US Take-Home Pay Calculator
This US take-home pay calculator turns a gross salary into the paycheck you actually keep. Enter your salary, state, and filing status and it applies the 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, your state's 2026 brackets from the Tax Foundation table, and FICA — Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base plus Medicare at 1.45%. Optional pre-tax 401(k) contributions lower your income tax (but not FICA), and results break down per year, per month, and per paycheck.
Your salary before any tax or deduction.
Sets the federal brackets, standard deduction, and state brackets used.
State income tax uses the Tax Foundation 2026 table for this state.
Adds city tax on top of state tax. New York City applies only with State = New York; Philadelphia only with State = Pennsylvania. Other city taxes (including Detroit) are not modeled yet.
Only changes the per-paycheck figure; annual totals stay the same.
Lowers federal and state income tax. It does NOT lower FICA.
Annual take-home pay
61,592.5
- Federal income taxOn $58900 of federal taxable income (after the $16,100 standard deduction).
- 7,670
- State income taxTexas 2026 brackets on $75000 of state taxable income. Local taxes excluded.
- 0
- FICA taxSocial Security $4650.00 + Medicare $1087.50.
- 5,737.5
- Total tax
- 13,407.5
- Effective tax rateTotal tax as a share of gross salary — always below your top marginal rate.
- 17.88%
- Monthly take-home
- 5,132.71
- Take-home per paycheck (every two weeks)Annual take-home ÷ 26 pay periods.
- 2,368.94
How it was calculated
- Federal: $75000 − $0 401(k) − $16,100 standard deduction = $58900 taxable, taxed bracket by bracket = $7670.00.
- State (Texas): $75000 − $0 401(k) − $0 state standard deduction = $75000 taxable = $0.00.
- FICA on the full $75000: Social Security 6.2% up to $184,500 = $4650.00; Medicare 1.45% = $1087.50; no Additional Medicare Tax at this income.
- Take-home: $75000 − $0 401(k) − $13407.50 tax = $61592.50 per year, $5132.71 per month, $2368.94 per paycheck (every two weeks).
How it works
Federal tax uses the 2026 marginal brackets from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. Each rate taxes only the slice of taxable income inside its own bracket — a $100,000 single salary is not taxed at 22% on the whole $100,000.
Taxable income comes after deductions: federal taxable income subtracts the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly) and any pre-tax 401(k) contribution. State taxable income subtracts that state's own 2026 standard deduction from the Tax Foundation table instead.
FICA is separate from income tax and is charged on gross wages: Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, Medicare at 1.45% on every dollar, plus an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages over $200,000 single / $250,000 joint. Pre-tax 401(k) money still pays FICA — that is why it only lowers the income-tax lines.
State tax applies that state's published 2026 brackets to state taxable income. Eight states (including Texas and Florida) levy no wage income tax, so their state line is $0; Washington taxes capital gains only, not wages.
Optional city tax, added only when you pick it: New York City uses the progressive resident schedule (3.078%, 3.762%, 3.819%, 3.876%) applied to state taxable income — the same base the state line uses — for full-year residents only. Philadelphia Wage Tax is flat on gross pay: 3.735% for residents, 3.425% for nonresidents on just the share of work done in Philadelphia. Philadelphia rates are the City of Philadelphia rates effective 1 July 2026 and change each 1 July; NYC rates are the NY State Tax Department 2024 IT-201-I schedule, unchanged since 2017.
Worked examples
$75,000 in Texas, single, no 401(k)
Federal taxable income is $75,000 − $16,100 = $58,900, giving $7,670 federal tax (10% on $12,400, 12% on $38,000, 22% on $8,500). Texas has no state income tax. FICA is $5,737.50. Total tax $13,407.50, so take-home is $61,592.50 a year — $5,132.71 a month.
$100,000 in California, single, no 401(k) — and $50,000 in Texas
Federal tax is $13,170 on $83,900 of taxable income. California tax is $5,223.42 on $94,460 of state taxable income (after its $5,540 standard deduction), climbing the 1%–9.3% brackets. FICA is $7,650. Total tax $26,043.42, take-home $73,956.58 — the same salary keeps $5,223.42 less than in Texas, exactly the California state tax. At $50,000 in Texas, single, no 401(k): federal taxable income is $50,000 − $16,100 = $33,900, giving $3,820 federal tax (10% on $12,400, 12% on $21,500). Texas has no state income tax. FICA is $3,825. Total tax $7,645, so take-home is $42,355 a year — $3,529.58 a month.
How to measure
- Compare states on take-home, not on headline salary: $100,000 in California keeps roughly $73,957 here, while $100,000 in Texas keeps about $79,180 — run both states before accepting a relocation offer.
- If your offer letter quotes a monthly salary, multiply by 12 first: this calculator works from annual gross, and a "monthly" quote that already nets out deductions will double-count tax.
