YTD Income Calculator
Your pay stub shows a year-to-date figure every payday, but what does it mean for your year? This calculator takes your YTD gross income (or builds it from your salary or hourly rate), adds overtime and bonuses, breaks down your deductions, and projects where your earnings land by December 31.
YTD Income Calculator
Deductions year to date (optional, from pay stub)
The short answer
YTD income is everything you have earned since January 1 (or your fiscal year start). The projection is simple: Projected annual = (YTD income / days elapsed) x days in year. A salaried worker with $33,000 banked by July 2 (day 182) is on pace for about $66,181 by year end. The tool above runs this for your numbers and layers on overtime, bonuses, and deductions.
Where YTD lives on your pay stub
Every pay stub has a YTD column next to the current-period column. YTD gross is the sum of all gross pay since the year started: regular wages plus overtime, bonuses, and commissions. Below it you will usually find YTD federal tax, state tax, Social Security, and Medicare, which is what the deductions section of the calculator is for. Two details people miss: YTD follows the pay date, not the work date, so a January 2 paycheck for December work still counts toward the new year. And if you started the job mid-year, your stub’s YTD covers only this employer’s payments, not your full calendar-year earnings.
Worked example, verified in the tool
Inputs: salaried, YTD gross $30,000, overtime $2,000, bonus $1,000, current date July 2 2026, year start January 1 2026. Outputs: total YTD $33,000, 182 days elapsed, 49.9% of the year gone, average $181.32 per day, projected annual $66,181, remaining $33,181. The arithmetic: 33,000 / 182 = 181.32 per day; 181.32 x 365 = 66,181 projected; 66,181 – 33,000 = 33,181 remaining. Run it yourself above and try adding $5,000 of federal tax withheld to see the effective deduction rate appear in the insights.
Three ways to annualize, and when each wins
The calculator uses the days method; lenders often use the pay-period method. All three are legitimate:
- Days method: YTD / days elapsed x 365. Best when income accrues daily, which is how salary works.
- Weeks method: YTD / weeks elapsed x 52. Natural for weekly earners.
- Pay-period method: YTD / paychecks received x paychecks per year (52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly, 12 monthly). This is the one lenders ask for, and it is where the biweekly trap lives.
The biweekly trap: biweekly is 26 paychecks a year, semimonthly (twice a month) is 24. Mixing them up throws the projection off by two full paychecks. If you are paid biweekly and annualize with 24, you understate your year by a month of pay.
The Social Security wage base, by year
Social Security tax stops once your wages pass an annual cap; Medicare tax never stops. The cap, called the taxable wage base, is set by the Social Security Administration each October. The calculator checks your projection against the correct base for your selected tax year:
| Year | Wage base | Max employee SS tax (6.2%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $160,200 | $9,932.40 |
| 2024 | $168,600 | $10,453.20 |
| 2025 | $176,100 | $10,918.20 |
| 2026 | $184,500 | $11,439.00 |
Source: Social Security Administration, maximum taxable earnings by year. If your projection clears the base, expect Social Security withholding to stop in later paychecks while Medicare continues.
Related pay tools: salary per minute, hours to money, and minutes to money for rate conversions. The full set is in the payroll and salary calculators collection.
What competing YTD calculators miss
A2ZCalculators splits income by type (salary, hourly, freelance) but stops at the gross projection with no deduction analysis. OwnCalculator breaks down deductions and net pay but never turns them into a rate you can reuse. BraveCalculator annualizes with the formula but adds nothing about take-home. This calculator now promotes the effective deduction rate to a headline tile and pairs it with a projected annual net figure, clearly labeled as an estimate, so the gross-to-net picture is complete in one screen.
Frequently asked questions
What is YTD income?
Total gross earnings from the start of the year through today: wages plus overtime, bonuses, and commissions, before deductions. Your pay stub lists it in the YTD column.
What is the projected annual net figure?
Your projected annual gross multiplied by (1 minus your effective deduction rate), labeled as an estimate. It assumes your deductions continue at the same share of income for the rest of the year. It appears once you enter any YTD deductions; without deductions the calculator cannot know your rate and shows a dash instead.
Is YTD gross or net?
Usually gross. Net YTD (take-home) is a separate figure. This calculator tracks gross for the projection and uses your deduction entries to show the net picture alongside it.
How do I project my annual income from YTD?
Divide YTD income by the time elapsed, then multiply by the full year: by days (YTD / days elapsed x 365), by weeks (x 52), or by pay periods (YTD / paychecks so far x paychecks per year). The calculator uses the days method.
Why does my projection change every payday?
Because it extrapolates your pace so far. A big bonus in March inflates the projection; unpaid time off drags it down. Re-run it monthly rather than treating any single projection as a promise.
Does YTD include my bonus?
Yes, if it was paid this year. Bonuses and commissions are part of gross YTD income. Enter them in the bonus field so the projection accounts for them separately from your base pace.
What is the Social Security wage base for 2026?
$184,500, per the Social Security Administration. You and your employer each pay 6.2% Social Security tax on wages up to that amount; above it, withholding stops. Medicare tax (1.45%) has no cap.
I am paid biweekly. Is that 26 or 24 paychecks?
26. Biweekly means every two weeks (26 per year); semimonthly means twice a month (24 per year). Using 24 for biweekly pay understates your annual income by two paychecks.