US Paycheck Calculator — Your Take-Home Pay (2026)

From gross salary to take-home pay

Three things stand between your salary and your bank account: federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA (Social Security and Medicare). This calculator estimates each for 2026 and shows your net pay at whatever frequency you're paid.

How take-home pay is calculated in the US

Take-home pay is simply your gross salary minus everything that comes out before the money reaches you. It helps to think of it as a short subtraction that happens in a set order:

• Start with gross pay — your total salary before anything is withheld.
• Subtract pre-tax deductions — items like a traditional 401(k) contribution come out first and lower the income that is taxed.
• Subtract federal income tax — calculated on your taxable income using progressive brackets, so different slices of income are taxed at different rates.
• Subtract state income tax — this depends entirely on where you live, and in several states it is zero.
• Subtract FICA — Social Security and Medicare, which are withheld from wages separately from income tax.

Whatever is left is your net, or take-home, pay. The calculator above runs this same sequence and then divides the yearly result by your chosen pay frequency, so you can see the figure the way you actually receive it.

What each input means

Each field on the calculator maps to one part of that subtraction. Here is what to enter and why it matters:

• Annual gross salary — your total yearly pay before any tax or deduction. This is the starting point for every other line.
• Filing status — Single, Married filing jointly, or Head of household. Your status affects the standard deduction and the income bands used for federal tax, which is why the same salary can produce different results.
• State — where you live and work for tax purposes. This sets the state income tax line; some states apply no income tax at all.
• Show pay — the frequency you want the answer in: per year, per month, bi-weekly, or per week. This changes only how the yearly total is displayed, not the tax owed.
• 401(k) contribution (annual) — how much you put into a traditional workplace retirement plan in a year. Because it is pre-tax, it reduces the income that federal and state tax are calculated on.

Worked example

Here is an illustrative walk-through using round, hypothetical numbers to show the order of the math. These figures are an example only and are not tax rates — your real result depends on current rules and your own inputs.

Suppose someone earns $75,000 gross in an example state and contributes $5,000 to a traditional 401(k):

• Gross pay: $75,000.
• Subtract the $5,000 pre-tax 401(k): $70,000 now remains as the income that gets taxed.
• Suppose federal income tax on that amount works out to about $8,000 in this example — that is deducted next.
• Suppose state income tax in this example state comes to about $2,500 — deducted after federal.
• FICA (Social Security and Medicare) is withheld on the wages as well; imagine roughly $5,700 in this example.

Adding those deductions ($8,000 + $2,500 + $5,700 = $16,200) and subtracting from the $70,000 leaves about $53,800 in annual take-home pay, or roughly $4,480 a month. Again, every number here is invented to show the steps — enter your own salary above for a real estimate.

What gets withheld

Four things are typically withheld from a US paycheck:

• Federal income tax — the largest deduction for most people, based on your taxable income and filing status.
• State income tax — varies by state; a handful of states levy none.
• Social Security — part of FICA, funding retirement and disability benefits.
• Medicare — the other part of FICA, funding health coverage for older Americans.

Your own paycheck may also include employer benefit costs such as health insurance premiums or additional retirement contributions, which this calculator does not attempt to model.

FICA

FICA is 6.2% for Social Security up to the annual wage base, plus 1.45% for Medicare on all wages (with an extra 0.9% for high earners). It's separate from income tax and doesn't depend on deductions, so it comes off even relatively low paychecks.

Gross vs net pay

Gross pay is the headline number in a job offer — your salary before anything is taken out. Net pay is what actually lands in your account after tax and other withholding. The gap between the two is often larger than people expect, which is why budgeting from your gross salary can leave you short. Whenever you plan spending, saving, or a loan payment, use your net figure.

Pre-tax vs post-tax deductions

Deductions come in two flavors. Pre-tax deductions, like a traditional 401(k) contribution or many health premiums, come out before income tax is calculated, so they lower your taxable income and reduce the tax you owe now. Post-tax deductions, like a Roth 401(k) contribution or wage garnishments, come out after tax is calculated, so they do not reduce your tax bill. The calculator's 401(k) field is treated as pre-tax.

The 401(k) lever

A traditional 401(k) contribution is pre-tax: it lowers your taxable income, so you owe less federal and state tax now. Enter an amount above to see the effect. Note FICA still applies to 401(k) contributions, so those don't change.