- Enter your actual pre-tax 401(k) amount, not a percentage: a $6,000 contribution on $75,000 saves roughly $1,320 of federal tax at the 22% margin, but saves $0 of FICA.
- Biweekly pay means 26 paychecks and two three-paycheck months a year — budget on the monthly figure, not on one biweekly check times two.
- Treat this as a planning estimate: withholding on a real paycheck also reflects W-4 settings, pre-tax health premiums, and local taxes outside the New York City and Philadelphia options, which this calculator does not model.
- Married filing jointly? Run the same salary with the filing-status switch: on $100,000 in California, joint take-home is $82,305.02 versus $73,956.58 single — the doubled standard deduction ($32,200) and wider joint brackets do the work. State joint schedules do not always double, so the tool uses each state’s own joint table where it differs.
Assumptions & limitations
Planning estimate
- Tax year 2026 throughout: federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, state figures from the Tax Foundation 2026 table (January 1, 2026), FICA from the SSA 2026 wage base. Figures for other years will differ.
- Only the standard deduction is applied (federal and state). Itemized deductions, state personal exemptions and credits, and the Utah taxpayer credit are not modeled, so some states read slightly high.
- City tax is optional and covers New York City (full-year residents only) and Philadelphia (employees only) — see the city-tax notes below. Other local taxes are still excluded: Maryland counties, Ohio municipalities, and Detroit (whose rate is not yet confirmed from an official source) all add tax on top of the state line shown.
- New York City: progressive 3.078–3.876% schedule (NY State Dept. of Taxation and Finance, 2024 Form IT-201-I, rates unchanged since 2017) applied to state taxable income. Part-year residents (prorated on Form IT-360.1), the NYC household and school tax credits, and nonresident City of New York employees (Form NYC-1127) are not modeled. Figures use the rate schedule; the official tax table used below $65,000 of NYC taxable income may differ by a few dollars. The tool offers single and joint filing only, so the NYC head-of-household schedule is not used.
- Philadelphia: Wage Tax flat on gross pay — resident 3.735%, nonresident 3.425% on the Philadelphia-work share only (City of Philadelphia Dept. of Revenue, effective 1 July 2026). Self-employed people pay Net Profits Tax, not Wage Tax, and are out of scope here. Philadelphia rates fall slightly each 1 July on a Council-approved schedule, so the rate needs a check every July.
- Detroit is not included: its 2.4% / 1.2% rates are widely reported but were not confirmed from a Michigan Treasury or City of Detroit source, and exemption figures conflict. It will be added after one official check.
- No W-4 withholding quirks, no pre-tax health insurance or HSA premiums, no tips, overtime, bonuses, or other income — salary only. Bonus and overtime pay get their own calculator next in this series.
- This is a planning estimate, not tax advice. Confirm a real offer or filing position with a payroll department or tax professional.
Frequently asked questions
For a single filer with no 401(k) in 2026: federal tax $7,670, Texas state tax $0, FICA $5,737.50 — total $13,407.50, leaving $61,592.50 a year, or about $5,132.71 a month. Texas has no state income tax, which is why the same $75,000 keeps more here than in California or New York.
For a single filer with no 401(k) in 2026: federal tax $13,170, California tax $5,223.42, FICA $7,650 — total $26,043.42, leaving $73,956.58 a year. The California line alone is what separates it from Texas, where the same salary keeps about $79,180. California's top rates only bite well above $100,000, so the gap at this income is the 1%–9.3% climb, not the 13.3% top rate.
The most common reasons are local income tax in a city you did not select (New York City and Philadelphia are available in the City tax option; other cities such as Detroit, and many Ohio and Maryland localities, are not modeled yet), pre-tax health insurance and HSA premiums, and W-4 withholding that over-withholds. Over-withholding comes back as a refund at filing time; it is not extra tax, but it does shrink each paycheck.
It lowers the paycheck you see today but raises what you keep overall: every pre-tax dollar avoids income tax at your marginal rate (22% for many middle earners) while still paying FICA. A $6,000 contribution on a $75,000 salary costs $6,000 of gross pay but saves about $1,320 of federal tax, so the paycheck falls by about $4,680 while $6,000 lands in retirement.
Joint brackets are roughly double the single brackets and the standard deduction doubles to $32,200, so a one-earner household usually pays less federal tax than the same salary filed single. The Additional Medicare threshold also rises to $250,000. State brackets do not always double — New Jersey, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, among others, use different joint thresholds, and this calculator uses each state's own joint schedule where it differs.
Because states choose different systems. Eight states, including Texas and Florida, charge no wage income tax at all. Others charge a flat rate on all income (for example Pennsylvania at 3.07%). Most use graduated brackets, so the rate climbs with income — California runs from 1% to 9.3% on a $100,000 salary, which is why the same salary keeps about $79,180 in Texas but $73,957 in California. But take-home pay is not cost of living: housing, property tax, sales tax, and health costs can erase the gap, so compare the full budget, not just the tax line.