Free US Paycheck Calculator
Calculate your take-home pay for all 50 US states + DC. Includes federal income tax, state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and pre-tax deductions like 401(k) and HSA.
⚠️ 1% mental-health surtax on income over $1M not modeled. SDI 1.1% applies on all wages.
Pre-tax deductions (optional)
Enter your gross pay to see your take-home estimate.
Know Your Real Paycheck
Your offer letter says one number — your actual deposit says another. Find out exactly where the difference goes.
All 50 States + DC
Full coverage of state income tax — including the 9 no-tax states (Texas, Florida, Washington, etc.) and progressive states with detailed bracket tables. Each state's correct standard deduction and personal exemption is applied.
2025 Tax Tables
Uses the latest IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2024-40) and each state's 2025 withholding tables. Standard deductions, FICA wage base ($176,100), and Additional Medicare threshold all reflect current law.
Pre-Tax Deductions
Model your 401(k) / 403(b) contribution as a percentage of gross, HSA contribution, and other pre-tax items (FSA, transit, parking). Reduces both income tax and FICA wages correctly.
Any Pay Frequency
Annual salary, monthly, semi-monthly (24 paychecks/year), bi-weekly (26 paychecks/year), weekly, or hourly with custom hours per week. Results break down per period.
Marginal & Effective Rates
See both your effective tax rate (taxes ÷ total income) and your federal marginal rate (what the next dollar you earn will be taxed at) — the two numbers that matter for raises, bonuses, and side income.
100% Private
All calculations happen in your browser — your salary, state, and deductions never leave your device. No signup, no email gate, no marketing follow-up.
When You Need a Paycheck Calculator
More accurate than salary-to-net rules of thumb — and faster than logging into a payroll portal.
New Job Offer
A $90k offer in Texas takes home very differently than the same offer in California. Compare in seconds before you sign.
Relocation
Moving from a high-tax state to a no-tax state? See exactly how much your take-home jumps before you book the mover.
Raise or Bonus
Got a raise that pushes you into a new bracket? Calculate what the actual increase in take-home will be, after the IRS takes its share.
401(k) Planning
Test how increasing your 401(k) contribution by 2% affects your take-home — usually less than you'd think after the tax savings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is this paycheck calculator?
For most W-2 employees, this calculator produces results within a few dollars of your actual paystub. It uses official 2025 federal brackets, state withholding tables, FICA rates, and standard deductions. The main sources of small differences are: local city/county taxes (NYC, Philadelphia, Ohio cities), state disability insurance (CA SDI, NY/NJ), state unemployment (employee portion in a few states), and itemized deductions if you take them instead of the standard.
Why is my actual paycheck different?
Common reasons: your W-4 has additional withholding requested, your employer collects health insurance premiums as a post-tax deduction (or pre-tax if cafeteria plan), state SDI/SUI line items, garnishments, dependent care FSA, group life insurance over $50k taxable benefit, or local city tax. The calculator covers the major federal and state items — fine-tune with your actual paystub for the last mile.
Which states have no income tax?
Nine states have no state income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire used to tax interest and dividends but that's being phased out. Washington has a 7% capital-gains tax on high earners but no wage tax. The other 41 states plus DC charge state income tax.
How is the 401(k) calculation done?
Traditional 401(k) and 403(b) contributions are deducted from your gross before federal and state income taxes are calculated, AND before Social Security/Medicare wages are calculated. Wait — that's not quite right. 401(k) reduces federal income tax wages and state wages (in most states), but NOT FICA wages. This calculator applies the correct treatment: 401(k) cuts your federal and state taxable wages, but you still pay 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on the contribution amount. HSA, however, cuts all four when contributed through payroll.
What's the difference between effective and marginal tax rate?
Effective rate is the average — total taxes divided by total income. Marginal rate is what the next dollar you earn will be taxed at. They're always different, sometimes substantially. A single filer making $100k has roughly a 17% effective federal rate but a 24% marginal rate. The marginal rate is what matters for deciding whether to take overtime, accept a bonus, or take side work.
What is FICA and why is it different from income tax?
FICA is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax — it funds Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%). Total 7.65% from the employee, matched 7.65% by the employer (so 15.3% total). Social Security only applies to wages up to $176,100 (2025); above that, only the 1.45% Medicare continues. There's also an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly) — which the calculator applies automatically.
Does this work for 1099 contractors?
Partially — this calculator is built for W-2 employees. As a 1099 contractor, you pay the full 15.3% FICA (called self-employment tax) instead of 7.65%, and you typically have to make quarterly estimated tax payments rather than having tax withheld. For a quick W-2-equivalent estimate, multiply your FICA result by ~2 to approximate self-employment tax. We'll be releasing a dedicated 1099 / self-employment calculator in a future update.
Why aren't local city taxes included?
Local income taxes vary by zip code and would need a database of ~40,000 entries to handle accurately. For cities with significant local tax — New York City (3.08–3.88%), Philadelphia (3.75%), Ohio cities (1–3%), Indiana counties (~1.5%), Maryland counties (2.25–3.20%) — add a manual adjustment by reducing your gross by the local rate, or check your local government's website for the exact rate.
When will 2026 tax rates be added?
