DeluxeCalc

Salary / Paycheck Calculator

See exactly how your paycheck breaks down after federal, state, and FICA taxes.

About this calculator

Your gross pay is what you earn before anything is taken out. Your net pay, or take-home pay, is what actually reaches your bank account after taxes and other deductions. For most US workers the gap between the two comes from four main items: federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare, plus any other paycheck deductions such as health insurance or retirement contributions. This calculator gives a quick estimate of take-home pay for a single pay period and for a full year, using the 2026 federal tax brackets or a flat rate you provide, so you can see where each dollar of a paycheck goes.

How to use this calculator

Enter your Gross Pay per Period, meaning the amount you earn in one paycheck before deductions, not your annual salary. Choose your Pay Frequency: weekly (52 paychecks a year), bi-weekly (26), semi-monthly (24), or monthly (12). Under Federal Tax, keep 2026 brackets and choose your Filing Status (single, married filing jointly, or head of household), then enter the number of Children Under 17 and Other Dependents. If you already know your withholding rate, choose Flat rate and enter a Federal Tax Rate instead. Enter a State Tax Rate as a percentage, and enter Other Deductions as a dollar amount taken from each paycheck. The page starts with $5,000 of gross pay per month, 2026 brackets for a single filer with no dependents, a 5% state rate, and $200 of other deductions. Results update as you type, and your inputs are saved in the page address so a scenario can be bookmarked or shared.

More options

Switch Pay Type to Hourly to enter an hourly rate instead; pay is the rate times your regular hours per week times 52 weeks, divided across your pay periods. Hourly workers can add overtime hours per week and a multiplier (1.5x by default) in the Overtime section; salaried exempt employees don't earn overtime, so it only applies in hourly mode. The Bonus & Commission section adds annual amounts to gross pay, spread evenly across paychecks. In bracket mode they are taxed with the rest of your income; in flat mode they are taxed at your federal rate, or at the 22% federal supplemental rate if you tick that option. The Pre-tax Deductions section takes a 401(k) or 403(b) contribution, as a percentage of gross pay or a dollar amount per paycheck, and Section 125 health, HSA, or FSA deductions per paycheck. Other Deductions are after-tax amounts such as Roth 401(k) contributions or union dues.

The results show Net Pay per period, annual and monthly gross and net pay, the equivalent hourly rate, your federal taxable income, your marginal federal rate (the bracket your last dollar falls in), and your effective federal rate (federal tax divided by gross pay). Any dependent credits are shown as an annual amount. A bar chart compares the size of each deduction, and a pay breakdown table lists gross pay, each deduction, and net pay for one period.

How the calculation works

In bracket mode this estimates your annual federal tax liability for 2026, not the amount your employer withholds under your W-4, and spreads it evenly across your paychecks. Taxable wages are gross pay minus pre-tax retirement and Section 125 deductions. The calculator subtracts the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household) and applies the 2026 brackets of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. For a single filer the 10% bracket covers the first $12,400 of taxable income, 12% runs to $50,400, 22% to $105,700, 24% to $201,775, 32% to $256,225, 35% to $640,600, and 37% applies above that; joint filers' bounds are $24,800, $100,800, $211,400, $403,550, $512,450, and $768,700, and head of household bounds are $17,700, $67,450, $105,700, $201,750, $256,200, and $640,600. Itemized deductions are not supported. The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 for each child under 17 and the Credit for Other Dependents is $500 each. Together they shrink by $50 for every $1,000, or part of $1,000, of taxable wages above $200,000 ($400,000 married filing jointly). Credits are treated as non-refundable here, so they can reduce federal tax to zero but not below. For hourly workers, the "no tax on overtime" deduction (tax years 2025 to 2028) removes the qualified overtime premium, the half-time part of time-and-a-half, from taxable income. It is capped at $12,500 ($25,000 married filing jointly) and shrinks by $100 for every full $1,000 of taxable wages above $150,000 ($300,000 married filing jointly); pay above time-and-a-half does not count. In flat mode, federal income tax is your taxable wages multiplied by the federal rate you enter. In both modes, state tax is your taxable wages multiplied by the state rate you enter. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base ($184,500 in 2026), and Medicare is 1.45% of all wages plus a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000, the point at which employers must start withholding it. Retirement contributions do not reduce Social Security and Medicare wages, but Section 125 deductions do. Other Deductions are then subtracted as a fixed dollar amount after tax. FICA is worked out on annual wages and spread evenly over the year; real payroll withholds the full 6.2% until you reach the wage base and then stops, so high earners see larger paychecks late in the year rather than a steady amount. Net pay is gross pay minus all of these. Annual figures are the per-period figures multiplied by the number of pay periods in a year for the frequency you chose. State tax does not use brackets, so the state rate you enter is applied to every dollar of taxable wages.

