Take-Home Paycheck Calculator
↻ Updated 2026 tax yearTurn your gross salary into your real take-home number — after 2026 federal income tax, FICA (Social Security + Medicare), pre-tax 401(k) and state tax.
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Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to us.How this works
How to read your take-home number
The per-paycheck figure is what actually lands in your account; the effective tax rate is what the whole system costs you. On the defaults those are $2,125 every two weeks and 20.3% — not the 22% bracket you're in, because a bracket is the rate on your last dollar, never on all of them.
How your salary becomes your paycheck
Four things come out, and the order matters more than most people realise. Pre-tax deductions first, then federal income tax on what's left after the standard deduction, then FICA — which ignores your 401(k) entirely — then state tax.
That exception is the whole trick. Defer $1 into the 401(k) and federal and state tax never see it; FICA sees it anyway, because Social Security credits you for earnings you deferred, so it collects on them when you earn them.
pre-tax 401(k) = salary × contribution % federal taxable = salary − pre-tax 401(k) − standard deduction federal tax = 2026 brackets applied to federal taxable FICA = 6.2% × min(salary, $184,500) ← Social Security + 1.45% × salary ← Medicare + 0.9% × (salary − threshold) ← if above state tax = (salary − pre-tax 401(k)) × state rate net = salary − pre-tax 401(k) − federal tax − FICA − state tax per check = net ÷ pay periods per year
- salary
- Your gross annual pay, before anything comes out — the number on your offer letter — FICA is charged on all of it, regardless of deductions
- standard deduction
- Income the federal government doesn't tax at all — $16,100 single and married filing separately, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
- $184,500
- The 2026 Social Security wage base — SSA 2026 contribution and benefit base; above it the 6.2% stops for the rest of the year
- threshold
- Where the extra 0.9% Medicare tax begins, by filing status — $200,000 single and head of household, $250,000 married filing jointly, $125,000 married filing separately
- state rate
- A flat rate you set, applied after the 401(k) deferral — 0% in TX, FL, WA, NV, TN, SD, WY, AK and NH; real states use their own brackets, not a flat rate
- pay periods per year
- 52 weekly, 26 bi-weekly, 24 semi-monthly, 12 monthly — changes the size of each check, never the annual total
Notice what the standard deduction does: on a $75,000 salary with a 6% deferral, only $54,400 is federally taxable. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10% and most of the rest at 12%, which is why the federal bill lands at $6,680 — 8.9% of gross — even though the top slice sits in the 22% bracket.
FICA is the flat one: 7.65% of every dollar up to the wage base, with no deduction, no bracket and no filing status until the surtax threshold. For most people it's the tax that never lets go — and above $184,500 it's the one that suddenly does. If your withholding looks wrong rather than merely high, the W-4 withholding calculator works the problem from the form your employer actually reads.
Worked examples
Example: $75,000 salary, single, 6% into a 401(k)
The calculator's defaults, paid every two weeks, with a 4% flat state rate. Follow along on the page.
| Gross salarywhat FICA is charged on | $75,000 |
| Pre-tax 401(k) (6%)invisible to federal and state tax | − $4,500 |
| Federal taxable income$75,000 − $4,500 − $16,100 | $54,400 |
| Federal income tax8.9% of gross, despite a 22% top bracket | − $6,680 |
| FICA$4,650 Social Security + $1,088 Medicare | − $5,738 |
| State income tax (4%)4% of $70,500, not of $75,000 | − $2,820 |
| Net take-home74% of gross | $55,263 |
| Per bi-weekly paycheck$55,263 ÷ 26 | $2,125 |
| Effective tax ratefederal + FICA + state ÷ gross | 20.3% |
$2,125 a fortnight. The effective rate of 20.3% is the honest headline — half of it is federal income tax and nearly as much again is FICA, which most people forget they pay until they read the stub. Note the state line: $2,820, not $3,000, because the 401(k) came out first.
Example: the same person turns the 401(k) off
Drag the 401(k) slider from 6% to 0%. Nothing else changes. The question is what $4,500 of deferral actually costs in take-home.
| Pre-tax 401(k)was $4,500 | $0 |
| Federal income taxup $990 | − $7,670 |
| State income taxup $180 | − $3,000 |
| FICAunchanged — FICA never saw the deferral | − $5,738 |
| Net take-homeup $3,330 | $58,593 |
| Per bi-weekly paycheckup $129 | $2,254 |
Turning off a $4,500 contribution raised take-home by only $3,330. Put the other way: $4,500 went into the 401(k) and just $3,330 of spendable pay left, because $1,170 of it was tax you'd have paid anyway — $990 federal and $180 state. That gap is the whole mechanical argument for pre-tax deferral, and it's why FICA staying flat at $5,738 matters: the deferral bought you nothing there.
Frequently asked questions
How much is $75,000 a year after taxes?
