Paycheck Calculator
Enter your gross pay for one paycheck and this calculator works out what actually lands in your bank account: federal income tax under the 2026 brackets, your state’s real 2026 brackets (all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, not a flat-rate guess), Social Security, Medicare, and your pre-tax 401(k) and health premium. You get a per-paycheck breakdown, an annual take-home figure, and your effective and marginal tax rates.
Quick Answer
- State tax here uses your state’s actual 2026 brackets and standard deduction. A flat percentage is only used if you pick the Custom option yourself.
- Filing status is a real input, not decoration: at $100,000 in Texas it moves take-home pay by more than $200 a check between single and married filing jointly.
- Nine states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming) take $0 state income tax on wages.
- Local and city income taxes are not included, and neither are W-4 credits for dependents, so treat the result as a close estimate, not a pay stub replica.
- Quick Answer
- What comes out of a paycheck, line by line
- How the estimate is built, step by step
- Worked example: $85,000 in California with a 401(k) and health premium
- Filing status changes the answer, and here is the proof
- What this estimator leaves out, stated plainly
- How it compares with the payroll-brand calculators
- Frequently asked questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
- References
What comes out of a paycheck, line by line
Five things come out before you are paid: pre-tax retirement contributions, pre-tax health premiums, federal income tax, state income tax, and the two FICA taxes. The table below is the calculator’s own output for the worked example used across this page, so you can see the size of each slice before you run your own numbers.
| Line | Per paycheck | Share of gross |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $3,269.23 | 100% |
| Pre-tax 401(k), 5% | $163.46 | 5.0% |
| Health premium | $150.00 | 4.6% |
| Federal income tax | $343.65 | 10.5% |
| California income tax | $132.04 | 4.0% |
| Social Security, 6.2% | $192.56 | 5.9% |
| Medicare, 1.45% | $45.03 | 1.4% |
| Take-home pay | $2,242.48 | 68.6% |
Two of those lines surprise people. Social Security stops once your wages pass the 2026 wage base of $184,500, which the Social Security Administration publishes in its contribution and benefit base table, so high earners see that line drop to zero late in the year in real payroll. Medicare never stops, and it gains an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 married filing jointly).
How the estimate is built, step by step
The calculator annualizes your check, taxes the annual figure, then divides back by your pay frequency. That is the same basic approach as the percentage method in IRS Publication 15-T, simplified so it needs seven inputs instead of a full Form W-4 interview.
Annualize. Gross pay per check is multiplied by your pay frequency (52, 26, 24, or 12) to get annual gross pay.
Subtract the retirement contribution. Your pre-tax percentage comes off the top, which lowers the income the federal and state tax steps see. The calculator also reports how much federal tax that contribution saves you over the year.
Apply the 2026 federal brackets. Your filing status standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household, from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32) comes off, then the seven brackets apply in slices.
Apply your state’s 2026 tables. The state step uses the state’s own brackets and standard deduction (the joint bracket set when you file jointly), compiled from state figures as of January 1, 2026. Local and city taxes are skipped.
Add FICA and divide. Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base and Medicare at 1.45% (plus 0.9% above the high-earner threshold) are added, the health premium is subtracted, and the annual result is divided back into a per-paycheck figure.
The 2026 federal brackets this tool applies
Only the slice of taxable income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket’s rate. The thresholds below are taxable income, meaning income after the standard deduction and pre-tax retirement contributions.
| Rate | Single, taxable income up to | Married filing jointly, up to |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $12,400 | $24,800 |
| 12% | $50,400 | $100,800 |
| 22% | $105,700 | $211,400 |
| 24% | $201,775 | $403,550 |
| 32% | $256,225 | $512,450 |
| 35% | $640,600 | $768,700 |
| 37% | Above $640,600 | Above $768,700 |
Worked example: $85,000 in California with a 401(k) and health premium
The pre-filled inputs are this example, so pressing Calculate reproduces it exactly. Gross pay is $3,269.23 every two weeks. The 5% retirement contribution removes $163.46 a check ($4,249.96 a year) before tax, which leaves federal taxable income of $64,649.98 after the $16,100 single standard deduction. Federal tax works out to $343.65 a check, and the tool notes the contribution itself saves $935.00 of federal tax across the year.
California tax runs through the state’s graduated brackets after its $5,540 single standard deduction and comes to $132.04 a check. Add Social Security of $192.56 and Medicare of $45.03, subtract the $150 health premium, and take-home pay is $2,242.48 a check, $58,304.45 a year. The combined marginal rate is 31% (22% federal plus 9.3% California), which is the rate a raise would face, while the effective rate on the whole salary is 21.8%. If you want that annual figure broken down further, the daily net pay calculator turns take-home pay into a per-day number for budgeting.
Filing status changes the answer, and here is the proof
Filing status sets both your standard deduction and your bracket widths, so the same salary produces three different paychecks. The table below is the calculator run at $100,000, paid biweekly in Texas (no state tax, so the federal effect is isolated).
| Filing status | Standard deduction | Federal tax per check | Take-home per check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 | $506.54 | $3,045.38 |
| Head of household | $24,150 | $368.77 | $3,183.15 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 | $293.85 | $3,258.07 |
Married filing jointly puts $212.69 more in each check than single at this salary, purely from the doubled deduction and wider brackets. If your status changed this year (marriage, divorce, a qualifying child), your withholding changed with it, and the current Form W-4 is where that gets recorded with your employer.
What this estimator leaves out, stated plainly
It is an estimator, and four gaps explain nearly every difference between its result and a real pay stub. First, it does not take the W-4 adjustments a payroll department applies: credits for dependents, other income, extra deductions, or extra withholding you requested. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator covers those if you need withholding precision. Second, local and city income taxes (New York City, Philadelphia, Ohio municipalities, Maryland counties, and others) are excluded, so results in those places run high.
