages, enter its rate. Open "More W-4 options" for other income, extra deductions or extra withholding.
7. 7Read your take-home pay per paycheck, each deduction, your take-home pay for the year and your effective tax rate.

How take-home pay is worked out

Your employer starts from gross pay, takes out pre-tax deductions, then withholds taxes from what is left. Pre-tax 401(k) contributions lower your federal and (in almost every state) state income tax, but not Social Security or Medicare. Pre-tax health insurance premiums lower all of them.

Taxes withheld from a typical paycheck are federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax (in 41 states and DC), and in some states payroll contributions for disability or paid family leave. A few cities and counties add a local income tax.

Take-home pay = Gross pay − 401(k) − pre-tax health − federal income tax − Social Security − Medicare − state income tax − state payroll deductions − local tax

Federal income tax withholding in 2026

Employers use the IRS percentage method in Publication 15-T. They multiply one paycheck by the number of pay periods to get a yearly figure, subtract an allowance for the standard deduction, run it through the 2026 withholding schedule for your filing status, take off the credits from Step 3 of your W-4, divide by the number of pay periods again and add any extra you asked for in Step 4(c).

For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $24,150 for heads of household and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and the brackets run from 10% to 37%. On the W-4, each child under 17 is worth $2,200 and each other dependent $500 of credit.

Checking the Step 2 box tells your employer to use schedules with half the standard deduction and half-width brackets. Use it when you have two jobs or both spouses work, so that together the jobs withhold about the right amount.

Federal withholding per paycheck = (Tax on (annual wages − standard deduction allowance) − W-4 credits) ÷ pay periods + extra withholding

Social Security and Medicare (FICA)

Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, so the most anyone pays is $11,439. Above that, it stops for the rest of the year. Medicare takes 1.45% of all wages, and employers withhold an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000.

Your employer pays the same 6.2% and 1.45% again on top of your pay. That cost does not come out of your paycheck, but it is part of what you cost to employ.

Social Security = 6.2% × wages (to $184,500) Medicare = 1.45% × wages + 0.9% × wages over $200,000

State income tax and state payroll deductions

Nine states do not tax wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Fifteen tax income at one flat rate, from 2.5% in Arizona to 5.3% in Idaho, and the rest use brackets, with top rates from 2.5% in North Dakota to 13.3% in California.

Several states also take payroll contributions from employees: California SDI (1.3% in 2026), New York disability and Paid Family Leave, New Jersey unemployment, disability and family leave insurance, Washington's WA Cares and paid leave premiums, and paid leave programs in Massachusetts, Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Minnesota and Rhode Island. They are included automatically when you pick the state.

State tax here is an estimate of what you owe for the year on these wages, using each state's 2026 brackets, deductions and credits. States publish their own withholding tables, which can withhold a little more or less than that. Each state page lists the brackets, deductions and sources used.

Paycheck, frequency and the year

The same salary gives different paychecks depending on how often you are paid: $60,000 is $2,307.69 every two weeks (26 paychecks) but $2,500 twice a month (24 paychecks). Take-home pay for the year is the same either way.

The calculator assumes the same pay every period. If you earn above the Social Security wage base, your real paychecks have Social Security taken out until you reach $184,500 and none after, so late-year paychecks are bigger; the yearly total matches.

Withholding is not your final tax

Withholding is an advance payment towards your income tax. Your actual tax is settled when you file, and depends on all your income, deductions and credits for the year, including ones your employer never sees. A refund means too much was withheld; a bill means too little.

If you expect a large refund or bill, use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator and give your employer a new Form W-4. This calculator is an estimate for planning, not payroll or tax advice.

Worked example

A single worker in Texas earns a $60,000 salary, paid every two weeks, with a standard W-4 and no pre-tax deductions.

Federal withholding comes from the 2026 single schedule: $60,000 less the $8,600 allowance is $51,400, and the tax on that is $1,240 plus 12% of $31,500, or $5,020 a year. The same job in California takes home about $1,846.93 per paycheck after $61.14 of state income tax and $30.00 of SDI.

Frequently asked questions