Take Home Pay Paycheck Calculator

Optional. One flat state income tax rate, applied to the wages federal income tax is withheld on. It stands in for your state's withholding rather than reproducing it: most states with an income tax have brackets and deductions of their own, so a flat rate is exact only in a flat-tax state. Nine states tax no wages, which is why a blank reads as none. The slider runs to 13.3 percent, California's top rate.

The share of your gross pay you put into a traditional, before-tax 401(k) or 403(b). It lowers the wages federal income tax is withheld on but not the wages Social Security and Medicare are charged on. The shipped 6.6 percent is the median deferral Vanguard reports for 2026 in How America Saves, taken from a search extract of that report and not checked against the report itself. Zero means no plan; the year's limit is applied for you.

Optional. The share of your gross pay you put into a Roth, after-tax 401(k). It comes out of the paycheck whole, because it lowers neither the wages income tax is withheld on nor the wages Social Security and Medicare are charged on. It shares the year's limit with the traditional share; when the two together ask for more than the limit, both are scaled down in proportion. A blank is none.

Optional. A flat employee rate for a state payroll program such as disability insurance, paid family leave or long-term care, applied to the wages Social Security is charged on, with no wage cap. California's disability rate is 1.3 percent, and Washington's paid leave and long-term care premiums together come to about 1.387 percent; most other programs stop at a yearly wage cap, which is not modelled. A blank is none.

Whether the Step 2 box on your Form W-4 is ticked. Tick it when you hold two jobs at once, or you file jointly and your spouse also works, and the two jobs pay about the same; each job then withholds as if it had half the household's standard deduction and half-width brackets. Leaving it unticked with a second job is the commonest reason a two-earner household owes money at filing.

Optional. The amount from Step 4(b) of your Form W-4: deductions you expect beyond the standard deduction. From 2026 this is also where the new deductions go, estimated on the Form W-4 deductions worksheet: qualified tips up to 25,000, qualified overtime up to 12,500 (25,000 on a joint return), car-loan interest up to 10,000, and 6,000 for each person 65 or over, each with its own income test. It lowers the income tax withheld and the year's tax and leaves Social Security and Medicare untouched. A blank is none.

Optional. The extra amount from Step 4(c) of your Form W-4, withheld from every paycheck on top of what the IRS table gives. It is the usual repair for a balance due at filing. A blank is none.

Optional. The dollar amount from Step 3 of your Form W-4: for 2026, 2,200 for each child under 17 and 500 for each other dependent, entered only if your total income is 200,000 or less, or 400,000 or less on a joint return. It is a yearly credit the IRS method spreads evenly over the paychecks. Leave it blank if you entered nothing in Step 3; a blank is no credit.

Optional. The amount from Step 4(a) of your Form W-4: other income for the year with no tax withheld from it, such as interest, dividends or a pension. It raises this job's withholding and is counted in the year's tax. Leave it blank if you entered nothing there; a blank is none.

Your age at the end of 2026, which decides how much the year's 401(k) limit allows: the base limit under 50, a catch-up on top from 50 to 59 or at 64 and over, and a larger catch-up from 60 to 63. When this job's pay is above the threshold of the 2026 Roth catch-up rule, the catch-up has to go in as Roth, and the calculator counts it that way.

The status you will file your federal tax return under. The paycheck's withholding uses the matching Form W-4 table, in which single and married filing separately share one table, while the year's tax uses the return's own brackets, standard deduction and Additional Medicare threshold. A separate return at a high income is where the two part company, because its top bracket starts far lower than the shared table assumes.

Optional. Anything else taken from each paycheck after tax: union dues, after-tax insurance, or an HSA contribution taken outside a cafeteria plan. It lowers only what reaches the bank. A blank is none.

Your pay from this job for a whole year before anything is taken out: salary, or hourly wages times the hours you expect to work, with any tips your employer reports through payroll. Every per-paycheck figure is this divided by the number of paychecks, so enter the year's figure even if you think of your pay by the paycheck. It has to be more than zero.

Optional. Health, dental and vision premiums taken from each paycheck before tax through your employer's cafeteria plan. They lower both the wages income tax is withheld on and the wages Social Security and Medicare are charged on. Premiums taken after tax belong in the after-tax deductions instead. A blank is none.

Optional. A year of wages from a second job you hold, or from your spouse's job when you file jointly. That job is withheld by the same method, filing status and Step 2 box with no Step 3 or Step 4 entries, and its wages count in the year's tax and toward the Additional Medicare threshold on the return; its own paycheck is not shown. Leave it blank for one job.

How often this job pays you. It sets the number of paychecks a year the IRS method uses: 52 weekly, 26 every two weeks, 24 twice a month and 12 monthly. Pay every two weeks counts as 26 paychecks even in a year that happens to have 27 paydays, as the IRS method does.

Optional. A year of contributions to a health savings account, a health flexible spending account and a dependent-care flexible spending account made through your employer's cafeteria plan, added together. Like the premiums, this money escapes income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and it is spread evenly over the paychecks. The 2026 limits are 4,400 or 8,750 for an HSA plus 1,000 at 55, 3,400 for a health FSA and 7,500 for dependent care; they are not checked here. An HSA paid outside a cafeteria plan is taxable pay and belongs in the after-tax deductions. A blank is none.

Optional. A flat city or county income tax rate, applied to the same wages as the state rate. New York City's top resident rate is 3.876 percent and Philadelphia's resident wage tax 3.735 percent from July 2026. Some cities, Philadelphia among them, also tax the 401(k) deferral and cafeteria-plan money, which this flat rate leaves out, so it can understate their tax. A blank is none.

The flat state payroll rate entered times the wages Social Security is charged on, with no cap, divided by the paychecks. Nothing when no rate is entered.

The flat state rate entered times the wages federal income tax is withheld on, divided by the paychecks. Nothing when no rate is entered.

Machinery, and NOT an input. The same for the top of the table: each 401(k) share is put here in turn while the table is filled, and the rest of the time it repeats the traditional 401(k) share you entered.

The values across the top of the table: the traditional 401(k) share in steps of one point either side of yours, never below nothing. Read a column to hold the share fixed and vary the pay. The middle entry is your own share.

The year's Social Security tax, 6.2 percent of the wages it is charged on up to the year's wage base, divided by the paychecks. For pay above the wage base this is an average: the early paychecks carry more of it and the late ones none.

Says in words whether withholding is more than, less than or the same as the year's tax, counting a difference of less than a dollar as the same.

The federal income tax both jobs withhold over the year, less the year's federal income tax, plus the Additional Medicare settlement. Positive is a refund, negative a balance due when you file. Social Security over-withheld by two employers is not counted.

The Roth 401(k) contribution from each paycheck, including any catch-up the 2026 rule moves to Roth. It is taken after tax, so it lowers take-home pay by its full amount.

Traditional and Roth 401(k) contributions over the year after the limit. The two shares together are held to the year's limit in proportion; for 2026 that is 24,500 before any catch-up.

Machinery. A two-way table of this kind needs the result it tabulates in its top left corner, where it means nothing to a reader, so it is hidden. It holds the take-home pay per paycheck.

The traditional 401(k) contribution from each paycheck after the year's limit and, at high pay, after any catch-up has been moved to Roth. The year's allowed amount is spread evenly, so every paycheck carries the same.

The year's taxable income on the same entries: this job's income-tax wages, the other job's wages and the Step 4(a) other income, less the standard deduction for your filing status and the Step 4(b) deductions, never below nothing.

Which of the six 2026 annual withholding tables the paycheck was looked up in: the Form W-4 status table, married filing jointly, single or married filing separately, or head of household, either standard or with the Step 2 box ticked.

The federal income tax both jobs withhold over the year, as a share of all the income entered: both jobs' wages and the Step 4(a) other income.

Every tax taken from this job's pay, federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and any state, local and state payroll tax, as a share of that pay. It is an average over the whole year's pay, not the rate on the next dollar.

