Paycheck Calculator
Enter a yearly salary or an hourly wage, how often you are paid, your filing status and any deductions, and see your take-home pay for each paycheck and for the year. The table shows Social Security, Medicare, federal income tax, state tax and your deductions line by line. Everything runs in your browser, so your pay is never uploaded.
From gross to take-home
| Line | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | 2,000.00 | 52,000.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | -124.00 | -3,224.00 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | -29.00 | -754.00 |
| Federal income tax | -156.15 | -4,060.00 |
| Take-home pay | 1,690.85 | 43,962.00 |
Federal taxable pay after the standard deduction is 35,900.00 a year.
An estimate for a US employee with one job, using the standard deduction and spreading the tax for the whole year evenly over your paychecks. Your employer withholds from each check using your Form W-4, so a real pay stub will differ, and it can differ in the first checks of the year or when pay changes. State and local tax is a single flat percent you enter, because those rules vary too much to build in. Pre-tax health deductions are treated as lowering Social Security and Medicare tax too, and a traditional 401(k) as lowering income tax only. It is not tax or payroll advice.
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Take-home pay is gross pay minus the taxes and deductions taken out of it. This tool works them out for the whole year and divides by your number of paychecks. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to a yearly limit (184,500 in 2026), Medicare is 1.45% of all wages, and an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to wages above 200,000. Federal income tax comes from the 2025 or 2026 tax brackets after the standard deduction. For a single filer on a 52,000 salary in 2026, Social Security and Medicare come to 3,978.00 and income tax to 4,060.00, which leaves 43,962.00 a year, or 1,690.85 every two weeks. A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers income tax and state tax but not Social Security and Medicare, so a 5% contribution of 2,600 lowers income tax by 312.00 and take-home pay by 2,288. Pre-tax health deductions lower all of these taxes. State and local tax is a flat percent you enter, because the rules vary too much to build in. A real pay stub can differ, because your employer withholds from each check using your Form W-4, and your own return settles the tax at the end of the year. The rates come from IRS Topic 751 and the tax tables from IRS Revenue Procedures 2024-40 and 2025-32. Nothing is uploaded.
How do I calculate take-home pay from a salary?▾
Subtract Social Security and Medicare tax (6.2% and 1.45% of wages), federal income tax, any state tax and your deductions from your gross pay. For a single filer on a 52,000 salary in 2026, federal tax and payroll tax leave 43,962.00 a year, which is 1,690.85 per paycheck if you are paid every two weeks.
What is the FICA tax rate?▾
The employee pays 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, 7.65% in all, and the employer matches both. Social Security stops at a yearly wage base, which is 184,500 in 2026. An extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax is withheld on wages above 200,000.
Does a 401(k) contribution lower my take-home pay?▾
Yes, but by less than the contribution. A traditional 401(k) is left out of income tax wages but still counts for Social Security and Medicare. On a 52,000 salary, a 2,600 contribution lowers income tax by 312.00, so take-home pay falls by 2,288.
Why is my pay stub different from this estimate?▾
Your employer withholds tax from each paycheck using your Form W-4, not the tax for the whole year, and your stub also carries insurance and other deductions. This tool spreads the tax for the year evenly over your paychecks. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator can help you set your withholding.
Does it include state income tax?▾
Only as a flat percent that you type in, applied to your taxable pay. State and local rules, brackets and deductions vary too much to build in, so look up your state's rate or use your last pay stub as a guide.