Paycheck Calculator: Take-Home Pay After Taxes

See what actually lands in your paycheck. Enter your annual salary, filing status, state, and how often you're paid, and this calculator applies the 2026 federal brackets, FICA, and your state rate to show your take-home per paycheck - plus a full annual breakdown and your effective tax rate.

How take-home pay is computed

Your paycheck is what's left of your gross salary after three taxes come out. This calculator models each one for tax year 2026:

Federal income tax: applied on the 2026 marginal brackets (10% to 37%) after subtracting the standard deduction for your filing status.
FICA - 7.65%: 6.2% Social Security on wages up to the $184,500 base, plus 1.45% Medicare on all wages (with an extra 0.9% above the high-income thresholds).
State income tax: your effective state rate applied to taxable income. Nine states charge 0%.

The 2026 standard deduction

Before any federal tax is calculated, the standard deduction reduces your taxable income: $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, and $24,150 head of household for 2026. That's why the tax on an $85,000 salary is computed on roughly $69,000 of taxable income, not the full amount.

Why state tax matters

Where you live changes your paycheck: nine states have no income tax, while others reach over 10%. Pick your state inside the calculator above to prefill an editable 2026 effective rate, including no-tax states like Texas, Florida, and Washington.

Why take-home differs from gross

It's easy to divide a salary by 26 and assume that's your paycheck, but that ignores tax. Once federal income tax, the flat 7.65% FICA, and state tax stack up, a typical effective rate of 20%-30% of gross applies - so the real paycheck is meaningfully smaller. If you want the gross conversion across pay periods first, use the Salary to Hourly Calculator, then come back here for the after-tax number.

How to read a paycheck

Take-home pay is easier to understand when you separate taxes from optional payroll deductions.

Compare	What it means	Why it changes
Gross pay	Your salary or wages before taxes and deductions.	Changes with salary, hours, overtime, bonuses, and pay frequency.
Federal withholding	Income tax withheld based on taxable income and filing status.	Changes with W-4 choices, dependents, multiple jobs, and bonuses.
FICA	Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.	Social Security has a wage base; Medicare generally continues on all wages.
State/local tax	Income tax or payroll-style tax based on where you live or work.	Varies widely by state, city, and local rules.
Benefits	Health insurance, retirement, HSA/FSA, and other deductions.	Some are pre-tax, some are post-tax, and payroll systems classify them differently.

Example: why salary divided by paychecks is too high

A gross-pay shortcut ignores every tax and deduction that payroll removes before money reaches your bank account.

Salary: $85,000 - annual gross pay before tax.
Pay frequency: 26 checks - bi-weekly payroll.
Naive paycheck: $3,269 - $85,000 divided by 26 before taxes.
Reality: Lower after tax and deductions - federal tax, FICA, state tax, and benefits reduce each check.

Use salary divided by pay periods only as the starting point. The calculator above estimates the after-tax number.

Paycheck planning mistakes

Comparing gross salary to take-home needs

Rent, savings, and debt payments come from net pay. Always budget from take-home, not headline salary.

Ignoring benefit deductions

Health insurance, retirement contributions, HSA, FSA, and commuter deductions can change the check meaningfully.

Assuming all states work the same

No-income-tax states and high-tax states can produce very different checks at the same salary.

Forgetting bonuses and supplemental pay

Bonuses may be withheld differently than regular wages, so one paycheck can look unusual.

Payroll and withholding sources

IRS: Tax withholding estimator
Official IRS tool for checking whether withholding is on track.
IRS: About Form W-4
Form employees use to tell employers how much federal income tax to withhold.
SSA: Contribution and benefit base
Annual wage base used for Social Security payroll tax.