Take-Home Pay Calculator
By Baolin Gong, AFP · Founder, USFinCalc · Reviewed against primary sources (IRS, SSA, state revenue authorities).
Your take-home pay is your gross salary minus federal income tax, FICA taxes, and state income tax. FICA alone takes 7.65% of wages — 6.2% for Social Security up to the annual wage cap, plus 1.45% for Medicare. What remains after federal, FICA, and state tax is your net paycheck, which this calculator estimates for all 50 states using 2026 brackets.
See your real paycheck after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state income tax — for all 50 states, using 2026 brackets.
Where your pay goes
Your annual gross pay split into take-home pay and each deduction — federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state tax, and pre-tax 401(k). The green slice is what actually lands in your account.
How this paycheck calculator works
Your gross salary is never what lands in your bank account. This calculator estimates your real take-home pay by subtracting the four things that come out of nearly every American paycheck: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and — in most states — state income tax. If you contribute to a traditional 401(k), that comes out before income tax too, which lowers your taxable income.
Federal income tax is calculated on a progressive basis using the 2026 brackets, after subtracting the standard deduction and any pre-tax 401(k) contribution. Social Security is withheld at 6.2% up to the annual wage base, and Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, with an extra 0.9% on high earnings. State income tax is then applied using your state's rate structure.
Key terms explained
Gross vs. net pay. Gross is your salary before any deductions. Net — your take-home pay — is what remains after taxes and pre-tax benefits.
Federal income tax. Charged in brackets: only the income within each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate, so a raise never costs you money overall. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly.
FICA (Social Security + Medicare). A flat payroll tax. Social Security applies only up to the wage base ($184,500 in 2026); earnings above that are not subject to the 6.2%. Medicare has no cap, and high earners pay an additional 0.9% above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married).
State income tax. Varies widely. Nine states levy none at all; others use a flat rate or progressive brackets. Our state figures are simplified estimates and exclude local city taxes and state-specific credits.
2026 take-home pay reference
Where you live can change your take-home pay by thousands of dollars a year on the same salary. A six-figure earner in Texas or Florida keeps noticeably more than the same earner in California or New York, simply because of state income tax. If you are weighing a job offer in another state, run both states here to see the real difference.
Once you know your net pay, the common next question is how much house or car you can afford. Pair this with our mortgage calculator to keep your housing cost in line with take-home pay, and our retirement calculator to see how much to set aside. Always confirm your exact withholding with your employer and a tax professional.
Worked example: $100,000 in five different states
To see how much geography matters, take a single filer earning $100,000 with no 401(k) contribution. Federal tax and FICA are identical everywhere: about $13,170 in federal income tax (2026 brackets, after the $16,100 standard deduction), $6,200 in Social Security, and $1,450 in Medicare. What changes is the state line — and it moves take-home pay by nearly $500 a month between the extremes:
| State | State income tax | Annual take-home | Monthly take-home | Effective total tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas (no income tax) | $0 | $79,180 | $6,598 | 20.8% |
| Pennsylvania (3.07% flat) | $3,070 | $76,110 | $6,342 | 23.9% |
| Colorado (4.4% flat) | $4,400 | $74,780 | $6,232 | 25.2% |
| New York (progressive) | $5,432 | $73,748 | $6,146 | 26.3% |
| California (progressive) | $5,953 | $73,227 | $6,102 | 26.8% |
Figures use this calculator's simplified state model (no local taxes or state-specific deductions) — run your own state above for a personalized estimate. The Texas-versus-California gap here is $5,953 a year on the same salary. That is real money, but notice it is smaller than the roughly $20,820 that federal tax and FICA take everywhere: state tax matters at the margin, while federal obligations dominate the total. Cost-of-living differences — especially housing — often outweigh the state-tax gap entirely, which is why pairing this number with the home affordability calculator gives a fuller relocation picture.
One more lever worth testing: switch the 401(k) field from 0% to 10% and watch the federal and state lines drop while FICA stays fixed. On this $100,000 example, a 10% traditional contribution cuts taxable income by $10,000, saving roughly $2,200 in federal tax at the 22% bracket — meaning the $10,000 you set aside only shrinks your paycheck by about $7,300 in a no-tax state, and less still where state tax applies.
Common paycheck surprises
The mid-year Social Security bump. If you earn above the $184,500 wage base, the 6.2% Social Security deduction stops partway through the year — and your take-home pay suddenly rises. It isn't a raise; the same amount resumes every January.
Bonuses withheld at a flat rate. Employers typically withhold 22% federal on bonuses regardless of your bracket. If your marginal rate is higher, you'll owe the difference at filing — the same trap that hits RSU income, and worth planning for in a bonus-heavy year.
Two jobs, one standard deduction. Each employer withholds as if theirs is your only income, so dual-income households and job-switchers often discover both employers applied the low brackets. The IRS W-4 has a checkbox for exactly this — use it if your household has more than one paycheck.