Take-home pay calculator by state

Calculate your take-home pay

2026 ESTIMATE. Federal tax from the 2026 brackets and standard deduction (IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32). FICA uses the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500 (SSA) and the fixed Additional Medicare Tax thresholds. State tax uses an editable estimated effective rate, exact for the 9 no-tax states and flat-tax states, an estimate for graduated-bracket states (Tax Foundation, state Departments of Revenue). Excludes local/city income tax, pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA, traditional premiums), and credits.

What comes out of your paycheck?

Three things come out of a paycheck before you see the money: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), and, in most states, state income tax. Federal tax and, where it applies, state tax are withheld based on your filing status and the allowances or extra withholding you set on Form W-4. FICA is a flat percentage with no withholding form involved: every employee pays it at the same rate regardless of filing status, up to the Social Security wage base.

How much of your paycheck goes to FICA (Social Security and Medicare)?

FICA takes 7.65% of most paychecks: 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. The 6.2% Social Security portion only applies up to the annual wage base, $184,500 for 2026; income above that is free of Social Security tax (though your employer keeps matching the 1.45% Medicare share on every dollar, with no cap). High earners also owe an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 (single, head of household) or $250,000 (married filing jointly); that add-on is not split with your employer.

Source: Social Security Administration, "Contribution and Benefit Base" (2026 wage base); IRS, Additional Medicare Tax guidance (thresholds fixed by statute, not inflation-adjusted).

How is federal income tax calculated on a paycheck?

Federal income tax is calculated on taxable income, which is your salary minus the standard deduction (assuming you do not itemize), run through the 2026 tax brackets for your filing status. The brackets are marginal: only the slice of income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate, so your effective (average) rate is always lower than your top marginal rate. See the full 2026 federal tax brackets and the 2026 standard deduction for the underlying numbers this calculator uses.

Which states have no income tax?

Nine states charge no state income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. In these states, take-home pay is simply gross salary minus federal tax and FICA, since there is no state-tax line at all. See the full state income tax rates by state for every state's rate and structure.

Why is the state tax number here an estimate?

Unlike federal tax and FICA, which are fixed by national rules this calculator applies exactly, state income tax depends on each state's own brackets, deductions, and credits, which vary widely and change every year. For the 9 no-tax states and the states with a single flat rate, the default rate here is exact. For the roughly two dozen states with graduated brackets (multiple rates that rise with income), the default is an estimated effective rate for a $75,000 salary, built from each state's published 2026 brackets. It is a reasonable starting point, not your exact bill, so the rate field is editable: enter your own state's rate from its tax page, linked next to the calculator, for a closer number.

Worked example: $75,000 salary, single filer, California, 2026

Here is the full breakdown behind the default numbers above.

On a $75,000 salary, this single filer keeps about 77.4% of gross pay, an effective total tax rate near 22.6%, well below the 22% federal bracket this income reaches, because that 22% only applies to the slice of income above $50,400, not the whole salary.

Marginal rate versus effective rate: which one is your take-home pay based on?

Your marginal rate is the tax rate on your last dollar of income, the bracket your top slice falls into. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total gross pay, the actual average share of your paycheck that goes to tax. Take-home pay is driven by the effective rate, not the marginal rate: a $75,000 single filer in the "22% bracket" does not lose 22% of the whole paycheck, only about 22.6% after federal, FICA, and state tax combined, as the worked example above shows.

Does this calculator account for 401(k) or HSA contributions?

No. This calculator estimates tax on gross salary before any pre-tax payroll deductions. A traditional 401(k) contribution, HSA contribution, or pre-tax health insurance premium lowers the wages subject to federal and (usually) state income tax, which raises take-home pay less than the contribution amount but also lowers the tax shown here. Note also that 401(k) and HSA contributions do not reduce the wages subject to Social Security and Medicare tax, only income tax, so the FICA numbers above stay the same regardless of what you defer.

The flat truth: three numbers come out before you see a dollar

Federal tax, FICA, and (in 41 states) state tax all come out before your paycheck reaches you, and the combined bite is almost always smaller than people expect, because federal and state brackets are marginal, not flat. The FICA piece is the one number here that is exact and non-negotiable, 7.65% for nearly everyone. The state number is the one to double-check against your own state's page, since a graduated-bracket estimate is a starting point, not a guarantee. Use the calculator to see the real order of magnitude, then swap in your own state rate for precision.