Calculate your net pay after federal, state, and FICA taxes
Our Paycheck Calculator estimates your net take-home pay after deducting federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes. It also accounts for any additional deductions and projects your annual gross and net income based on your pay frequency.
Understanding your paycheck breakdown is crucial for effective personal financial planning. Beyond just knowing your gross salary, seeing exactly how much goes to federal taxes, state taxes, Social Security, and Medicare helps you identify opportunities for tax optimization through pre-tax contributions to retirement accounts or health savings plans.
This calculator is particularly useful when evaluating job offers, planning a budget around your take-home pay, or adjusting your W-4 withholding allowances. By modeling different tax rates and deduction scenarios, you can make more informed decisions about retirement contributions and other payroll elections.
Net pay is calculated by subtracting federal tax, state tax, FICA taxes, and other deductions from gross pay. Annual figures are derived by multiplying the per-period amounts by the number of pay periods per year.
The FICA tax rate is 7.65% for employees — 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare. Employers match this amount. High earners may owe an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax on income above certain thresholds.
Weekly pay means 52 paychecks per year, bi-weekly means 26, semi-monthly means 24, and monthly means 12. More frequent pay periods result in smaller per-check amounts but the same annual total. Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are the most common in the US.
Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions, including your hourly rate or salary multiplied by hours worked. Net pay, or take-home pay, is what you actually receive after federal and state taxes, FICA, health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and other deductions are subtracted.
Pre-tax deductions, such as 401(k) contributions and health insurance premiums, are subtracted from your gross pay before taxes are calculated. This lowers your taxable income, reducing your overall tax burden and potentially increasing your net pay relative to post-tax deductions.
Even salaried employees may see paycheck variations due to changes in pre-tax deductions, mid-year benefit enrollment changes, reaching Social Security wage base limits, or adjustments to tax withholding. Some months with three pay cycles (for bi-weekly schedules) can also create budgeting challenges.