Machinery, and NOT an input. While the table is being filled, each gross pay from the side of the table is put here in turn; the rest of the time it repeats the gross annual pay you entered. Change the gross annual pay, never this: the side of the table is built from it, so changing this would move the side while the table is filled and the results would mean nothing.

The values down the side of the table: gross annual pay in steps of ten thousand either side of yours, never below 10,000. Read a row to hold the pay fixed and vary the 401(k) share. The middle entry is your own pay.

Take-home pay as a share of gross pay. What is missing went to taxes, the 401(k), benefits and other deductions, and the 401(k) part is still your money.

The body of the table: take-home pay per paycheck worked out again for every pair of gross annual pay and traditional 401(k) share, with everything else as entered. One hundred and twenty-one results, each the whole calculation run again. More take-home pay is the green end, and a lower figure along a row is not money lost, because the difference went into the 401(k).

The gross annual pay divided by the paychecks: what each paycheck is worth before anything comes out of it.

The federal income tax withheld from each paycheck by the IRS's 2026 percentage method for payroll systems (Worksheet 1A), with any Step 3 credits and Step 4 entries. It is what the paycheck withholds, which is not always what the year's tax will cost; the refund or balance due settles the difference.

The flat city or county rate entered times the same wages, divided by the paychecks. Nothing when no rate is entered.

The wages federal income tax is withheld on for the year: gross pay less the traditional 401(k) and the cafeteria-plan money. It is the figure that normally appears in box 1 of the W-2.

The federal income tax this job withholds over the year: the withholding per paycheck times the number of paychecks.

Line 1i of the IRS withholding worksheet: the year's income-tax wages plus the Step 4(a) other income, less the Step 4(b) deductions and, when the Step 2 box is not ticked, a fixed allowance of 8,600, or 12,900 on a joint return. That allowance is not the standard deduction; the rest of the deduction is built into the table's zero percent row. The table is looked up at this figure.

The Additional Medicare tax withheld by the two jobs less the Additional Medicare tax owed on the return. An employer withholds it on pay above 200,000 whatever the status, while the return charges it above 250,000 on a joint return, 125,000 on a separate one and 200,000 otherwise, so the two rarely match. Positive comes back as part of a refund; negative is owed.

The year's federal income tax as a share of the same income. Beside the withholding rate it shows the gap between the income tax withheld and the income tax the year costs. With one job and no Form W-4 entries the two are the same on a single, joint or head of household return; on a separate return at a high income the withholding rate falls short, because the separate return's top bracket starts far lower than the shared withholding table assumes.

The federal income tax the year actually costs on those entries: the 2026 brackets for your filing status walked layer by layer, less the Step 3 credits, never below nothing. The refundable part of the child tax credit and every other credit are left out.

The year's Medicare tax withheld, 1.45 percent of every dollar it is charged on plus the 0.9 percent of Additional Medicare an employer must withhold on pay above 200,000, divided by the paychecks.

The wages Social Security and Medicare are charged on for the year: gross pay less the cafeteria-plan money. The traditional 401(k) is not taken off here, which is why this is usually the larger of the two wage figures.

Social Security and Medicare withheld over the year, the Additional Medicare this employer withholds included.

The health premiums plus the year's HSA and FSA money spread over the paychecks: the cafeteria-plan money that escapes income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

The number of paychecks a year for the pay frequency chosen. Every per-paycheck figure is a yearly amount divided by this.

The federal income tax the other job withholds over the year, worked out by the same method, status and Step 2 box with no Step 3 or Step 4 entries. Nothing when no other job is entered.

A year of take-home pay: the take-home pay per paycheck times the number of paychecks.

Reads OK, or says why the entries cannot be answered, or why the answer deserves a second look before you rely on it.

Take-home pay: what reaches the bank from each paycheck once federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, any state and local taxes, the 401(k), pre-tax benefits and after-tax deductions have come out. The table tabulates it, and it is worked out even when the entries are refused, so the table always holds a number.

The year's take-home pay divided by twelve, whatever the pay frequency. It is the take-home pay the 50/30/20 Budget Split calculator asks for; that calculator accepts it from 50 up to 36,000 a month, rounded to the nearest 50.