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Paycheck Calculator — Take-Home Pay Estimate

Your salary is not your paycheck. Between the gross pay on your offer letter and the money that lands in your bank account, federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare take a share, and in many states the state government takes another. This free paycheck calculator estimates what is left. Enter your gross pay and how often you are paid, and it works out your federal income tax using the 2026 brackets for a single filer, your FICA payroll tax at 7.65 percent, and a rough flat state estimate if you choose a state. It shows the result per pay period and per year, with the working shown so you can check every line. Estimate only, based on 2026 federal brackets and the standard deduction. State taxes vary. Not tax advice. The estimate covers federal tax, FICA and a rough state figure only. It does not include retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, or any other deduction from your real paycheck, so treat the result as a planning guide, not a promise. If your pay includes bonuses, overtime or tips, enter your best estimate of total annual gross pay to keep the tax brackets right.

How to Use

1. Enter your gross pay per pay period. This is the amount before any tax or deduction, for one paycheck. If you know your annual salary instead, pick Annual salary as the frequency and enter the yearly figure, or divide the annual salary by 26 for a biweekly paycheck.
2. Choose your pay frequency. Weekly means 52 paychecks a year, biweekly means 26, semimonthly means 24, and monthly means 12. The frequency turns your per-period pay into an annual figure, which is what the tax brackets are based on.
3. Pick a state, or none. The state figure is a rough flat estimate only: 5 percent for California or New York, and 0 percent for Texas or Florida, which have no state income tax. Choose None if you only want the federal and FICA figures.
4. Click Calculate take-home pay. The results show gross pay, federal tax, FICA, the state estimate and your take-home pay, both per pay period and per year, with the working shown underneath so you can follow the arithmetic.

Worked Example

Take a single filer earning a $60,000 annual salary, paid biweekly, with no state estimate. Click Load worked example to fill in these figures: the gross pay per biweekly period is $60,000 divided by 26, which is $2,307.69 (the calculator uses $2,307.6923 per period so the annual total is exactly $60,000). First, the standard deduction of $15,750 is taken off, so taxable income is $60,000 − $15,750 = $44,250. Federal tax is worked out in brackets: 10% of the first $11,925 is $1,192.50, and 12% of the rest, which is $44,250 − $11,925 = $32,325, is $3,879.00. Add them and federal tax is $1,192.50 + $3,879.00 = $5,071.50 for the year. FICA is 7.65% of $60,000, which is $4,590.00. Take-home pay before state tax is $60,000 − $5,071.50 − $4,590.00 = $50,338.50 per year. Divide by 26 pay periods and the biweekly take-home is $50,338.50 ÷ 26 = $1,936.10. The calculator shows the same numbers: federal tax $5,071.50 a year ($195.06 per period), FICA $4,590.00 a year ($176.54 per period), and take-home $50,338.50 a year, or $1,936.10 every two weeks. That is an effective tax rate of about 16.1% on the $60,000 gross. If the same person lived in California at the rough 5% flat estimate, state tax would be another $3,000 a year, and take-home would fall to $47,338.50 a year, or $1,820.71 biweekly — a reminder that the state line can be worth thousands.

Why Your Take-Home Pay Is Lower Than Your Salary

Three things take a share of your pay before you see it, and understanding them stops the first paycheck from being a surprise. Federal income tax is progressive, which means the rate rises as income rises: only the part of your income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate, so moving into the 22% bracket does not mean all of your pay is taxed at 22%. The standard deduction matters too: for a single filer in 2026 it is $15,750, and that amount is not taxed at all, which is why someone earning $60,000 pays tax on only $44,250. FICA is different — it is a flat 7.65% on almost every dollar of wages, 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, with no standard deduction, so it takes the same share whether you earn $30,000 or $130,000. Then there is state tax, which ranges from nothing in Texas and Florida to a real extra bill in California and New York, where the true rate depends on brackets and deductions this tool does not model. Estimate only, based on 2026 federal brackets and the standard deduction. State taxes vary. Not tax advice.

Tips for Planning Around Your Paycheck

Budget from your take-home pay, not your salary, because the salary number is money you will never hold. If you are comparing two job offers, compare the take-home figures at the same frequency, and remember that a higher salary in a high-tax state can leave you with less than a lower salary in a state with no income tax. Check your first paycheck against this estimate: if the federal withholding is far higher, your employer may be withholding as if you earn more than you do, or you may have extra withholding on your W-4. If you get a raise mid-year, rerun the estimate with the new annual figure, because a raise that pushes more income into a higher bracket still leaves you better off — only the extra dollars are taxed at the higher rate. And keep the limits in mind: this calculator covers a single filer with the standard deduction, a flat 7.65% FICA estimate with no wage base cap, and a rough flat state estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions