How your paycheck is calculated
Your employer starts with gross pay for the period, subtracts pre-tax deductions, then withholds several taxes. This calculator follows the same order using 2026 figures.
- Pre-tax deductions. Traditional 401(k) contributions and payroll-deducted health premiums reduce taxable wages.
- Social Security. 6.2% of wages up to $184,500.
- Medicare. 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000.
- Federal income tax. The standard deduction is subtracted, then the result is taxed through the progressive brackets.
- State income tax. A flat percentage of wages in flat-tax states, or nothing in states without a wage income tax.
The formulas, and what every variable means
take-home = gross − pre-tax deductions − Social Security − Medicare − federal tax − state tax
| Part | Formula | What the terms mean |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-tax deductions | gross × 401(k) % + other pre-tax | Money moved to a traditional 401(k), HSA or health plan before income tax is figured |
| Social Security | min(wages, $184,500) × 6.2% | Wages are gross pay minus payroll-deducted health premiums. $184,500 is the 2026 wage base: earnings above it are not taxed for Social Security. |
| Medicare | wages × 1.45%, plus 0.9% of wages over $200,000 | No cap. The extra 0.9% is the Additional Medicare Tax. |
| Federal income tax | tax on (gross − pre-tax − standard deduction) | The result is called taxable income. Each slice of it is taxed at its bracket's rate. |
| State income tax | (gross − pre-tax) × state rate | A flat percentage. Some states charge nothing on wages. |
2026 standard deduction
| Filing status | Standard deduction |
|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 |
| Head of household | $24,150 |
You can see every bracket in our guide to the 2026 federal tax brackets.
Worked example 1, by hand: $75,000, single, biweekly
Assumptions: single filer, paid every two weeks, 5% of salary to a traditional 401(k), no state income tax.
- 401(k) contribution: $75,000 × 5% = $3,750.00 a year.
- Social Security: $75,000 × 6.2% = $4,650.00. The 401(k) does not reduce this.
- Medicare: $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50.
- Taxable income: $75,000 − $3,750.00 − $16,100 standard deduction = $55,150.00.
- Federal income tax by slice: first $12,400 at 10% = $1,240.00; next $38,000 at 12% = $4,560.00; the remaining $4,750.00 at 22% = $1,045.00. Total $6,845.00.
- Take-home for the year: $75,000 − $3,750.00 − $6,845.00 − $4,650.00 − $1,087.50 = $58,667.50.
- Per biweekly paycheck: $58,667.50 ÷ 26 = $2,256.44.
Total tax is $12,582.50, an effective rate of 16.8%, even though the top slice of income was taxed at 22%. The calculator above gives the same result if you enter these numbers.
Worked example 2: a couple with one earner on $120,000
Married filing jointly, paid twice a month, 10% to a traditional 401(k), and a $200 health premium taken from each paycheck before tax, in a state with no income tax.
| Item | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $5,000.00 | $120,000 |
| 401(k) and health premium | −$700.00 | −$16,800 |
| Federal income tax | −$334.33 | −$8,024 |
| Social Security | −$297.60 | −$7,142 |
| Medicare | −$69.60 | −$1,670 |
| Take-home pay | $3,598.47 | $86,363 |
Notice the health premium is also exempt from Social Security and Medicare, so Social Security is charged on $115,200 and not on the full $120,000. About 14.0% of gross pay goes to tax, and the household also saves $12,000 a year in its 401(k) before counting any employer match.
Worked example 3: the same salary in two states
A single worker earning $60,000, paid biweekly with no 401(k). One lives in Texas (no state income tax) and the other in Illinois (a flat 4.95% rate).
| Texas | Illinois | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $5,020 | $5,020 |
| Social Security and Medicare | $4,590 | $4,590 |
| State income tax | $0 | $2,970 |
| Take-home per year | $50,390 | $47,420 |
| Take-home per biweekly paycheck | $1,938.08 | $1,823.85 |
State tax alone costs the Illinois worker $2,970 a year, or $114.23 per paycheck. That is why comparing job offers by take-home pay, not salary, matters. For every no-tax and flat-tax state side by side, see take-home pay by state.
Does a raise ever reduce your take-home pay?
