Paycheck Calculator

Updated October 2026 · 2026 federal tax figures

Your take-home pay is your gross salary minus five things: pre-tax benefit deductions, federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state income tax. The calculator above applies each one using 2026 federal rules. With the defaults, a single filer earning $75,000, putting 6% into a 401(k) and paying a 4% state rate, takes home about $55,263 a year, or $2,125 every two weeks.

Step by step: where a $75,000 salary goes

Federal income tax is figured on taxable income: gross pay, minus the 401(k) contribution, minus the $16,100 standard deduction for a single filer in 2026. That leaves $54,400 taxed through the brackets, which works out to $6,680. Most of it is taxed at 10% and 12%; only the top slice reaches 22%.

The 2026 numbers the calculator uses

• Standard deduction: $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly.
• Federal brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. For a single filer the 22% bracket starts at $50,400 of taxable income and the 24% bracket at $105,700.
• Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to $184,500. Above that, no more Social Security tax for the year.
• Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, plus an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 for joint filers).
• 401(k) limit: $24,500, plus an $8,000 catch-up at 50 or older.

Take-home pay at different salaries

Single filer, paid biweekly, no 401(k) or health deductions, 4% state tax:

Married couples filing jointly pay noticeably less federal tax on the same income because their brackets and standard deduction are twice as wide. On $75,000, a joint filer's federal tax is about $4,640 instead of $7,670, which adds roughly $117 to each biweekly check.

Pre-tax deductions are cheaper than they look

Money that comes out of your pay before tax costs you less than its face value, because it also lowers your tax bill. There are two kinds, and they work a little differently:

• 401(k) and 403(b) contributions reduce federal and most state income tax, but you still pay Social Security and Medicare on them. In the default example, putting an extra $100 per check into the 401(k) reduces take-home by only about $74.
• Health, dental and vision premiums and HSA contributions taken through payroll reduce income tax and Social Security and Medicare as well. Enter your yearly total in the health field and the calculator handles both effects. Adding $3,000 of health premiums to the default example lowers take-home by $1,991, not $3,000.

Why your real paycheck may not match

This is an estimate of what you will owe for the year, spread evenly over your paychecks. Your actual check can differ because:

• Employers withhold based on your W-4, which may not match your true tax. If you get a big refund or owe a lot every April, the tax withholding calculator helps you adjust.
• Tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit lower your tax but are not included here.
• State taxes are estimated at one flat rate. Most states have their own brackets, and some cities add a local income tax.
• Bonuses are often withheld at a flat 22% federal rate. See the bonus tax calculator.
• Once your wages pass $184,500 in 2026, Social Security stops for the rest of the year, so high earners see bigger checks late in the year.

To compare a job offer that pays hourly, convert it with the salary to hourly calculator. To see your bracket and effective rate on their own, use the tax bracket calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 brackets and standard deduction), IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 retirement plan limits), Social Security Administration (2026 contribution and benefit base). Formula and assumptions are on our methodology page.