No-income-tax states

If you live in a state with no income tax — like Texas, Florida or Washington — your state line is zero, which noticeably boosts take-home compared with a high-tax state at the same salary.

Why your paychecks get bigger later in the year

Most US pay calculators divide your annual figures by the number of pay periods and show one flat number. Real paychecks aren't flat, because Social Security stops being withheld once you pass the annual wage base, while Medicare never stops.

Payroll tax	Rate on your pay	Does it stop?
Social Security	6.2%	Yes — once year-to-date wages pass the annual wage base
Medicare	1.45%	No — every dollar, all year
Additional Medicare	+0.9%	Starts above $200,000 of wages

If you earn below the wage base, 7.65% comes off every cheque and your take-home is level all year. If you earn above it, the 6.2% switches off partway through and every remaining paycheque is about 6% larger. Someone well into six figures can see their net pay step up in the autumn and step back down in January, with no change to their salary at all.

Two knock-on effects are worth planning around. A bonus paid late in the year may escape Social Security entirely if you have already crossed the base, making it worth more net than the same bonus in March. And if you change employer mid-year, the new employer restarts your wage base from zero — you can over-pay Social Security across two jobs, which you reclaim as a credit when you file.

How your pay frequency changes each cheque

Annual take-home is the same however often you are paid, but the individual cheque is not, and the two schedules people mix up behave differently:

• Bi-weekly (26 per year) — every two weeks. Because 26 fortnights is slightly more than 12 months, two months each year contain three paydays instead of two.
• Semi-monthly (24 per year) — twice a month, usually the 15th and the last day. Always two per month, but the cheque is larger and the gap between them varies from 13 to 16 days.

On the same salary a bi-weekly cheque is roughly 8% smaller than a semi-monthly one — you simply receive two more of them. Budgeting monthly on a bi-weekly schedule is where people get caught: if you plan around two cheques a month, the two three-cheque months feel like a windfall and the other ten feel tight, when nothing has actually changed.

Sources. Federal withholding brackets and FICA rates come from the IRS; the Social Security wage base is set annually by the SSA. State tax here is a representative estimate, not your state's full schedule.
IRS — federal income tax rates and brackets · IRS — Social Security and Medicare withholding rates · Social Security Administration — contribution and benefit base

Frequently asked questions

What is take-home pay?

Take-home pay, also called net pay, is the amount that actually reaches your bank account after all deductions are taken from your gross salary. These deductions include federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and often state tax and benefit contributions. This calculator estimates your net pay from your gross figure.

What gets deducted from my US paycheck?

The main deductions are federal income tax, Social Security tax (6.2%), and Medicare tax (1.45%), collectively known as FICA. Depending on your state and employer, you may also have state income tax, health insurance premiums and retirement contributions taken out.

How much of my paycheck goes to taxes?

It varies with your income and state, but for many workers a meaningful share of gross pay goes to combined federal tax, FICA and state tax. Higher earners lose a larger percentage because of progressive tax brackets. This calculator shows your specific breakdown rather than a rough average.

Why is my take-home pay lower than expected?

Most people underestimate deductions because they think only of income tax and forget Social Security, Medicare, and any benefit or retirement contributions. Together these can reduce a paycheck noticeably. Seeing the full breakdown helps you budget from your real net figure, not your gross salary.

Does the pay frequency I choose change my tax?

No. The frequency setting only changes how the yearly result is displayed — per year, per month, bi-weekly, or per week. Your total tax for the year is the same either way; the tool simply divides the annual figure so you can see it the way you are paid.

Why does my state matter so much?

State income tax is set independently by each state, and rates range from zero to double digits. Two people with identical salaries and federal tax can take home noticeably different amounts purely because of where they live, which is why the state field can swing the result.

Does a 401(k) contribution increase my take-home pay?

A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers the income tax you owe, but the money still leaves your paycheck and goes into your retirement account, so your immediate take-home pay is lower — you are saving it, not spending it. The benefit is lower tax now and money invested for later, not a bigger paycheck today.

How can I see just my income tax?

If you want to isolate the federal income tax portion, use our US income tax calculator, which focuses on the tax brackets alone.

This calculator provides estimates for general information only and is not financial or tax advice. See our disclaimer.