US Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your 2026 take-home pay in any US state after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax — for any pay frequency.
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How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your annual gross salary and choose how often you are paid.
- 2
Select your W-4 filing status and your state.
- 3
Add your traditional 401(k) percentage and any other pre-tax deductions per paycheck.
- 4
Read your estimated take-home pay per paycheck and each tax withheld.
Frequently asked questions
How is take-home pay calculated?
Start with gross pay, subtract pre-tax deductions, then subtract federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500), Medicare (1.45%) and state income tax. A traditional 401(k) lowers your income tax but not your Social Security and Medicare tax.
Which states have no income tax on wages?
In the figures built into this tool, 9 jurisdictions are coded with no tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. The other 42 (including DC) are coded as 15 flat-rate and 27 graduated schedules. Federal income tax and FICA apply everywhere.
Why is my real paycheck different from this estimate?
Employers withhold using your W-4 and payroll tables, and your pay stub may also include local taxes, state disability or family-leave contributions, health insurance and other deductions that this estimate does not model.
Does a 401(k) contribution reduce Social Security and Medicare tax?
No. In this tool a traditional 401(k) deferral reduces federal and most state income-tax wages but not Social Security or Medicare wages. Pre-tax health insurance and HSA amounts entered in the other-deductions box reduce both.
Which of the ten largest state pages gives the most take-home pay?
On $80,000, single, bi-weekly and no 401(k), Texas leaves $65,110 a year and Illinois leaves $61,295, a gap of $3,815 a year that comes entirely from the state income-tax line in the figures built into this tool.
How much does filing status change take-home pay?
On $80,000 in California paid bi-weekly, a single filer takes home $61,900 a year and a joint filer takes home $67,461 in this tool, because the joint standard deduction and joint brackets are wider. The tool treats head of household like single for state tax.
Does pay frequency change my annual take-home pay?
No. On $80,000 with no state tax, weekly paychecks net $1,252.12 and monthly paychecks net $5,425.83, but both add up to $65,110 a year.
US paycheck calculator for 2026 — take-home pay by state
Worked example: $80,000 salary, single filer, paid bi-weekly
Take an $80,000 salary in California. Taxable federal income is $63,900, giving federal income tax of $8,770 a year. Social Security is $4,960, Medicare is $1,160 and California income tax is $3,210. That leaves $61,900 a year, or $2,380.75 on each of the 26 bi-weekly paychecks — a total tax rate of 22.6%. Every figure on this page is produced by the same engine as the calculator, using the numbers built into this tool for 2026.
How much a state changes your paycheck
The same $80,000 salary, single filer, paid bi-weekly with no 401(k), in the ten states that have their own pages. Only the state income-tax line differs. Texas ranks first at $65,110 a year and Illinois last at $61,295. In the data file, 9 jurisdictions (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming) carry no wage tax, 15 states use one flat rate and 27 use graduated brackets.
| State | State income tax / year | Net per paycheck | Net per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | None | $2,504 | $65,110 |
| Florida | None | $2,504 | $65,110 |
| California | $3,210 | $2,381 | $61,900 |
| New York | $3,723 | $2,361 | $61,387 |
| Illinois | $3,815 | $2,357 | $61,295 |
| Pennsylvania | $2,456 | $2,410 | $62,654 |
| Ohio | $1,418 | $2,450 | $63,692 |
| Georgia | $3,529 | $2,368 | $61,581 |
| North Carolina | $2,683 | $2,401 | $62,427 |
| Michigan | $3,149 | $2,383 | $61,961 |
How take-home pay changes with salary
With no state tax in the way, the federal and payroll lines show how the burden grows. Moving from $35,000 to $250,000 lifts the total tax rate from 13.4% to 26.7%. Social Security stops at the $184,500 wage base, so the payroll share falls for the highest salaries while the Medicare surcharge begins above $200,000.
| Salary | Federal income tax | Social Security + Medicare | Take-home | Total tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $35,000 | $2,020 | $2,678 | $30,303 | 13.4% |
| $60,000 | $5,020 | $4,590 | $50,390 | 16% |
| $90,000 | $10,970 | $6,885 | $72,145 | 19.8% |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $11,475 | $113,791 | 24.1% |
| $250,000 | $51,304 | $15,514 | $183,182 | 26.7% |
Federal figures built into this tool (2026)
The figures built into this tool are labelled 2026. Federal income tax is progressive: each rate applies only to the slice of taxable income inside its bracket. Taxable income is salary minus pre-tax deductions minus the standard deduction, which the tool sets at $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for joint filers and $24,150 for heads of household. Social Security is 6.2% on wages up to $184,500. Medicare is 1.45% on all wages plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000, a threshold the tool applies to every filing status. A traditional 401(k) deferral is capped at $24,500 a year and lowers income-tax wages but not Social Security or Medicare wages. The data file lists its sources as IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and Notice 2025-67 (federal), the Social Security Administration (wage base) and the Tax Foundation state table as of January 1, 2026.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $0 – $24,800 |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 | $24,800 – $100,800 |
| 22% | $50,400 – $105,700 | $100,800 – $211,400 |
| 24% | $105,700 – $201,775 | $211,400 – $403,550 |
| 32% | $201,775 – $256,225 | $403,550 – $512,450 |
| 35% | $256,225 – $640,600 | $512,450 – $768,700 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 | Over $768,700 |
How pay frequency changes each paycheck
Your annual take-home pay is the same whatever the pay frequency; only the size and number of paychecks change. The table uses $80,000 in a state with no income tax. Months with three bi-weekly or five weekly pay dates feel larger because the schedule is based on 26 or 52 paychecks, not 12.
| Pay frequency | Paychecks per year | Gross per paycheck | Net per paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | $1,538.46 | $1,252.12 |
| Bi-weekly | 26 | $3,076.92 | $2,504.23 |
| Semi-monthly | 24 | $3,333.33 | $2,712.92 |
| Monthly | 12 | $6,666.67 | $5,425.83 |
What the calculator does and does not include
The estimate covers federal income tax with the standard deduction, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax with the standard deduction, exemption and credit where the data file has one, a traditional 401(k) percentage and other pre-tax payroll deductions. It leaves out local income taxes, state disability and paid-family-leave contributions, tax credits such as the child tax credit, extra withholding, the W-4 step 3 and step 4 adjustments and employer-paid benefits. Payroll withholding depends on the employee’s W-4, the employer and the work location, and the IRS and the relevant state tax agency govern the actual rules, so treat every figure here as an estimate.
Learn more from an authoritative source:
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →