Paycheck Calculator: How to Calculate Your Take-Home Pay
Take-home pay is your gross pay minus federal and state income tax withholding, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), and any benefit deductions. Here is how each piece is calculated, with 2026 federal figures.
Gross Pay vs. Net Pay
Gross pay is your total earnings before deductions; net pay, or take-home pay, is what remains after taxes and other deductions. A $60,000 salary is $5,000 a month gross. For a single filer taking the standard deduction, 2026 federal income tax and FICA alone leave about $4,200 a month; state income tax and benefit deductions typically bring take-home pay down toward $3,800–$4,000, depending on the state and plan.
The gap between gross and net varies with filing status, dependents, state of residence and voluntary deductions such as health insurance or retirement contributions. High earners see a larger percentage reduction because of progressive tax rates, while workers in states with no income tax keep more.
Federal and State Income Tax
Federal income tax is usually the largest deduction. For 2026 the brackets run from 10% to 37%, and the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. Your employer withholds based on your Form W-4: filing status, dependents, other income and extra withholding. (The W-4 has not used "allowances" since 2020.)
A single person earning $50,000 with no other income or adjustments has $33,900 of taxable income after the standard deduction. That falls in the 12% bracket (10% on the first $12,400, 12% on the rest), for about $3,820 of federal tax a year, or roughly $320 a month in withholding. The Tax Bracket calculator runs the 2026 brackets for your filing status from taxable income (gross income minus the standard deduction and any other deductions).
State income tax varies by location. Texas, Florida and several other states have no tax on wages, while California and New York have top rates above 10% for high earners. The same salary therefore produces noticeably different take-home pay in different states.
FICA and Other Mandatory Deductions
FICA taxes fund Social Security and Medicare and apply to virtually all employees as flat percentages of pay, which makes them easy to predict.
Social Security tax is 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base, $184,500 for 2026. Medicare tax is 1.45% of all wages with no cap, and an additional 0.9% Medicare tax is withheld on wages above $200,000 in a year. Your employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45% on top of your wages.
For a worker earning $55,000, FICA totals $4,207.50 ($3,410 for Social Security and $797.50 for Medicare), or about $350 a month.
Some states add mandatory payroll deductions of their own, such as state disability insurance or paid family leave contributions (California, New Jersey, New York and Washington are examples). Rates are set by each state and change from year to year.
Voluntary Deductions and Benefits
Most employees also have elective deductions: health insurance premiums, retirement plan contributions and other benefits.
Your share of health insurance premiums depends on your employer's plan, and family coverage costs much more than employee-only coverage. A $200 monthly premium reduces annual take-home pay by $2,400 before the tax saving (premiums are usually deducted pre-tax).
Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce federal taxable income but not FICA wages. Contributing 6% of a $65,000 salary defers $3,900 a year, or $325 a month, and lowers current income tax. Other common deductions include dental and vision insurance, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and transit or parking benefits.
Putting It Together
If you're paid by the hour, start with gross pay: the Hourly Paycheck calculator takes your hourly rate, hours worked, pay period and overtime multiplier and returns the gross paycheck.
Then work down to net pay in this order:
1. Subtract pre-tax deductions (traditional 401(k), most health premiums, FSA/HSA contributions).
2. Subtract federal income tax withholding, based on your W-4 and the IRS withholding tables.
3. Subtract Social Security (6.2% up to the wage base) and Medicare (1.45%) on your FICA wages.
4. Subtract state and local income tax, if any, and any state payroll deductions.
5. Subtract after-tax deductions such as Roth 401(k) contributions or union dues.
The Net Pay calculator runs these steps for one paycheck: it applies the 2026 federal withholding tables for a standard W-4 (from your filing status and pay frequency), Social Security and Medicare, a flat state rate you enter, and your pre-tax and after-tax deductions. For a rougher estimate by hand, apply a federal rate, a state rate and a FICA rate (7.65% for most workers) as flat percentages of gross pay and subtract other deductions; use your effective federal rate (annual tax ÷ gross pay), not your bracket rate.
Treat the result as an estimate: your employer's payroll system and your actual tax return are what count. The IRS's online Tax Withholding Estimator is the official tool for checking federal withholding, and none of this is tax advice.