US Paycheck Calculator (Federal + State Take-Home Pay)

About the US Paycheck Calculator (Federal + State Take-Home Pay)

Enter a salary or an hourly rate, how often you are paid and what your Form W-4 says, and see each paycheck from gross to net: federal income tax withheld by the IRS percentage method, Social Security and Medicare, your pre-tax 401(k), health and HSA deductions, state income tax for the states whose withholding method is loaded, and an optional local tax.

Every paycheck of the year is worked out in turn, so the yearly totals are exact even when Social Security stops at the wage base, Additional Medicare Tax starts above $200,000, or your 401(k) reaches its limit part-way through the year. The employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare is shown too. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

How federal income tax withholding is worked out

Employers with payroll software follow IRS Publication 15-T, Worksheet 1A: your taxable wages for the pay period are multiplied by the number of pay periods in a year; Step 4(a) other income is added and Step 4(b) deductions are subtracted, along with a standard amount of $12,900 for married filing jointly or $8,600 for everyone else (none when the Step 2 box is checked). The result is looked up in the annual percentage method table for your filing status, divided by the pay periods, reduced by your Step 3 credits per paycheck and increased by any Step 4(c) extra withholding.

Form W-4 Step 3 counts $2,200 for each qualifying child under 17 and $500 for each other dependent, for total income of $200,000 or less ($400,000 married filing jointly). A Form W-4 from 2019 or earlier uses allowances of $4,300 each instead of Steps 2 to 4.

Social Security and Medicare (FICA)

Social Security tax is 6.2% for you and 6.2% for your employer on wages up to the wage base of $184,500; Medicare is 1.45% each with no limit (IRS Topic 751). Your employer also withholds 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 in a calendar year, whatever your filing status, with no employer match (IRS Topic 560). The wage base comes from the Social Security Administration’s annual determinations.

When you work two jobs, each employer stops at the wage base on its own, so too much Social Security can be withheld; the excess comes back as a credit on your tax return.

Which deductions lower which taxes

• Traditional 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and TSP deferrals are not subject to federal income tax withholding but are subject to Social Security and Medicare (Publication 15, section 15). The elective deferral limit is $24,500, plus $8,000 at age 50 or older, or $11,250 at ages 60 to 63 (IRS); the calculator stops contributions at the limit you choose. Catch-up contributions must be Roth if your Social Security wages from the employer were over $150,000 the year before (IRS Notice 2025-67); the calculator reminds you when that may apply.
• Section 125 (cafeteria plan) deductions — health, dental and vision premiums, health FSA, dependent-care FSA and HSA contributions made by salary reduction — are exempt from income tax withholding and from Social Security and Medicare (Publication 15-B). HSA limits are $4,400 for self-only and $8,750 for family coverage (Rev. Proc. 2025-19); the health FSA limit is $3,400 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
• Roth 401(k) and other after-tax deductions come out after every tax.

State income tax: the states that are loaded

A state is included only when its own revenue department’s withholding method has been read; for every other state the calculator says so and lets you enter a flat rate rather than guess.

• No state income tax on wages: Florida (Constitution, Art. VII §5), South Dakota (DOR), Tennessee (DOR), Texas (Constitution, Art. 8 §24-a) and Washington (DOR).
• Pennsylvania: a flat 3.07% of compensation with no allowances (PA Department of Revenue). Pennsylvania taxes your 401(k)-type deferrals and dependent-care contributions, but not section 125 health coverage or HSA contributions (PA tax guide).
• California: the Employment Development Department’s exact calculation method — no tax up to a low-income exemption, then 1.1% to 14.63% brackets on annual wages after a standard deduction ($5,706, or $11,412 for heads of household and married one-income filers with two or more allowances) and $1,000 for each DE 4 allowance for estimated deductions, less $168.30 for each regular allowance (EDD Method B). California taxes HSA contributions, so they are added back. State Disability Insurance of 1.3% of all wages, with no wage limit, is deducted too (EDD); 401(k) deferrals do not lower it, section 125 deductions do (DE 231TP).
• Colorado: 4.40% of annual wages above the allowance on Form DR 0004, or — with a W-4 only — $11,000 if married filing jointly and $5,500 otherwise (DR 1098).
• Georgia: 4.99% of wages above a $15,000 standard deduction ($30,000 married filing jointly with one spouse working) and $5,000 a year for each G-4 allowance (Employer’s Tax Guide).
• Illinois: 4.95% after $2,925 a year for each basic IL-W-4 allowance and $1,000 for each additional one (IL-700-T).
• Iowa: 3.80% of wages after a deduction set by the IA W-4 marital status ($13,000, $19,500 or $26,000 a year), less the IA W-4 allowance amount (Iowa withholding formula).
• Kentucky: 3.5% of annual wages above a $3,360 standard deduction (Kentucky DOR).
• Minnesota: the computer formula — $5,300 a year off for each W-4MN allowance, then 5.35% to 9.85% brackets on the rest above a zero band (withholding booklet).
• New York: the exact calculation method — a deduction allowance plus $1,000 a year for each IT-2104 allowance, then the rate table for your pay period, which starts at 3.9%; once net wages pass $1,077,550 a year ($2,155,350 married) a top-rate method withholds 10.45% to 11.70% of them all. New York City residents also have city tax withheld (2.05% to 4.25%), and Yonkers residents 16.75% of the state amount (NYS-50-T-NYS, NYS-50-T-NYC, NYS-50-T-Y). Public employees’ 414(h) retirement contributions are taxed by New York although they are not federally, so a box adds them back (NYS-50).
• North Carolina: 4.09% (the 3.99% rate plus 0.1%) of annual wages above a $12,750 standard deduction ($19,125 for heads of household) and $2,500 for each NC-4 allowance, rounded to the dollar (NC-30).
• Virginia: 2%, 3%, 5% and 5.75% brackets on annual wages after an $8,750 deduction, $930 for each VA-4 personal or dependent exemption and $800 for each age-65 or blindness exemption (Virginia Tax).

Local taxes and other payroll deductions

Some cities and school districts tax wages — for example Philadelphia and many Ohio municipalities (New York City and Yonkers are worked out with New York’s own method). Enter your local rate and choose the pay it applies to: Pennsylvania local earned income taxes use the same compensation as the state tax, and Ohio municipal taxes generally use Medicare wages. Some states also charge employees disability or paid-leave premiums. California SDI is included automatically; for another state, add the premium as “other payroll tax” with its rate and annual wage cap from that state’s labor department.

Limitations

• This is an estimate of what an employer withholds, not your final tax: your return can still show a refund or a balance due.
• State withholding is included only for the states listed above; for the others enter a flat rate (your state’s method may use allowances or brackets).
• Bonuses and other supplemental wages, tips reporting, garnishments and benefits paid in kind are not modelled.
• Federal withholding is not rounded to whole dollars; Publication 15-T allows employers to round, which can change a paycheck by up to 50 cents.
• Pay frequencies other than weekly, every two weeks, twice a month and monthly are not offered.

Privacy

Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.