Disclaimer: Estimate for informational purposes only. Actual withholding depends on your W-4 and employer payroll system. Not tax advice. Updated for 2026 tax year (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Looking for your state? Browse all 51 state paycheck calculators.
How do you calculate your paycheck?
Your paycheck is gross pay minus federal income tax, Social Security at 6.2%, Medicare at 1.45%, and any state income tax. On a $60,000 salary with no state income tax, take-home pay is about $50,390 a year - $1,938 every two weeks.
How much is taken out of a paycheck?
Every US paycheck has federal income tax withheld, plus Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% - together the 7.65% FICA deduction. Most states withhold income tax on top, though nine do not. On a $60,000 salary, federal tax and FICA alone come to about $9,610 a year.
How do you calculate a weekly paycheck?
A weekly paycheck is annual take-home pay divided by 52. Because tax is calculated on the annual figure and then split across periods, weekly, biweekly and monthly paychecks all come from the same yearly total - a biweekly paycheck is simply twice a weekly one, not a different tax calculation.
Free Paycheck Calculator: Estimate Your Take-Home Pay
The Tools Kit’s free Paycheck Calculator turns gross pay into an estimate of net pay for any US state. Enter an annual salary, an hourly wage, or the gross amount on each paycheck. It works out federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state income tax. Then it shows your take-home pay per paycheck and for the whole year. It works as a salary paycheck calculator and an hourly paycheck calculator. It is also a weekly, biweekly, or monthly take-home pay calculator, all from the same form.
Net pay = gross pay − pre-tax deductions − federal income tax − FICA − state tax. Everything is calculated in your browser using 2026 federal figures and each state’s own brackets. Your salary is never sent to a server.
How to Use the Paycheck Calculator
- 1
Choose your state, pay frequency, and filing status
Pick one of the 51 supported states (all 50 plus Washington, DC). Then choose weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly pay, and single or married filing jointly.
- 2
Enter your gross pay
Choose annual salary, hourly wage, or per-period gross. For an hourly wage, enter your rate and hours per pay period. Type the amount before any taxes or deductions.
- 3
Add pre-tax deductions
If you like, enter a 401(k) contribution as a percentage of pay and your yearly Section 125 health premiums. Both lower taxable income. Leave them at 0 to skip.
- 4
Read your take-home pay
The results show gross pay, federal tax, FICA, state tax plus SDI, and net pay per paycheck. You also see net pay for the year. Everything updates as you type.
Paid by the hour? If you are not sure of your hours per pay period, total them with the time card calculator. Are some of those hours paid at time and a half? Work out the extra with the overtime calculator, then enter the result as per-period gross.
Weekly vs biweekly vs monthly paychecks
This table shows take-home pay per paycheck at each pay frequency. It is after federal tax and FICA, for a single filer in a state with no income tax. State tax reduces every figure below. See the state comparison that follows.
| Annual salary | Weekly | Every 2 weeks | Twice a month | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $660.00 | $1,320.00 | $1,430.00 | $2,860.00 |
| $60,000 | $969.04 | $1,938.08 | $2,099.58 | $4,199.17 |
| $80,000 | $1,252.12 | $2,504.23 | $2,712.92 | $5,425.83 |
| $100,000 | $1,522.69 | $3,045.38 | $3,299.17 | $6,598.33 |
Tax is worked out on the yearly figure and then split across pay periods. So the pay frequency changes the size of each check, not the total you take home over a year.
How much difference does your state make?
Here is the same $60,000 salary, single filer, paid every two weeks. It is shown in four states with very different income tax rules.
| State | State tax / year | Take-home / year | Every 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | None | $50,390 | $1,938.08 |
| North Carolina | $1,885 | $48,505 | $1,865.57 |
| California | $2,511 | $47,879 | $1,841.50 |
| New York | $2,643 | $47,747 | $1,836.42 |
9 states charge no income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. California’s figure also includes state disability insurance (SDI) at 1.3% of wages.
How to calculate your paycheck by hand
- 1
Start from gross pay
Use your annual salary, or your hourly rate multiplied by hours per period. Want to compare an hourly offer with a salaried one first? Use the hourly to salary calculator.
- 2
Subtract pre-tax deductions
401(k) contributions, HSA, and Section 125 health premiums come out before tax is worked out. That lowers your taxable income.
- 3
Apply federal income tax
Federal tax is progressive. Each bracket applies only to the income inside it, so a raise never lowers your take-home pay.
- 4
Apply FICA
Social Security is 6.2% up to the annual wage base. Medicare is 1.45% on all wages, with no cap.
