Your annual and per-paycheck take-home after federal, state, and FICA.
About the Paycheck calculator
Your take-home pay is your salary minus federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA (Social Security and Medicare). How much you keep depends heavily on where you live — state income tax ranges from 0% to over 13%. This calculator estimates your annual take-home and breaks it into a monthly and biweekly paycheck, using the standard deduction. You can include a pre-tax 401(k) contribution, which lowers your income tax (but not FICA) and is set aside for retirement.
Frequently asked questions
How is my take-home pay calculated?
Start with your gross salary, then subtract federal income tax (after the standard deduction), state income tax, and FICA — 6.2% Social Security up to the wage base plus 1.45% Medicare on all wages. What's left is your take-home pay.
Does this include 401(k) and health insurance deductions?
You can enter a pre-tax 401(k) contribution — it lowers your federal and state income tax (though not FICA) and is withheld toward retirement, so it reduces your paycheck. Pre-tax health/HSA premiums and post-tax deductions aren't modeled, so a real paycheck may be slightly lower.
What is FICA on my paycheck?
FICA is the payroll tax for Social Security (6.2% up to an annual wage base) and Medicare (1.45% on all wages, plus an extra 0.9% on high earners). It's withheld from every paycheck separately from income tax.
How much of my paycheck goes to taxes?
For a typical salary it's often 25–40% combined, depending on income, filing status, and state. No-income-tax states keep that lower; high-tax states like California push it higher. This calculator shows your specific effective rate.
Which state has the highest take-home pay?
States with no income tax — Texas, Florida, Washington, Nevada, and others — leave the most in your paycheck, since only federal tax and FICA apply. Use the relocation comparison to see your own delta.