This paycheck calculator shows how much of your pay you actually take home. Enter an annual salary or an hourly wage, how often you are paid and your filing status, and it works out federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state tax and any 401(k) or benefit deductions for each paycheck, using the 2026 tax brackets.
How take-home pay is calculated
- Gross pay is your salary, or your hourly wage × hours × 52 weeks, divided by the number of paychecks.
- Pre-tax deductions come out first. A traditional 401(k) lowers the pay that federal income tax is charged on; health insurance and other cafeteria-plan benefits also lower the pay that Social Security and Medicare are charged on.
- Federal income tax is worked out on yearly pay minus the standard deduction, using the 2026 brackets, then reduced by the child tax credit.
- FICA is 6.2% for Social Security (on the first $184,500 of 2026 wages) plus 1.45% for Medicare, and an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages over $200,000.
- Take-home pay is what is left after all of these and any after-tax deductions.
2026 federal tax brackets
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $0 – $24,800 |
| 12% | $12,401 – $50,400 | $24,801 – $100,800 |
| 22% | $50,401 – $105,700 | $100,801 – $211,400 |
| 24% | $105,701 – $201,775 | $211,401 – $403,550 |
| 32% | $201,776 – $256,225 | $403,551 – $512,450 |
| 35% | $256,226 – $640,600 | $512,451 – $768,700 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 | Over $768,700 |
The brackets apply to taxable income, after the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,150 for heads of household. Only the part of your income inside each bracket is taxed at that rate, so moving into a higher bracket never lowers your take-home pay.
Example: $60,000 a year, single, paid every two weeks
Taxable income is $60,000 − $16,100 = $43,900. Federal tax is 10% of the first $12,400 ($1,240) plus 12% of the remaining $31,500 ($3,780), or $5,020 a year. Social Security is $3,720 and Medicare $870. That leaves about $50,390 a year, or $1,938 per paycheck, before any state tax or deductions.
What the calculator doesn’t include
- State tax is a single flat rate you enter. Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and New Hampshire have no state tax on wages, so leave it at 0 there.
- Tips and overtime deductions: for 2025 to 2028 you can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips and up to $12,500 of the extra “half” of overtime pay ($25,000 if married filing jointly) on your tax return. They lower income tax, not Social Security or Medicare, and are claimed when you file, so they show up as a bigger refund rather than in each paycheck.
- Extra W-4 settings such as a second job or extra withholding per paycheck.
For a full walk-through with tables for every filing status, read how much tax is taken out of a paycheck in 2026. To convert a salary to an hourly wage first, use the salary to hourly calculator, and to total the hours on your timesheet, the time card calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my paycheck different from the calculator?
Employers use the IRS withholding tables and your exact W-4 answers, and may take out benefits, union dues or local taxes the calculator doesn’t know about. Results are usually within a few dollars per paycheck if you enter the same deductions.
Does a 401(k) contribution lower my taxes?
A traditional 401(k) lowers your federal income tax and, in most states, state income tax. It does not lower Social Security or Medicare. A Roth 401(k) is taken out after tax, so enter it as an after-tax deduction.
What is FICA on a paycheck?
FICA is Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%), 7.65% in total. Your employer pays the same amount again on top of your pay.
Biweekly or twice a month: which paycheck is bigger?
Twice-a-month pay comes 24 times a year, so each check is slightly larger than a biweekly check, which comes 26 times a year. Your yearly pay is the same.