Salary Calculator: Take-Home Pay After Federal, State and FICA
Enter a salary or an hourly rate and see what actually reaches your account, broken down into federal tax, state tax, FICA and what you keep. Add a second job, switch filing status, put a percentage into a 401(k) or a dollar amount into an HSA, and watch the taxable figure move. The raise slider shows what a percentage increase is worth once tax has taken its share, and the per-check figure is the number you will recognise from your payslip. Everything is worked out in your browser, and nothing you type leaves the page.
How take-home pay is calculated
Take-home pay is what is left after four separate deductions come out of your gross salary, and they do not all come out of the same number. First, pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) contributions and HSA payments reduce your taxable income. Federal income tax is then worked out on that reduced figure using progressive brackets, so each slice of income is taxed at its own rate rather than the whole salary being taxed at your top rate. State income tax is applied on top, at a flat or progressive rate depending on where you live, and in nine states not at all. FICA is the odd one out: Social Security at 6.2 percent and Medicare at 1.45 percent are charged on your gross pay, before pre-tax deductions, so a 401(k) contribution reduces your income tax but not your FICA. What is left is your net pay, and dividing it by the number of checks in the year gives the number you actually recognise from your bank statement.
Gross salary → Per paycheck
What lands in the account each pay period before any tax is worked out. Divide the annual figure by the number of checks in a year.
Annual gross
Checks per year
Formula: Per check = Annual gross ÷ Checks per year
Per check: $3,269.23 | Per month: $7,083.33
Hourly rate → Annual salary
The comparison that matters when you are weighing a contract rate against a salaried offer.
Hourly rate
Hours per week
Formula: Annual = Rate × Hours per week × 52
Annual: $93,600 | Per month: $7,800
Raise → New salary
A percentage raise on paper, converted into the monthly difference that actually shows up in your account.
Current salary
Raise
Formula: New = Current × (1 + Raise ÷ 100)
New salary: $89,250 | Extra per month: $354.17
Annual salary → Hourly equivalent
What a salary works out to per hour on a standard 2,080 hour year, before tax.
Annual salary
Hours per week
Formula: Hourly = Annual ÷ (Hours per week × 52)
Hourly: $40.87 | Per day: $326.92
Federal tax brackets used by this calculator
Federal income tax is progressive. If you are single and earn 85,000 dollars, you do not pay 22 percent on all of it. You pay 10 percent on the first slice, 12 percent on the next, and 22 percent only on the part above the threshold. That is why your effective rate, the one shown in the calculator, is always lower than the bracket you are said to be in.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $11,600 | $0 – $23,200 | $0 – $16,550 |
| 12% | $11,600 – $47,150 | $23,200 – $94,300 | $16,550 – $63,100 |
| 22% | $47,150 – $100,525 | $94,300 – $201,050 | $63,100 – $100,500 |
| 24% | $100,525 – $191,950 | $201,050 – $383,900 | $100,500 – $191,950 |
| 32% | $191,950 – $243,725 | $383,900 – $487,450 | $191,950 – $243,700 |
| 35% | $243,725 – $609,350 | $487,450 – $731,200 | $243,700 – $609,350 |
| 37% | $609,350 and above | $731,200 and above | $609,350 and above |
These are the brackets this calculator applies, and they correspond to the 2024 tax year. Brackets are indexed to inflation and move every year, so check the current IRS figures before relying on this for filing.
State income tax in the calculator
State income tax varies more than any other line on a paycheck. Nine states charge none at all, several charge a single flat rate, and the rest run their own progressive brackets on top of the federal ones. The rates below are the ones the state selector cycles through. Tap the state button in the calculator to switch, and watch the take-home figure and the effective rate move with it.
| State | Code | Rate used | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | TX | 0% | No state income tax |
| Florida | FL | 0% | No state income tax |
| Washington | WA | 0% | No income tax, but a capital gains tax applies to large gains |
| Nevada | NV | 0% | No state income tax |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 3.07% | Flat rate, plus local wage taxes in many municipalities |
| Colorado | CO | 4.40% | Flat rate on federal taxable income |
| Illinois | IL | 4.95% | Flat rate |
| Massachusetts | MA | 5.00% | Flat rate, with a surtax on income above $1m |
| New Jersey | NJ | 6.37% | Progressive, this is a middle bracket rate |
| New York | NY | 6.50% | Progressive, and New York City adds its own income tax |
| Oregon | OR | 9.00% | Progressive, no sales tax to offset it |
| California | CA | 9.30% | Progressive, with a further surcharge on very high incomes |
Rates shown are the single figure this calculator applies per state, which is a simplification of progressive state brackets. Local and city income taxes are not included.
Nine states with no income tax
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Most make up the revenue through sales, property or severance taxes.
Flat rate states
A single percentage on all taxable income, which makes the arithmetic simple but the burden less progressive.
City taxes on top
New York City and several cities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan levy their own income tax on residents, on top of the state rate.
Steps to use this salary calculator
Four steps, all of it running in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.
1. Enter your income
Add a salary or an hourly rate. Use the Add another button for a second job or a side contract, and switch between annual and monthly figures with the toggle.
2. Set frequency, filing status and state
Pay frequency changes the per-check figure, filing status changes the federal brackets, and the state button cycles through the rates.
3. Open Advanced for pre-tax deductions
401(k) as a percentage of gross and HSA as a dollar amount. Both reduce taxable income, and you will see the federal figure drop as you type.
4. Read the split and try a raise
The Where it goes panel shows federal, state, FICA and what you keep. Drag the raise slider to see what a percentage increase is really worth.
What FICA actually is
FICA is the payroll tax that funds Social Security and Medicare. It is deducted from almost every paycheck in the country and it works differently from income tax in two important ways: it is charged on gross pay rather than taxable income, and Social Security stops at an annual wage ceiling while Medicare does not.
Social Security, 6.2%
Charged up to an annual wage base. Above that ceiling no further Social Security tax is due, which is why very high earners see their effective FICA rate fall.
Medicare, 1.45%
Charged on every dollar with no ceiling, plus an additional 0.9 percent surtax on wages above a threshold for high earners.
Your employer matches it
They pay the same 7.65 percent again. Self-employed people pay both halves themselves as self-employment tax, which is the single biggest surprise when going freelance.
Pre-tax deductions and what they are worth
A pre-tax deduction costs you less than the amount you put in, because the money never gets taxed on the way out. Putting 5,000 dollars into a 401(k) while sitting in the 22 percent bracket reduces your federal tax by roughly 1,100 dollars, so the real cost to your take-home pay is closer to 3,900. That is the trade the calculator makes visible: contributions go up, take-home goes down by less than you would expect.
401(k) and 403(b)
Contributions come out before federal and state income tax but not before FICA. Employer matching is free money and is not counted against your own contribution limit.
HSA
The only account that is untaxed going in, growing and coming out, provided the money is spent on qualifying medical costs. It requires a high-deductible health plan.
FSA and commuter benefits
Smaller, use-it-or-lose-it style accounts that still reduce taxable income. Not modelled here, but they behave like the HSA line.
Roth contributions are different
Roth 401(k) money is taxed now and not later, so it does not reduce this year's taxable income and will not change the figures above.
Health insurance premiums
Usually deducted pre-tax through a Section 125 plan, which is why gross pay on a payslip rarely matches the salary in the offer letter.
Watch the annual limits
Both 401(k) and HSA contributions are capped each year, and the caps rise with inflation.
Marginal rate, effective rate and the raise myth
The most persistent myth about pay is that a raise can push you into a higher bracket and leave you worse off. It cannot. Only the income above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate, so more gross pay always means more take-home pay. What does change is the share of the extra money you keep, which is what the raise slider in the calculator is for.
Marginal rate
The rate on your next dollar. This is the bracket people quote, and it only applies to the top slice of income.
Effective rate
Total tax divided by gross pay. Always lower than the marginal rate, and the honest answer to how much tax you pay.
What a raise is worth
A 5 percent raise on 85,000 is 4,250 gross, but nearer 3,000 in your pocket after federal, state and FICA. Worth knowing before you negotiate.
Salary, contract and self-employed pay
If you are weighing a job offer against contract work, comparing the headline numbers will mislead you. A contract rate has to cover the things a salary quietly includes.
Both halves of FICA
Self-employed people pay 15.3 percent rather than 7.65, though half of it is deductible against income tax.
No employer benefits
Health insurance, the 401(k) match, paid holiday and sick leave all come out of the rate rather than on top of it.
Unpaid time is real
A contractor billing 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is a fiction. Time spent on admin, invoicing and finding the next job is unbilled.
Quarterly estimated tax
Nothing is withheld for you, so tax has to be set aside and paid four times a year rather than deducted automatically.
Invoice terms matter
Net 30 means the money arrives a month after the work. Late fees and clear payment terms are part of the pay calculation.
A rough rule of thumb
Many freelancers add 25 to 40 percent to the equivalent salary rate to cover the gap, then check it against real numbers rather than trusting the rule.
More tools you might need
The other calculators freelancers and small businesses reach for around pay and pricing.
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Discount Calculator
Percent off, sale price and savings, with a second stacked discount and optional tax.
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Percentage Calculator
Percent of a number, percent one number is of another, and percent change.
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Calculation methodology, client side only
Gross pay is the total of all income rows, with hourly amounts annualised at forty hours a week for fifty-two weeks, and monthly figures multiplied by twelve when the monthly toggle is set. Pre-tax deductions are the 401(k) percentage of gross plus the HSA amount, and they are subtracted before federal and state income tax is worked out. Federal tax is calculated bracket by bracket on that reduced figure using the filing status selected. Social Security is 6.2 percent of gross up to the wage base, Medicare is 1.45 percent of gross with no ceiling, and both are charged on gross pay rather than on taxable income. State tax applies the selected state rate to income after pre-tax deductions. Net pay is gross minus pre-tax deductions, federal tax, state tax and FICA, and the per-check figure divides that by the pay frequency. The effective rate is total tax divided by gross. The hourly equivalent uses a 2,080 hour year.
This is an estimate for planning and comparing offers, not a payroll calculation or tax advice. Real paychecks also reflect W-4 allowances, local taxes, garnishments, insurance premiums and employer-specific deductions. Nothing you type is uploaded, logged or stored.
Frequently asked questions
Tap a question to open it. Every answer matches what this calculator actually does.
How do I calculate my take-home pay?
×Start with gross salary, subtract pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) and HSA, work out federal tax on what is left using the brackets for your filing status, add state tax, then subtract FICA at 7.65 percent of gross. What remains is net pay. Divide by the number of checks in the year for the per-paycheck figure.
Why is my paycheck smaller than my salary divided by 26?
+Because that division gives gross pay per period, not net. Federal tax, state tax, FICA and any benefit deductions come out of every check, and on a typical salary they account for somewhere between a quarter and a third of it.
What is the difference between marginal and effective tax rate?
+Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar of income. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income. Because the brackets are progressive, the effective rate is always lower, often by ten points or more.
Will a raise push me into a higher bracket and cost me money?
+No. Only the income above the bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate. A raise always leaves you with more take-home pay, though you keep a smaller share of the increase than of your existing salary.
Does a 401(k) contribution reduce all my taxes?
+It reduces federal and state income tax, but not FICA. Social Security and Medicare are charged on gross pay before retirement contributions come out, which is why the take-home drop is smaller than the contribution but not zero.
Which states have no income tax?
+Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. They generally recover the revenue through higher sales, property or severance taxes, so the total tax burden is not always lower.
How do I compare a salary offer with a contract rate?
+Add the cost of both halves of FICA, health insurance, retirement contributions and unpaid holiday to the contract side, and reduce the billable hours to something realistic. A contract rate usually needs to be well above the salaried equivalent to match it.
Is this the same as my actual payslip?
+It will be close on the tax lines but not identical. Payroll systems use your W-4 elections and withholding tables rather than annual brackets, and your employer may deduct insurance premiums, union dues or other items this calculator knows nothing about.
Does it handle two jobs or a side income?
+Yes. Use Add another to enter a second income row, as salary or hourly. They are combined into a single gross figure before tax is calculated, which is how the IRS treats them.
Is this salary calculator free?
+Yes. No sign up, no limits, no data collection. Every figure is calculated in your browser and nothing leaves the page.