Third, the state model is simplified: it applies each state’s brackets and standard deduction but not state credits, exemptions, or disability insurance deductions such as California SDI. Fourth, two deduction treatments are simplified. The health premium is subtracted from your pay but is not run through the tax steps, while on a real pay stub a pre-tax premium paid through a cafeteria plan usually lowers taxable wages too, so the tool slightly overstates tax when you enter a premium. In the other direction, the tool applies Social Security and Medicare to pay after your retirement contribution, while real payroll charges FICA on 401(k) deferrals as well, as IRS Topic No. 751 describes for Social Security and Medicare wages, so the FICA lines run slightly low when you contribute. Neither simplification changes the federal income tax math, and both are flagged here rather than hidden.
Bonuses are also outside this tool: supplemental wages are usually withheld at a flat 22% federal rate, which is why there is a separate bonus take-home pay calculator. And if you are converting between pay formats rather than checking a stub, the annual income to hourly calculator handles the salary to hourly-rate side of the question.
How it compares with the payroll-brand calculators
Most people find this kind of tool on a payroll company’s site, and those tools are built for employers first. PaycheckCity goes deepest on W-4 detail, including year-to-date wages and local taxes, but the form is long and each state lives on its own page. ADP and Gusto split their calculators by state and by hourly versus salary, and both are framed around selling payroll services to businesses. SmartAsset folds in local taxes and dependents, then routes you toward a financial advisor match. Several smaller tools still ask you to type a flat state tax rate and guess, which was the weakness of this page’s own earlier version.
The trade this page makes is different: one page, every state, real 2026 state brackets instead of a guessed percentage, pre-tax deductions included, and no signup or sales funnel. What you give up versus the employer tools is W-4 fine-tuning and local taxes, which the section above lists openly. If you specifically want Gusto’s official version, it is on gusto.com under its per-state paycheck calculators. This page is not affiliated with Gusto and uses none of its data.
Frequently asked questions
No. Calculator Zilo is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Gusto. An earlier version of this page carried the Gusto name in its title even though the tool never contained any Gusto data, rates, or payroll rules. The title has been corrected. Gusto’s own paycheck calculators are published on gusto.com, organized one state at a time.
Your per-paycheck gross pay is annualized, your pre-tax retirement contribution is subtracted, federal tax is computed on what remains after your filing status standard deduction using the 2026 brackets, your state’s 2026 brackets are applied the same way, Social Security and Medicare are added, and your health premium is subtracted. The annual result is divided back by your pay frequency.
Because it changes two things at once: the standard deduction ($16,100 single, $24,150 head of household, $32,200 married filing jointly for 2026) and the width of every tax bracket. At $100,000 paid biweekly in Texas, this calculator gives take-home pay of $3,045.38 single, $3,183.15 head of household, and $3,258.07 married filing jointly.
No. Local taxes such as New York City, Philadelphia, Ohio municipal, and Maryland county income taxes are excluded, and the result is labeled an estimate for that reason. If you pay a local tax, your real take-home pay will be lower than the estimate by roughly that tax.
The usual causes are W-4 entries this tool does not ask for (dependent credits, other income, extra withholding), pre-tax premiums lowering your real taxable wages, deductions the tool has no field for (HSA, FSA, union dues, garnishments), and timing: Social Security stops mid-year once you pass the $184,500 wage base, which a single annualized estimate spreads evenly.
For withholding, usually yes: employers commonly withhold federal tax on supplemental wages like bonuses at a flat 22%, separate from your regular bracket math. The bonus is still taxed at your normal rates when you file, so the 22% is a withholding rule, not a special tax rate. Use the bonus take-home pay calculator for that case.
On a real pay stub, no: pre-tax 401(k) deferrals lower your income tax but still count as Social Security and Medicare wages. This estimator applies FICA after the retirement contribution, so its Social Security and Medicare lines run slightly low when you enter a contribution. The difference is 7.65% of the contribution, about $325 a year on a $4,250 contribution.
Nine states take no income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. In the calculator they return $0 state tax. New Hampshire taxes interest and dividends rather than wages, which is why it sits in the no-wage-tax group.
Biweekly means every two weeks, which produces 26 checks a year and two months with three checks. Semi-monthly means twice a month on set dates, which produces 24 larger checks. Annual take-home pay is the same either way in this calculator; only the per-check amount changes, which matters for monthly budgeting.
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References
- Internal Revenue Service, “Revenue Procedure 2025-32: tax year 2026 inflation adjustments, rate tables, and standard deductions”. IRS: Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (PDF). Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill”. IRS: Tax Year 2026 Inflation Adjustments. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Publication 15-T: Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods (2026)”. IRS Publication 15-T (PDF). Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Publication 15 (Circular E): Employer’s Tax Guide”. IRS Publication 15. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Publication 15-A: Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide”. IRS Publication 15-A. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Social Security Administration, “Contribution and Benefit Base: the $184,500 Social Security wage base for 2026”. SSA: Contribution and Benefit Base. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Topic No. 751: Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates”. IRS Topic No. 751. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “About Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate”. IRS: About Form W-4. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Tax Withholding Estimator”. IRS: Tax Withholding Estimator. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Retirement Topics: 401(k) and Profit-Sharing Plan Contribution Limits”. IRS: 401(k) Contribution Limits. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “About Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement”. IRS: About Form W-2. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, “Understanding Employment Taxes”. IRS: Understanding Employment Taxes. Accessed October 21, 2026.