Paycheck Calculator (US)

A paycheck calculator shows what actually reaches your bank account after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k) or HSA. Ours uses the 2026 federal tax brackets and standard deductions published by the IRS, the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500, the Additional Medicare Tax, and income tax rules for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from the nine states with no wage income tax to flat-tax and progressive states. Enter your pay as a yearly, monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly, weekly or hourly figure, choose your filing status and state, and see your take-home pay per year, per month and per paycheck as you type. It is an estimate, not tax advice, and it runs entirely in your browser.

How to use the US paycheck calculator

1. 1 Enter your gross payType your pay before taxes and choose whether it is per year, per month, semi-monthly, bi-weekly, weekly or hourly. For hourly pay, add your usual hours per week.
2. 2 Choose filing status and pay frequencyPick single, married filing jointly or head of household, and how often you are paid, so the per-paycheck column matches your pay stub.
3. 3 Pick your stateSelect the state where you live and work. States with no income tax show zero, and flat-tax and progressive states use their own rates and deductions.
4. 4 Add pre-tax deductionsEnter your 401(k) contribution as a percentage of pay, any HSA contribution and other pre-tax benefits such as health insurance premiums. Add children under 17 for the Child Tax Credit and an optional local tax rate.
5. 5 Read the breakdownCheck take-home pay per paycheck, the yearly, monthly and per-paycheck table, the bracket-by-bracket federal tax and the notes explaining each figure.

How federal income tax is estimated for 2026

Federal income tax is charged on taxable income, not on your full salary. The calculator starts with your gross pay, subtracts pre-tax deductions such as traditional 401(k) contributions, HSA contributions made through payroll and pre-tax health premiums, and then subtracts the standard deduction for your filing status. For 2026 the IRS standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,150 for heads of household. What is left is taxed in slices, with each slice taxed at its own rate.

The United States uses marginal tax brackets, so moving into a higher bracket only affects the part of your income inside that bracket. A single filer with $60,000 of salary and no other deductions has $43,900 of taxable income in 2026. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10% and the remaining $31,500 at 12%, giving federal income tax of $5,020, an effective rate of about 8.4% of gross pay even though the top bracket reached is 12%.

If you have children under 17 with Social Security numbers, the Child Tax Credit of up to $2,200 per child for 2026 reduces the tax itself rather than your taxable income. It phases out by $50 for each $1,000 of income above $200,000, or $400,000 for married couples filing jointly. The calculator applies it as your Form W-4 would, so it can reduce federal income tax withholding to zero but not below.

2026 federal income tax brackets

These are the 2026 rates and taxable income thresholds from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, which includes the changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The thresholds apply to taxable income, after the standard deduction:

• 10%: up to $12,400 single, $24,800 married filing jointly, $17,700 head of household.
• 12%: up to $50,400 single, $100,800 joint, $67,450 head of household.
• 22%: up to $105,700 single, $211,400 joint, $105,700 head of household.
• 24%: up to $201,775 single, $403,550 joint, $201,750 head of household.
• 32%: up to $256,225 single, $512,450 joint, $256,200 head of household.
• 35%: up to $640,600 single, $768,700 joint, $640,600 head of household.
• 37%: above those amounts.

Social Security and Medicare (FICA)

Payroll taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act are separate from income tax and are worked out on wages without the standard deduction. Employees pay 6.2% Social Security tax on wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, so the most anyone pays through one job is $11,439. Wages above that limit are free of Social Security tax for the rest of the calendar year, which is why high earners often see bigger paychecks late in the year.

Medicare tax is 1.45% of all wages with no cap. The Additional Medicare Tax adds 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single and head of household filers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly. Employers must start withholding it once your wages from that employer pass $200,000 in a year, whatever your filing status, and any difference is settled on your tax return. Your employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45%, but that does not come out of your pay, so it is not shown here.

Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce income tax but not FICA, so Social Security and Medicare are still charged on the money you defer. HSA contributions made through a cafeteria plan and pre-tax health, dental and vision premiums are normally exempt from both income tax and FICA, which the calculator reflects.

Pre-tax deductions: 401(k), HSA and benefits

Pre-tax deductions lower your taxable pay, so each dollar you contribute costs you less than a dollar of take-home pay. For 2026 the IRS limits are:

• 401(k), 403(b) and most 457 plans: $24,500 of employee elective deferrals, plus an $8,000 catch-up from age 50, or $11,250 for ages 60 to 63. The calculator caps your percentage at the limit for the age band you choose.
• Health savings account: $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus $1,000 catch-up from age 55. You need a qualifying high-deductible health plan to contribute.
• Roth 401(k) contributions come out after tax, so do not enter them as pre-tax. They do not lower this year's income tax.
• Health, dental and vision premiums deducted through a Section 125 cafeteria plan are usually pre-tax for income tax and FICA. Enter your yearly total in the other pre-tax deductions box.

State and local income taxes

Nine states do not tax wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Washington taxes some long-term capital gains and New Hampshire no longer taxes interest and dividends, but neither touches your paycheck. A growing group of states uses one flat rate, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Utah. The rest, plus Washington, D.C., use progressive brackets that work in the same way as the federal system.

Each state has its own standard deduction, personal exemptions and rules about which pre-tax deductions count. Pennsylvania, for example, taxes 401(k) contributions, while California and New Jersey tax HSA contributions. The calculator applies these where they matter for a typical employee and labels the year of the figures it uses. Where a state had not published its 2026 brackets when we last checked, the latest official year is used and shown next to the result.

Many cities, counties and school districts add their own income or wage tax, for example New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, most Ohio cities, Maryland and Indiana counties, and Pennsylvania local earned income taxes. Because these vary by address, the calculator has an optional local tax rate box rather than guessing. Check your city or county website, or a recent pay stub, for the right rate.

Limits of this estimate and sources

This is an estimate for an employee with the same pay all year and no other income. It does not include bonuses taxed at the supplemental rate, overtime and tip deductions, the senior deduction, itemized deductions, credits other than the Child Tax Credit, extra withholding from Form W-4 step 4(c), state tax credits, or the rounding used in real payroll software. Employers use IRS Publication 15-T withholding tables, which can differ from your final tax bill by a small amount. It is not tax advice; for your own situation, use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator or speak to a tax professional. Federal figures for 2026, last checked October 2026:

• IRS 2026 tax inflation adjustments (brackets and standard deduction): https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-releases-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2026-including-amendments-from-the-one-big-beautiful-bill
• IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
• Social Security wage base 2026: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html
• Social Security and Medicare withholding rates: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751
• 401(k) limits 2026: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500
• HSA limits 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-19): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf

Examples you can copy

Gross pay                        $60,000.00
Standard deduction  $16,100  ->  taxable $43,900
Federal income tax  10% x $12,400 + 12% x $31,500  -$5,020.00
Social Security 6.2%             -$3,720.00
Medicare 1.45%                   -$870.00
State income tax (Texas)          $0.00
Take-home pay                    $50,390.00
Per bi-weekly paycheck (26)       $1,938.08

Contribute $100 to a traditional 401(k) in the 22% bracket:
  federal income tax saved   = $22
  state tax saved (5% state) = $5
  FICA still charged         = $0 saved
  take-home pay goes down by about $73

Common mistakes to avoid

Frequently asked questions