No. Moving into a higher bracket only raises the rate on the income above the bracket line, not on everything you earn. Take the $75,000 worker from example 1 (without the 401(k), to keep the numbers clean) and give them a $5,000 raise. Their take-home rises from $61,593 to $65,110, a gain of $3,518, which is 70.3% of the raise. The rest is 22% federal tax plus 7.65% Social Security and Medicare.
Hourly pay, overtime and bonuses
Pick "Hourly wage" to enter a rate and weekly hours instead of a salary. The calculator turns them into a yearly figure, then taxes it exactly like a salary. A bonus is added on top of your regular pay for the year, and we show what it adds after tax, so you can see how much of it you will really receive.
Example 4: hourly pay with overtime
A single worker earns $22.00 an hour for 40 hours a week and works 6 hours of overtime, paid at time and a half ($33.00 an hour). Regular pay is $22.00 × 40 × 52 = $45,760, and overtime is $33.00 × 6 × 52 = $10,296, so yearly pay before tax is $56,056. After federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, the overtime adds $8,273 to their year, which is 80% of what it paid before tax. Overtime is taxed like any other wages. It just pushes more of your income into the next slice of the brackets.
Example 5: a $6,000 bonus on a $60,000 salary
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bonus before tax | $6,000 |
| Federal income tax at 12% | −$720 |
| Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) | −$459 |
| Bonus you keep | $4,821 (80%) |
The salary is inside the 12% bracket and the bonus does not push it out, so the federal tax on the bonus is 12%. Your employer will probably withhold a flat 22% federal instead, which is $1,320, so the paycheck with the bonus looks smaller than the table above. You get the difference of $600 back when you file, if the rest of your withholding was right. If the bonus does push you into a higher bracket, you keep less of it, and the calculator shows that.
Common mistakes and myths
- "A raise can drop me into a bracket that lowers my pay." It cannot, as shown above.
- Comparing salaries across states. Compare take-home pay instead, as in example 3.
- Forgetting FICA. Social Security and Medicare are taken from almost every dollar of wages, and a 401(k) does not reduce them.
- Treating a big refund as free money. It usually means too much was withheld all year.
- Using the estimate as an exact payslip. Your W-4, credits, local taxes and benefit costs change the real figure.
Ways to raise your take-home pay
- Check your W-4. Withholding that is much larger than your real tax means an interest-free loan to the government.
- Use pre-tax accounts. An HSA or a Traditional 401(k) lowers taxable income. Try the 401(k) calculator to see the long-term effect.
- Compare job offers by net pay. A higher salary in a state with income tax can leave you with less than a slightly lower salary in a no-tax state.
What is not included
Child and dependent credits, itemized deductions, local income taxes, state disability insurance, wage garnishments and graduated-rate states such as California and New York are not modeled. For those states, pick "Other state" and enter your effective rate. For exact figures use your employer's payroll system or the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator.
Paycheck calculators by state
Federal tax works the same everywhere, but your state decides whether anything else comes out. Each state page below uses the same 2026 formulas with that state's own tax rules, plus worked examples for that state.
No state income tax
- Alaska paycheck calculator
- Florida paycheck calculator
- Nevada paycheck calculator
- New Hampshire paycheck calculator
- South Dakota paycheck calculator
- Tennessee paycheck calculator
- Texas paycheck calculator
- Wyoming paycheck calculator
Flat state income tax
- Arizona paycheck calculator — 2.5%
- Colorado paycheck calculator — 4.4%
- Georgia paycheck calculator — 5.19%
- Idaho paycheck calculator — 5.3%
- Illinois paycheck calculator — 4.95%
- Indiana paycheck calculator — 2.95%
- Iowa paycheck calculator — 3.8%
- Kentucky paycheck calculator — 3.5%
- Louisiana paycheck calculator — 3.0%
- Michigan paycheck calculator — 4.25%
- Mississippi paycheck calculator — 4.0%
- North Carolina paycheck calculator — 3.99%
- Ohio paycheck calculator — 2.75%
- Pennsylvania paycheck calculator — 3.07%
- Utah paycheck calculator — 4.5%
Sources and review
Brackets and standard deductions come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The Social Security wage base comes from the Social Security Administration, and state rates from the Tax Foundation. The 22% flat withholding on bonuses is from IRS Publication 15 (2026), and time and a half for overtime is from the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207. Last reviewed September 2026. See our methodology for how every figure is checked. Self-employed? Use the self-employment tax calculator instead.