On this calculator's defaults — single, 6% into a 401(k), a 4% flat state rate — $75,000 nets $55,263 a year, or $2,125 every two weeks. That's 74% of gross, with an effective tax rate of 20.3%.
The single biggest swing factor is your state. In Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska or New Hampshire, the state line is zero and the same salary nets about $2,820 more. Filing status is the second: married filing jointly doubles the standard deduction to $32,200 and widens every bracket, which is worth thousands on the same gross.
Why is so much taken out of my paycheck?
Because three separate taxes stack, and only one of them is the one people think about. On the $75,000 default, federal income tax is $6,680 — but FICA adds $5,738 and state adds $2,820, so the federal share is barely more than a third of what's withheld.
FICA is the part that surprises people. It's 6.2% for Social Security plus 1.45% for Medicare on every dollar, with no standard deduction shielding the first chunk (IRS Topic 751). Your employer pays an identical 7.65% that never appears on the stub. Add pre-tax benefits and a 401(k) and the gap between your salary and your deposit gets wide fast — the FICA calculator isolates just that piece.
Does contributing to a 401(k) reduce taxable income?
A traditional 401(k) does, for income tax. It doesn't for FICA — and that asymmetry is built into this calculator. On the defaults, a 6% deferral cuts federal taxable income from $58,900 to $54,400 and saves $990 of federal tax plus $180 of state tax. Social Security and Medicare withholding doesn't move a cent.
The reason is that Social Security credits your earnings record for money you defer, so it collects on those earnings in the year you earn them. A Roth 401(k) reverses the income-tax half entirely: contributions are after-tax, so taxable income doesn't fall now and qualified withdrawals aren't taxed later. This calculator models the traditional, pre-tax case only.
What percentage of my paycheck goes to taxes?
For this calculator's defaults, 20.3% — but the number moves a long way with income and geography. FICA alone is a flat 7.65% until you pass the $184,500 Social Security wage base, at which point the marginal rate on wages drops by 6.2 points.
The mistake worth avoiding is reading your bracket as your rate. A single filer on $75,000 is in the 22% bracket and pays 8.9% of gross in federal income tax, because the standard deduction shields the first $16,100 and the brackets below 22% do most of the work. Your bracket describes your next dollar. Your effective rate describes all of them.
Is bi-weekly the same as semi-monthly pay?
No, and the difference shows up in this calculator's pay-frequency selector. Bi-weekly means every two weeks — 26 checks a year. Semi-monthly means twice a month on fixed dates — 24 checks. On the $75,000 default, that's $2,125 versus $2,303 per check for exactly the same annual pay.
Twenty-six bi-weekly periods only cover 364 days, so the calendar drifts by a day or two each year. Roughly once a decade the drift produces a 27th payday, and 2026 is one of those years for many employers depending on when their pay dates fall. A 27th check doesn't mean extra pay for salaried staff — it means the annual salary gets divided differently.
What this paycheck calculator leaves out
This models a salaried employee with one job, a standard deduction and a flat state rate. Every one of those is a simplification, and three of them can move your real paycheck by hundreds of dollars.
- State tax is a flat rate, not a real state — No state charges the flat percentage this slider applies. Most run progressive brackets with their own standard deductions and exemptions, some tax 401(k) deferrals differently from the federal treatment, and a few — New York City, several Ohio and Pennsylvania municipalities — add a local income tax this tool has no field for.
- It assumes you take the standard deduction — Itemising, above-the-line adjustments, the child tax credit, student-loan interest, HSA contributions and every other credit are absent. The model computes tax on gross minus 401(k) minus the standard deduction and stops there.
- Only 401(k) deferrals are modelled — Health premiums, HSA and FSA contributions, dental, vision and commuter benefits are all commonly pre-tax and none of them appear here. HSA contributions through payroll also escape FICA, which the 401(k) does not — so a real stub with benefits on it will differ from this in both directions.
- This is withholding, not your final tax — Your employer withholds from each check based on the Form W-4 you filed; this page computes the tax the year's arithmetic produces. They rarely match exactly, which is why refunds and balances due exist. A second job, a working spouse or significant non-wage income widens the gap considerably.
- One job, one salary, all year — The wage base and the additional-Medicare threshold are tested against this salary alone. Two employers each withhold Social Security to $184,500 independently, so you can overpay and have to claim it back on your return.
- ·IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 — 2026 inflation adjustments — Tax year 2026 brackets & standard deduction
- ·Social Security Administration — 2026 wage base — $184,500 Social Security taxable maximum for 2026
- ·IRS Topic 751 — Social Security & Medicare withholding rates
Rates, brackets and limits here are checked against primary sources. If a number still looks off, email support@realmoneyiq.com and we'll review and fix it.
RealMoneyIQ provides free educational calculators, not financial, tax, investment or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the assumptions you enter and publicly published rates; your actual outcome will differ. Always confirm decisions with a licensed professional who knows your full situation.