What's my actual take-home pay?
Free paycheck calculator for all 50 US states. Enter your gross pay, filing status, and state — see your exact take-home pay after federal tax, state tax, Social Security, and Medicare. No sign-up. No paywall.
Your paycheck
Update any field — the result updates instantly.
Before taxes and deductions
Pay frequency
Annual take-home
California$58,589
That's 78.1% of your gross — the rest goes to federal, state, Social Security, and Medicare.
Where your money goes
- Annual gross pay$75,000
- Federal income tax−$7,670
- California state tax−$3,004
- Social Security (6.2%)−$4,650
- Medicare (1.45%)−$1,088
- Annual take-home$58,589
Effective rate
21.9%
Top federal bracket
22.0%
Total tax
$16,411
AI Analysis
How this paycheck calculator works
Your paycheck looks one way on the offer letter and a very different way when it hits your bank account. That gap is the four taxes the federal government and your state take out before you ever see the money: federal income tax, state income tax (where applicable), Social Security at 6.2%, and Medicare at 1.45%. This calculator runs all four at once for the 2026 tax year and tells you what actually lands in your account.
We use current IRS tax brackets, the 2026Social Security wage base, and your state's actual tax structure. Nine US states have no state income tax at all— Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Washington, and New Hampshire. If you live in one of those, the state line in your result simply won't appear.
What counts as "gross pay"
Gross pay is what you earn before any deductions. If you're salaried, it's your annual salary divided by your pay frequency (26 paychecks for biweekly, 12 for monthly, etc). If you're hourly, it's your wage times the hours worked in that pay period. Bonuses, commissions, and overtime are all gross income too — though many employers withhold a flat 22% on supplemental wages, which can over- or under-shoot your actual rate.
Pre-tax deductions reduce your taxable income
Contributions to a traditional 401(k), an HSA, and your portion of employer health insurance premiums all come out of your check beforefederal income tax is calculated. That's why a $100,000 salary with a 10% 401(k) contribution pays federal tax on roughly $90,000, not $100,000. (Note: 401(k) money is still subject to Social Security and Medicare — it's only income-tax-deferred.) Our calculator accounts for this when you expand the "Add pre-tax deductions" section.
Why your result might differ from your actual paycheck
Two big things this calculator doesn't (yet) account for:
- Local income taxes. A handful of US cities — most notably New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and parts of Ohio and Indiana — impose their own income tax on top of federal and state. We'll add city-level support in a future update.
- Withholding vs. actual tax owed.Your employer withholds tax based on your W-4 form, which is a guess at what you'll owe. The actual number gets reconciled when you file your return. This calculator shows the actual tax you'd owe — which is usually pretty close to what's withheld, but not always identical.
Sources
Federal brackets and standard deduction figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (the 2026 inflation adjustments). FICA wage base and rates from the SSA contribution and benefit base table. State income tax rates sourced from each state's department of revenue — see our methodology page for the full list.
Frequently asked questions
How is take-home pay calculated?
Take-home pay = gross pay − federal income tax − state income tax − Social Security (6.2%) − Medicare (1.45%) − any pre-tax deductions like 401(k), HSA, or health insurance. Federal and state tax are calculated using progressive brackets, meaning different portions of your income are taxed at different rates.
What's the Social Security wage base for 2026?
The Social Security wage base for 2026 is approximately $184,500. Earnings above that aren't subject to Social Security tax (the 6.2%), though Medicare tax (1.45%) continues on all wages with no cap.
What is the additional Medicare tax?
High earners pay an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). It's on top of the standard 1.45%, making the effective Medicare rate 2.35% above the threshold. Unlike the standard 1.45%, your employer doesn't match this portion.
Why is my federal tax higher (or lower) than I expected?
The most common reason is the standard deduction. For 2026, single filers automatically reduce their taxable income by $16,100 before brackets are applied, and married-filing-jointly couples reduce theirs by $32,200. So a $75,000 single filer is paying federal tax on roughly $58,900 — and most of that gets taxed at 10% and 12%, not the 22% headline rate.
Does this calculator account for tax credits?
Not in this version. Tax credits like the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Credit directly reduce your tax bill but depend on family situation outside the scope of a quick paycheck calculator. The result here is your baseline tax obligation; credits would reduce it further.
Is this the same as a W-2 vs. 1099 calculation?
No — this calculator is for W-2 employees. If you're a freelancer or independent contractor receiving a 1099, try our 1099 Tax Calculator instead, which accounts for self-employment tax (the full 15.3% you owe since no employer is paying half of FICA for you).