Paycheck calculator
What actually lands in your bank account: take-home pay after federal and state taxes, Social Security, Medicare and your deductions, using the 2026 withholding rules.
Take-home pay per paycheck
$1,938.07
$50,389.86 a year from $59,999.94 gross, 26 paychecks.
| Item | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,307.69 | $59,999.94 |
| Federal income tax | −$193.08 | −$5,020.08 |
| Social Security | −$143.08 | −$3,720.00 |
| Medicare | −$33.46 | −$870.00 |
| Take-home pay | $1,938.07 | $50,389.86 |
- Taxes as a share of pay
- 16.0%
- Federal taxable wages (year)
- $59,999.94
Estimates for planning, not tax advice. Your employer's payroll may round differently, and your tax bill when you file can differ from what's withheld.
Pick your state
Each state's page uses that state's own 2026 withholding rules, its payroll taxes for disability or paid leave, and any city or county tax.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
How a paycheck is figured
- Gross pay is your salary divided by the number of paychecks in the year, or your hours times your hourly rate (overtime at time and a half).
- Pre-tax deductions come out first. A traditional 401(k) lowers the wages your income tax is figured on. Health insurance, HSA and FSA contributions through payroll also lower the wages Social Security and Medicare are figured on.
- Federal income tax is withheld by the IRS's percentage method: your pay is annualized, adjusted for your Form W-4, run through the withholding tables, then divided back into a paycheck.
- Social Security takes 6.2% of your wages up to $184,500 for the year, and Medicare 1.45% of all of them, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000.
- State and local taxes follow your state's rules; nine states don't tax wages at all.
- What's left after after-tax deductions (a Roth 401(k), union dues) is your take-home pay.
Federal withholding tables for 2026
These are the IRS's annual withholding rates for a 2020-or-later Form W-4 with the Step 2 box unchecked. They aren't the tax brackets on your return: they already allow for the standard deduction, which is why the first slice of income is withheld at 0%.
| Yearly wages after the W-4 adjustment | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 to $7,500 | 0% |
| $7,500 to $19,900 | 10% |
| $19,900 to $57,900 | 12% |
| $57,900 to $113,200 | 22% |
| $113,200 to $209,275 | 24% |
| $209,275 to $263,725 | 32% |
| $263,725 to $648,100 | 35% |
| Over $648,100 | 37% |
Source: IRS Publication 15-T (2026). The methodology page has every step, and our guides explain why a paycheck is smaller than the salary suggests and how to fill out a W-4.
Questions
Why doesn't my paycheck match exactly?
Payroll systems round differently, some benefits are taken out of only some paychecks, and states with their own allowance forms may be set up differently from the defaults here. The result should be within a few dollars for a typical paycheck; if it's far off, compare the lines with your pay stub to find which one differs.
Is the withholding the same as the tax I'll owe?
Not exactly. Withholding is an estimate spread over the year; your real tax is settled when you file. A big refund or bill usually means your Form W-4 needs updating; the IRS's Tax Withholding Estimator helps with that.
What about the new deductions for tips and overtime?
From 2025 you can deduct qualified tips (up to $25,000) and the extra "half" of overtime pay (up to $12,500, or $25,000 married filing jointly). Your paycheck only reflects them if you put them in Step 4(b) of your W-4. For hourly pay, the calculator can do that for overtime under More Form W-4 options.
Is my information saved or sent anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser. The numbers appear in the page address only so you can bookmark or share a result.