Paycheck Calculator
See your 2026 take-home pay per paycheck after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and state tax in all 50 states and DC — with every line of the math shown.
Paycheck Calculator
How to use the paycheck calculator
Choose Salary or Hourly, enter your pay, and pick how often you’re paid, your state and the filing status on your Form W-4. The result updates as you type: take-home pay per paycheck and per year, and a table of every deduction. If you have children or other dependents, a second job, or pre-tax benefits such as a 401(k), HSA or health insurance, open the optional sections — they mirror the boxes on the 2026 Form W-4 and your pay stub. Your entries are kept in the page address, so the Share button reproduces the exact result.
How take-home pay is calculated
Each paycheck goes through the same steps your employer’s payroll software follows:
- Gross pay — annual salary ÷ pay periods, or hourly rate × hours × 52 ÷ pay periods, with overtime at 1.5×.
- Pre-tax deductions — traditional 401(k)/403(b) contributions come out before income tax; HSA and Section 125 health premiums come out before income tax and Social Security and Medicare.
- Federal income tax — the IRS percentage method in Publication 15-T: annualize the taxable wages, subtract $8,600 ($12,900 if married filing jointly) plus any Step 4(b) deductions, apply the 2026 withholding table, subtract Step 3 credits and add Step 4(c) extra withholding, then divide by the number of paychecks.
- FICA — Social Security at 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 for 2026, and Medicare at 1.45% of all wages plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000.
- State taxes — the state’s brackets, standard deduction and exemptions applied to your annual wages, divided by the number of paychecks, plus any employee-paid state disability or paid-leave premium.
take-home = gross − pre-tax deductions − federal withholding − Social Security − Medicare − state tax
Worked example: $60,000 a year, paid every two weeks
A single employee earning $60,000 gets 26 paychecks of $2,307.69. For federal withholding, payroll annualizes that to $60,000 and subtracts $8,600, giving an adjusted wage of $51,400. On the 2026 single table that is $1,240 + 12% of the amount over $19,900 = $5,020 a year, or $193.08 per paycheck. Social Security is 6.2% × $2,307.69 = $143.08 and Medicare 1.45% = $33.46. In Texas, with no state income tax, take-home pay is $1,938.07 — about 84% of gross.
The same paycheck in California also pays state income tax — $60,000 minus the $5,706 standard deduction is $54,294 of taxable income, $1,792.53 of tax across the 1%–6% brackets, less the $153 personal exemption credit = $1,639.53 a year, or $63.06 per paycheck — and 1.3% State Disability Insurance, $30.00. Take-home is $1,845.01. Pick California in the calculator to see each bracket.
Why the state figure is an estimate
States publish their own withholding formulas, and they rarely match the tax you finally owe. This calculator estimates the state income tax on your year’s wages using each state’s published brackets, standard deduction, personal exemptions and exemption credits, then spreads it evenly over your paychecks — so it shows what you should expect to owe rather than one employer’s formula. Where a state had not yet published a 2026 figure that it adjusts every year, the latest (2025) amount is used and the working says so. We cross-checked every state against the open-source PolicyEngine US tax model on hundreds of sample households.
Not included: local and city income taxes (such as New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Ohio municipalities, Maryland counties and Indiana counties), state earned-income and child tax credits, low-income credits, extra amounts for being 65 or older, and itemized deductions. Employee-paid state programs that are included: California SDI, New Jersey TDI and family leave, New York disability and paid family leave, Rhode Island TDI, the paid-leave premiums in Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Delaware (assuming your employer passes on the maximum employee share), Washington’s WA Cares premium, Oregon’s statewide transit tax, Pennsylvania’s unemployment contribution and Vermont’s child care contribution.
Tips for a bigger (or more accurate) paycheck
- Got a big refund last year? You may be over-withholding. Claim your dependents in W-4 Step 3 or add deductions in Step 4(b).
- Owed money? Two jobs or a working spouse are the usual cause — check the Step 2 box or add Step 4(c) extra withholding.
- Raising your 401(k) contribution costs less than it looks: a 1% increase reduces take-home by less than 1% because it also lowers your income tax. The 2026 limit is $24,500 (see the 401(k) calculator).
- Converting an hourly rate to a salary? The salary calculator does the pay-period math, and the income tax calculator estimates your full-year federal tax and refund.
Frequently asked questions
How much is taken out of a $60,000 paycheck?
For a single filer paid every two weeks with a standard 2026 Form W-4 and no pre-tax deductions, each $2,307.69 paycheck has about $193.08 of federal income tax, $143.08 of Social Security and $33.46 of Medicare withheld, leaving $1,938.07 in Texas (no state income tax). In California, state income tax (about $63.06) and State Disability Insurance ($30.00) bring it to about $1,845.01.
Why doesn’t my pay stub match this calculator exactly?
Common reasons: pre-tax benefits we don’t know about (dental, vision, commuter, Roth vs. traditional 401(k)), local taxes, a W-4 filled in differently, your employer using the IRS wage-bracket tables instead of the percentage method, and state withholding formulas that differ from the actual state tax this page estimates. Check the “Show the working” section against your stub line by line.
How do I change how much federal tax is withheld?
Give your employer a new Form W-4. Step 3 lowers withholding for children and other dependents, Step 4(a) and 4(c) raise it for other income or an extra flat amount, and Step 4(b) lowers it for deductions beyond the standard deduction. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator helps fill it in. You can test the effect of each step here first.
Does a 401(k) contribution lower my Social Security and Medicare tax?
No. Traditional 401(k) and 403(b) contributions reduce the wages subject to federal income tax (and most states’ income tax), but they are still subject to Social Security and Medicare. Health insurance premiums and HSA contributions made through a Section 125 cafeteria plan are exempt from both.
Is overtime still taxed in 2026?
Yes, on your paycheck. Overtime pay is subject to Social Security, Medicare and state tax as usual, and employers still withhold federal income tax on it. The new federal deduction (2025–2028) lets you deduct up to $12,500 ($25,000 on a joint return) of the extra “half” of time-and-a-half pay when you file. To get the benefit in each paycheck instead, include your expected deduction in W-4 Step 4(b) — try it in the W-4 section above.
When does Social Security tax stop?
Social Security tax (6.2%) applies only to the first $184,500 of wages in 2026. Once your pay for the year passes that amount, the tax stops and your remaining paychecks are larger. Medicare has no cap, and an extra 0.9% is withheld on wages above $200,000.
Sources
- IRS — Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
- IRS — Tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
- IRS — Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 tax tables and amounts)
- Social Security Administration — 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment fact sheet (wage base $184,500)
- IRS — Questions and answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
- IRS — Questions and answers about the new deduction for qualified overtime compensation
- Tax Foundation — 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets