Take-Home Pay Calculator
Four separate things come out before you see a penny. This shows each one, and the one lever that genuinely reduces your tax bill: pre-tax deductions, which cost you less than they put away.
You take home each month
-
- Each year
- $0
- Federal income tax
- $0
- Social Security and Medicare
- $0
- State tax
- $0
- Your effective rate
- 0%
- Your marginal rate
- 0%
Where every dollar of your salary goes
The green block is what you keep and it stays yours. The orange is federal income tax and it does not come back.
What lands each payday
Two extra paydays a year is why every-two-weeks feels different from twice a month.
Drag it and watch
-
Move the handle to try any salary without retyping.
Need a certain amount to land?
-
Worked out on the same state, filing status and deductions you set above.
The same salary, another state
And what you can change
Why your number may differ
Where every dollar goes
Four separate deductions, each worked out differently. Only one of them has a ceiling.
| Goes to | Each year | Each month | Share of salary |
|---|
Federal tax is worked out band by band on your salary after the standard deduction and any pre-tax deductions. Social Security is 6.2% up to $184,500 and nothing above it. Medicare is 1.45% on everything, with an extra 0.9% above the threshold for how you file.
What a pre-tax deduction really costs you
Money into a traditional plan is never taxed, so putting it away costs less than the amount you put away.
| Put away | Take-home falls by | Tax you never pay | Real cost per dollar saved |
|---|
Take-home pay: real examples
Three salaries. Click any card to load it.
- A typical salary
$75,000, single, in Colorado
No deductions yet.
You keep $57,843. about 77%. The rest goes to federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and your state.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Using the pre-tax lever
The same salary, $10,000 into retirement
Money that never gets taxed.
Take-home drops only $7,450, not $10,000. The tax you never pay covers the other $2,550.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Past the wage base
$250,000, single
Social Security stops part way through the year.
Social Security stops at the ceiling part way through the year, so take-home jumps at that point. The effective rate is 31.7% against a 32% bracket - still below it.
Load this scenario in the calculator →
Common questions about take-home pay
Why is my take-home so much less than my salary?
Because four different things come out before you see it: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and usually state tax. Pre-tax deductions like retirement and health cover come out too. Together they commonly take a quarter to a third of a salary.
Do pre-tax deductions really save me money?
Yes, and more than people expect. Money into a traditional retirement plan or health cover comes out before income tax is worked out, so you never pay tax on it. Putting in $500 costs you less than $500 of take-home pay, and the tool shows exactly how much less.
What is the wage base I keep hearing about?
Social Security stops being charged once your wages pass a set amount - $184,500 for 2026. Above that your take-home jumps, because that 6.2% stops. Medicare has no such ceiling and keeps going on every dollar.
Why does the tool ask me for my state rate?
Because state tax varies enormously and some states have none at all, while others have brackets, flat rates, or city taxes on top. A single average would be wrong for almost everyone. Your last payslip shows what you actually pay, and that beats any estimate.
What is a marginal rate?
The tax on your next dollar, not on all of them. If you are in the 22% band, only the part of your income above that band line is taxed at 22%. Your effective rate - what you actually pay across everything - is always lower, and the tool shows both.
Will a raise really push me into a higher bracket and cost me?
No. This is the most persistent myth in personal finance. Only the portion above the line is taxed at the higher rate. A raise always leaves you with more money after tax - the tool shows this if you compare two salaries.
The guide behind this calculator
Federal brackets and the standard deduction are the 2026 figures from Revenue Procedure 2025-32, Section 4.01 (Tax Rate Tables). Payroll rates and the $184,500 Social Security wage base are the 2026 figures from the IRS, checked 2026-08-18. State tax is the rate you enter, because state rules vary too much for an average to be useful to anyone.