If you use flat mode, the most important choice is which federal rate to enter. Your marginal tax bracket, such as 22%, applies only to the top slice of your income. Under the progressive federal system, lower slices are taxed at 10% and 12%, and the standard deduction shields part of your income from tax entirely. Entering your bracket rate as a flat rate will usually overstate your federal tax. For a more realistic estimate, enter your effective rate, or switch back to 2026 brackets. You can find it by dividing the federal income tax withheld on a recent pay stub by the gross pay on that stub, or by dividing the total tax on last year's return by your total income.

Worked example using the default values

$5,000 of monthly gross pay is $60,000 a year. A single filer subtracts the $16,100 standard deduction, leaving $43,900 of taxable income. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10% ($1,240) and the remaining $31,500 at 12% ($3,780), so annual federal tax is $5,020, or $418.33 a month, an effective federal rate of 8.37% with a 12% marginal rate. A 5% state rate takes $250, Social Security takes $310, Medicare takes $72.50, and other deductions take $200, for net pay of $3,749.17 per month, or $44,990 a year. With two children under 17, $4,400 of Child Tax Credit cuts annual federal tax to $620. As a flat-rate comparison, entering 22% in flat mode would take $1,100 a month in federal tax and leave net pay of $3,067.50, which shows how much a bracket rate overstates tax when applied to every dollar. A worker paid $2,000 bi-weekly in flat mode with a 12% federal rate, a 4% state rate, and $100 of other deductions would see $240 federal tax, $80 state tax, $124 Social Security, and $29 Medicare, for net pay of $1,427 per paycheck. Over 26 paychecks that is $52,000 gross and $37,102 net.

Interpreting the results

The per-period net pay is the figure to use for a monthly or bi-weekly budget. If you are paid bi-weekly, remember that 26 paychecks means two months each year with three paychecks, so a monthly budget based on two paychecks leaves some extra. The annual net figure is useful when comparing job offers or deciding how much you can save. The chart makes it easy to see which deduction is largest; for many people it is federal tax, but at lower incomes FICA can be larger than federal income tax.

Practical tips

Bracket mode shows what you are likely to owe for the year, while your paycheck shows what is withheld; if the two differ a lot, you may get a refund or owe at tax time, and you can adjust your W-4. To match a real pay stub instead, use flat mode and adjust the rates until they match; after that, the calculator is a reliable way to test a raise or a change in pay frequency. If your state has no income tax, enter 0 for the state rate. Enter traditional 401(k) or 403(b) contributions and pre-tax health, dental, vision, HSA, or FSA deductions in the Pre-tax Deductions section, and after-tax items such as Roth contributions and union dues in Other Deductions.

Limitations and common mistakes

Bracket mode uses only the standard deduction and the credits above, assumes this job is your only income, treats all overtime you enter as FLSA-required overtime, and does not handle married filing separately, other income, or refundable credits. Bonuses and commission are averaged across every paycheck rather than taxed in the paycheck they arrive in, overtime assumes the same hours every week, and IRS contribution limits on 401(k) and HSA accounts are not enforced. A few states, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, tax 401(k) contributions, which this calculator does not reflect. The Additional Medicare Tax owed on your return depends on filing status; the calculator shows the amount withheld. Local and city income taxes and self-employment tax are not included. A common mistake is entering an annual salary in the Gross Pay per Period field; divide your salary by the number of pay periods first. The results are estimates for budgeting, not tax advice; your employer's payroll system and your tax return determine the actual amounts.

Frequently Asked Questions

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