The IRS typically publishes the next year's federal brackets in October or November. State tax tables are released by each Department of Revenue between November and January. We update this calculator within a few weeks of the IRS's final 2026 publication. In the meantime, 2025 rates produce results that are usually within ~2% of 2026 figures because the bracket-inflation adjustment is small.
Understanding Your US Paycheck
Look at your first paystub at a new job and you'll see a sobering number — the gap between your salary on paper and the actual deposit into your bank account. For a typical W-2 employee in the US, that gap is between 20% and 40% of gross income, depending on state, filing status, and contribution choices. Understanding where that money goes is the foundation of financial planning.
The Five Slices of Your Paycheck
Every US paycheck has the same general structure, even though the exact dollar amounts vary widely:
1. Federal income tax. The biggest single deduction for most middle-class workers. Charged progressively — your first dollars are taxed at 10%, then 12%, then 22%, all the way up to 37% on income over ~$626k (single, 2025). Your employer withholds an estimate based on the W-4 you filled out at hire.
2. State income tax. Varies enormously. Nine states charge nothing on wages (Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, New Hampshire). California tops out at 12.3% (plus a 1% surcharge on income over $1M). New York City residents face state plus city tax that can exceed 14%.
3. Social Security tax (FICA). 6.2% of your first $176,100 of wages (2025). Capped — above that wage base, you stop paying Social Security tax for the rest of the year. Your employer matches the 6.2%, so 12.4% total goes toward Social Security.
4. Medicare tax (FICA). 1.45% on all wages, no cap. Plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200k single / $250k married. Employer matches the 1.45% (but not the 0.9%).
5. Pre-tax deductions. 401(k), HSA, FSA, health insurance premiums, dependent care, transit — all reduce your taxable income before federal (and usually state) tax is calculated. These are the most powerful tools you have to reduce your tax bill.
The Marginal Tax Trap Most People Miss
One of the most common financial misconceptions: “If I get a raise into the next bracket, I'll take home less.” This is mathematically impossible. The US tax system is progressive — moving into the 24% bracket only means the dollars in that bracket are taxed at 24%. All your previous income still pays at the lower rates.
Example: Single filer makes $48,000 (12% top bracket) and gets a $20,000 raise to $68,000 (22% top bracket). Federal tax on the first $48k stays roughly the same. The next $20k is taxed at 22% (the marginal rate), not the whole income. Net result: take-home goes up by roughly $15.6k on a $20k gross raise. You always come out ahead — just by less than you might naively expect.
The Biggest Lever: Pre-Tax Contributions
For a typical worker in the 22% federal bracket plus 5% state, every $1,000 contributed to traditional 401(k) saves $270 in current taxes. That money compounds tax-deferred until retirement. A 6% contribution to a $80k salary is $4,800 of pre-tax savings — costing only ~$3,500 in take-home but reducing future tax liability and growing for decades.
HSA contributions are even more powerful — they avoid federal tax, state tax (in most states), AND FICA. For someone in the 22% federal + 5% state bracket, every $1,000 in HSA saves ~$345 in immediate taxes. HSAs are the only triple-tax-advantaged account in the US tax code.
State Tax — The 50-Way Comparison
The same $100k salary takes home dramatically different amounts depending on state. Roughly:
- Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington: ~$76k take-home (no state tax)
- Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Carolina: ~$72k–$73k (flat rate states)
- New York, New Jersey: ~$70k–$71k
- California: ~$69k
- Hawaii: ~$68k (highest top progressive rate)
For remote workers with location flexibility, the lifetime tax difference between “Texas” and “California” at a $150k salary is comparable to a small house. Worth running the numbers before choosing where to settle.
FICA — The Tax You Can't Reduce
Unlike federal and state income tax, FICA (Social Security + Medicare) doesn't scale down with your standard deduction or 401(k) contributions (HSA is the exception). It's a flat 7.65% on wages — making it the most regressive part of the US tax system at lower incomes, and the most progressive at high incomes (because the Social Security portion caps out at $176,100).
For someone earning $80,000, FICA is $6,120 — more than they pay in federal income tax after the standard deduction. Most workers don't realize FICA is the bigger line item until well into their 30s.
What This Calculator Doesn't Cover
Local city/county taxes. NYC, Philadelphia, Ohio cities, Indiana counties, Maryland counties — all add on top of state tax. Could add 1–4% depending on locality. Subtract manually if you live in a taxing locality.
State disability and unemployment. California SDI (1.1%), New York SDI/PFL, New Jersey SUI/SDI/FLI — small but real. Usually less than 1% combined.
Itemized deductions. If you itemize (mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charity), your actual federal tax may be lower than this calculator's estimate. ~10% of US filers itemize today (down from ~30% before the 2017 tax law).
Roth contributions. Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA contributions are after-tax — they don't reduce your current paycheck's taxes. Use the “post-tax” field if you contribute to Roth via payroll.
Bonuses. Bonuses are typically withheld at a flat 22% federal rate (the IRS's “supplemental withholding”) which may differ from your marginal bracket. Your actual tax bill at year-end uses your marginal rate, but your paycheck may be temporarily over- or under-withheld.
For any of these, the calculator's output is a starting point — use your actual paystub or W-2 for precision.