Paycheck Calculator
Work out take-home pay per paycheck for 2026: federal tax, FICA and a state estimate from your salary and pay frequency.
IRS tax year 2026 tables (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) last updated · reference source
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Currency: Amounts are calculated in the currency you select; this site does not convert between currencies and does not use live exchange rates.
Dated static reference; no live data is fetched. Verify current source values and assumptions before relying on results.
What this tool does
Estimates your take-home pay for tax year 2026. It annualizes your salary, subtracts pre-tax deductions and the federal standard deduction, applies the IRS brackets, adds FICA (6.2% Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base plus 1.45% Medicare, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax at high wages) and a simplified state estimate, then divides everything by your pay frequency — weekly (52), biweekly (26), semimonthly (24) or monthly (12).
How to use the Paycheck Calculator
- Enter your figures in the fields above.
- Check the filing status, state and pay-frequency selections — they change the tables used.
- Read the headline result first, then the breakdown: it shows exactly which tax or amount produced each line.
- Change any input to compare scenarios; the result updates with the same dated tables shown on this page.
Formula
annual federal tax = brackets(max(0, salary − pre-tax − standard deduction)); FICA = 6.2% × min(salary, $184,500) + 1.45% × salary (+0.9% above the threshold); per-paycheck amounts = annual amounts ÷ pay periods
- salary
- Gross annual pay before any tax
- pre-tax
- 401(k), HSA and similar deductions — they reduce federal and state taxable wages here; FICA is still computed on gross wages
- pay periods
- 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly, 12 monthly
Biweekly (26) and semimonthly (24) are not the same: two months a year have a third biweekly paycheck.
Worked example
An $85,000 salary, single, Texas (no state income tax), paid biweekly: federal tax of $9,870 and FICA of $6,502.50 for the year leave $68,627.50 — about $2,639.52 per paycheck.
Inputs
- Annual gross salary85000
- Pay frequencyEvery two weeks — 26 paychecks
- Filing statusSingle
- State (estimate)Texas — no income tax
- Pre-tax deductions per year (401(k), HSA, premiums)0
Result
- Net pay per paycheck$2,639.52
- Gross pay per paycheck$3,269.23
- Federal income tax per paycheck$379.62
- Social Security per paycheck$202.69
- Medicare per paycheck$47.40
- State tax per paycheck (estimate)$0.00
- Effective total tax rate19.26%
- Annual net pay$68,627.50
2026 payroll figures used
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Social Security rate (employee) | 6.2% |
| Social Security wage base | $184,500 |
| Medicare rate (employee) | 1.45%, no cap |
| Additional Medicare Tax | 0.9% over $200,000 single / $250,000 joint |
| Standard deduction — single | $16,100 |
| Standard deduction — joint | $32,200 |
| Standard deduction — head of household | $24,150 |
Results explained
- Net pay per paycheck
- Gross per period minus federal, FICA and state tax per period, after pre-tax deductions.
- Federal income tax per paycheck
- Annual bracket tax on salary minus pre-tax deductions and the standard deduction, divided by pay periods.
- Social Security per paycheck
- 6.2% of gross wages, stopping for the year once wages pass $184,500.
- Medicare per paycheck
- 1.45% of gross wages plus any 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax, spread over the year.
- State tax per paycheck (estimate)
- Simplified state model: state brackets and standard deduction only.
Frequently asked questions
Employers withhold using IRS percentage-method tables, your W-4 elections and year-to-date wages, and they round per period. This tool taxes the full year once and divides evenly, which matches the annual total closely but can differ by a few dollars per stub.
Biweekly is every two weeks — 26 paychecks a year, so two months contain three paychecks. Semimonthly is twice a month on set dates — 24 paychecks, each slightly larger.
Once your year-to-date wages pass the 2026 wage base of $184,500, the 6.2% Social Security tax stops for the rest of the year. Medicare's 1.45% never stops.
Traditional 401(k) and HSA contributions reduce federal (and usually state) income-tax wages, and this tool models that. They do not reduce Social Security or Medicare wages, so FICA here is computed on the full gross salary.
It is a planning estimate from a simplified model of the state's brackets and standard deduction (Tax Foundation 2026). It omits local income taxes, personal exemptions, credits and recapture rules, which can move a real stub either way.
An extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 (single) / $250,000 (joint) / $125,000 (separate). Employers must start withholding it once your wages with them pass $200,000, whatever your filing status.