Paycheck Calculator
This calculator takes a gross salary and subtracts everything that normally comes out before payday: 401(k) and health insurance first, then 2026 federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and your state tax. What is left is your take-home pay, shown per pay period and per year. Try the presets under the calculator if you want a worked example before typing your own numbers.
How gross pay becomes take-home pay
Take-home pay is gross pay minus three layers of deductions, taken in a fixed order. First, pre-tax items like 401(k) contributions and health premiums come out. Second, taxes are calculated on what remains. Third, payroll taxes and state tax finish the job. The order matters, because each layer shrinks the base the next one taxes. Two companion guides go line by line: what is taken from your gross pay and how to read your pay stub.
Here is the California preset above, worked by hand. Gross pay is $75,000. A 5% 401(k) takes $3,750 and health premiums take $2,400, so $68,850 reaches the federal tax calculation. Subtract the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100 and $52,750 is taxable, which produces $6,317 of federal tax. Social Security and Medicare are figured on $72,600 (health premiums are exempt from FICA, 401(k) money is not), giving $4,501 and $1,053. California taxes the same $68,850 after its own $5,900 deduction and takes $2,331, then adds SDI at 1.3% of the full $75,000, another $975. The paycheck that survives all of that: $53,673 a year, or $2,064.35 every two weeks. Run the preset and check us.
How to read your result
The big number is your net pay for the pay period you selected. The breakdown under it is the part most calculators hide, and it is the part worth reading. "Federal taxable income" shows exactly what the IRS brackets were applied to, so if the tax looks wrong, you can see whether the problem is the input or the bracket. The effective tax rate in the summary line counts income tax, FICA and state tax together, divided by gross pay. It is almost always lower than your tax bracket, because brackets only tax the slice of income inside them.
One line surprises people every time: Social Security stops at $184,500 of wages in 2026, Medicare does not. Past $200,000 (single) Medicare actually goes up by 0.9 percentage points. High earners see their per-check tax dip slightly once Social Security maxes out midyear, then stay there.
Same salary, different state
Federal tax and FICA follow you anywhere. State tax does not, and at ordinary salaries it is the single biggest swing factor in take-home pay. Single filer, no 401(k), no health premiums:
| Salary | Texas (no state tax) | California | New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $42,355 / yr | $40,574 / yr | — |
| $75,000 | $61,593 / yr | $57,794 / yr | $58,140 / yr |
| $100,000 | $79,180 / yr | $72,811 / yr | $74,320 / yr |
The full two-state story is in why a California paycheck is smaller than in Texas. At $100,000 the California worker hands over $6,369 more per year than the Texan on identical pay. That is real money, roughly a month of rent in Austin or a maxed-out Roth IRA with change left over. It is also why comparing job offers on gross salary alone is a trap.
Paycheck calculators by state
Each state page below presets the calculator to that state and explains the local rules in plain English, including the weird ones.
- California paycheck calculator — nine brackets plus the SDI line nobody warns you about.
- Texas paycheck calculator — no state income tax, so federal and FICA do all the damage.
- New York paycheck calculator — state brackets after the 2026 rate cut, and the NYC tax on top.
- Florida paycheck calculator — what a salary pays when the state takes nothing.
- Illinois paycheck calculator — a flat 4.95% with a small exemption doing quiet work.
- Pennsylvania paycheck calculator — flat 3.07%, but your 401(k) gets no break.
- Ohio paycheck calculator — the new flat 2.75% that replaced nine brackets in 2026.
- Georgia paycheck calculator — flat 4.99% and one of the biggest standard deductions around.
- North Carolina paycheck calculator — flat 3.99%, down from 4.25% last year.
- Washington paycheck calculator — no income tax, but the WA Cares premium shows up anyway.
Frequently asked questions
How much tax comes out of a $75,000 salary?
Why is my first paycheck smaller than this estimate?
Does a 401(k) lower my Social Security tax?
What is the difference between marginal and effective tax rate?
How much is a biweekly paycheck on $60,000 a year?
Are bonuses taxed at a higher rate?
Does this calculator work for hourly workers?
Sources and method
Federal brackets and standard deductions are from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 for tax year 2026. The Social Security wage base of $184,500 is the SSA's 2026 figure. State rates follow each state's 2026 law as published by its revenue department and cross-checked against the Tax Foundation's 2026 state tables. Our full method, including what this calculator deliberately leaves out, is on the methodology page. New to the concepts? Start with how paycheck taxes work.