- 5
Apply state tax, then divide
Subtract state withholding. Then divide the annual net by your number of pay periods: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semi-monthly, or 12 monthly.
Worked example: $60,000 salary, single filer, no state income tax
A single filer earning $60,000 in a state with no income tax, such as Texas, keeps $50,390.00 of it. Here is where the rest goes.
| Line | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $60,000.00 | $5,000.00 |
| Federal income tax | -$5,020.00 | -$418.33 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | -$3,720.00 | -$310.00 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | -$870.00 | -$72.50 |
| Take-home pay | $50,390.00 | $4,199.17 |
That is an effective tax rate of 16.0% on gross pay, counting FICA. Federal income tax alone is 8.4% of gross pay. That is well below the 12% bracket the last dollar falls in. Why? The brackets apply to taxable income after the standard deduction. And each rate only applies to the slice of income inside its band.
How 401(k) and Section 125 deductions change your paycheck
Pre-tax deductions cost you less than their face value, because they also cut your tax. Take the same $60,000 Texas example. A 5% 401(k) contribution puts $3,000 a year into retirement savings. Yet it lowers take-home pay by only $2,640, because federal income tax falls from $5,020 to $4,660. Social Security and Medicare are unchanged, since a traditional 401(k) does not reduce FICA wages. To see what those contributions could grow to over a career, try the compound interest calculator.
Section 125 health premiums go further. They reduce federal, state, and FICA wages alike. Entering $2,400 a year of premiums lowers take-home pay by $1,928. That is because FICA drops from $4,590 to $4,406, on top of the federal saving. HSA and IRA contributions, post-tax deductions, and year-to-date wages are not fields in this calculator.
How these figures are calculated
- Federal income tax uses the 2026 brackets and a standard deduction of $16,100 for a single filer ($32,200 married filing jointly). Tax is applied band by band to income above the deduction, not to gross pay.
- Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the $184,500 wage base. Earnings above that are not charged.
- Medicare is 1.45% of all wages, with no wage cap. An extra 0.9% applies to wages above $200,000.
- State income tax comes from each state’s own file of brackets and standard deductions. Nine states charge none. Most files use 2026 rates. California uses the 2026 brackets published by the FTB.
- Not included: the tables on this page assume no pre-tax deductions, such as 401(k) or health premiums. (The calculator above lets you add both.) Local and city income taxes are not included anywhere. Neither are state disability or paid-leave levies other than California SDI. Adding pre-tax contributions lowers taxable income against these figures.
These are estimates for planning, not withholding advice. Your employer withholds based on your W-4, which can differ. See our calculator methodology for how we source and review every calculator. This calculator covers US federal and state tax only. For pay outside the US, use the UK take-home pay calculator or the Canada income tax calculator.
Common uses
- Comparing take-home pay on a job offer in a different state.
- Checking what a raise is worth per paycheck, and whether it beats rising prices with the inflation calculator.
- Building a monthly budget around net pay rather than gross salary.
- Deciding how much extra take-home pay you can put toward debt with the credit card payoff calculator.
- Seeing how a higher 401(k) percentage changes each paycheck before you update it with payroll.
- Comparing weekly, biweekly, and semi-monthly pay schedules.
Browse more salary, loan, and everyday tools in our calculator tools collection.
Paycheck terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Gross pay | Your pay before any tax or deduction. That is your salary, or your hourly rate times hours worked. |
| Net pay / take-home pay | What is left after taxes and deductions. It is the amount that lands in your bank account. |
| Pre-tax deduction | Money taken out before income tax is worked out. Examples are a traditional 401(k) contribution or Section 125 health premiums. |
| Section 125 plan | A cafeteria plan that lets you pay health premiums pre-tax. It lowers federal, state, and FICA wages. |
| FICA | The federal payroll tax: Social Security (6.2%) plus Medicare (1.45%), together 7.65% of wages |
| Social Security wage base | The 2026 earnings cap of $184,500. Social Security is not charged above it. |
| Additional Medicare tax | An extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 |
| Standard deduction | The amount subtracted before federal brackets apply. In 2026 it is $16,100 single and $32,200 married filing jointly. |
| SDI | State disability insurance withheld from wages. This calculator includes it for California. |
| Effective tax rate | Total tax divided by gross pay. Federal income tax alone, as a share of pay, is always lower than the top bracket your last dollar falls in. |
Paycheck calculator by state
State tax rules change the take-home number a lot. See full breakdowns for each state below.
- Alabama paycheck calculator
- Alaska paycheck calculator
- Arizona paycheck calculator
- Arkansas paycheck calculator
- California paycheck calculator
- Colorado paycheck calculator
- Connecticut paycheck calculator
- Delaware paycheck calculator
- District of Columbia paycheck calculator
- Florida paycheck calculator
- Georgia paycheck calculator
- Hawaii paycheck calculator
- Idaho paycheck calculator
- Illinois paycheck calculator
- Indiana paycheck calculator
- Iowa paycheck calculator
- Kansas paycheck calculator
- Kentucky paycheck calculator
- Louisiana paycheck calculator
- Maine paycheck calculator
- Maryland paycheck calculator
- Massachusetts paycheck calculator
- Michigan paycheck calculator
- Minnesota paycheck calculator
- Mississippi paycheck calculator
- Missouri paycheck calculator
- Montana paycheck calculator
- Nebraska paycheck calculator
- Nevada paycheck calculator
- New Hampshire paycheck calculator
- New Jersey paycheck calculator
- New Mexico paycheck calculator
- New York paycheck calculator
- North Carolina paycheck calculator
- North Dakota paycheck calculator
- Ohio paycheck calculator
- Oklahoma paycheck calculator
- Oregon paycheck calculator
- Pennsylvania paycheck calculator
- Rhode Island paycheck calculator
- South Carolina paycheck calculator
- South Dakota paycheck calculator
- Tennessee paycheck calculator
- Texas paycheck calculator
- Utah paycheck calculator
- Vermont paycheck calculator
- Virginia paycheck calculator
- Washington paycheck calculator
- West Virginia paycheck calculator
- Wisconsin paycheck calculator
- Wyoming paycheck calculator
Related pay calculators
Frequently Asked Questions
Gross pay is what you earn before anything is taken out. Net pay, or take-home pay, is what remains after federal income tax, FICA, state tax, and deductions such as a 401(k). Take a single filer on a $60,000 salary in Texas. Gross pay is $2,307.69 every two weeks, and net pay is $1,938.08.
The calculator starts with your annual gross pay. It subtracts pre-tax deductions and the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly). Then it applies the progressive brackets, from 10% to 37%, band by band. Finally it divides the yearly tax by your number of pay periods.
FICA is the federal payroll tax. It is Social Security at 6.2% on wages up to $184,500, plus Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, or 7.65% combined. An Additional Medicare tax of 0.9% applies to wages above $200,000. On $60,000, FICA is $4,590 a year.
Biweekly pay comes every two weeks, 26 paychecks a year. Semi-monthly pay comes twice a month, 24 paychecks a year, so each check is larger. On $60,000 in Texas, biweekly net pay is $1,938.08 and semi-monthly net pay is $2,099.58. The yearly take-home is the same.
Yes. Choose "Hourly wage" and enter your rate and hours per pay period. The calculator multiplies rate by hours by pay periods to get annual gross, then applies tax. Say you earn $25 an hour for 80 hours every two weeks. Gross pay is $52,000 a year, and biweekly take-home in Texas is $1,690.85. Set hours to match your pay frequency, for example 40 for weekly pay.
A traditional 401(k) contribution comes out before federal and state income tax, so it lowers your tax. It does not reduce Social Security or Medicare, though. Take a single filer in Texas who puts 5% of $60,000 ($3,000 a year) into a 401(k). Annual take-home pay falls by only $2,640, because federal tax falls by $360.
Section 125 deductions, also called cafeteria plan deductions, are health insurance premiums paid pre-tax through payroll. Unlike a 401(k), they also reduce the wages Social Security and Medicare are charged on. Say you enter $2,400 a year of premiums on a $60,000 salary. Annual take-home pay falls by $1,928, not the full $2,400.
Nine states do not withhold state income tax from wages in this calculator. They are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. In those states, take-home pay is gross pay minus federal income tax, FICA, and any pre-tax deductions you enter.
Yes. The filing status options are single and married filing jointly. Your choice switches both the federal and state brackets and standard deductions. Head of household is not offered. On $60,000 in Texas, annual take-home is $50,390 filing single and $52,570 married filing jointly.
No. Local and city income taxes are not included, such as those in New York City or many Ohio and Pennsylvania towns. State paid-leave levies other than California SDI are also left out. If you pay a local wage tax, your real take-home pay will be lower than the estimate.
Employers withhold based on your W-4 and the IRS Publication 15-T tables. Your pay stub may also include benefits, local taxes, HSA or post-tax deductions that this calculator does not ask for. It also taxes your pay as if it were earned evenly all year. Treat the result as a planning estimate, not tax advice.
Federal income tax and FICA use 2026 figures from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and the 2026 Social Security wage base. State brackets come from each state's own data file, mostly with 2026 rates. California uses the 2026 brackets the FTB published in its indexing notice.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 2026 · Tax year 2026
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