Take-Home Paycheck Calculator
Your take-home pay is your gross wages minus federal income tax withholding, Social Security tax (6.2%), Medicare tax (1.45%), state income tax, and any pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions or health insurance premiums. Pre-tax deductions reduce your taxable wages before federal income tax is calculated, lowering your withholding. This calculator annualizes your gross pay, applies the 2025 federal income tax brackets, subtracts FICA, state tax, and pre-tax deductions, and shows your estimated net take-home per paycheck and per year.
Take-home pay formula
Annual gross = paycheck * pay frequency
Taxable income = annual gross - pretax deductions * frequency - standard deduction
Federal tax (annual) = progressive bracket calculation
Federal tax per paycheck = annual federal tax / frequency
FICA per paycheck = min(gross, SS wage base / freq) * 0.062 + gross * 0.0145
State tax = gross * state rate / 100
Net pay = gross - federal tax - FICA - state tax - pretax deductions
This is a simplified model. Actual withholding follows the IRS Publication 15-T withholding tables and the W-4 submitted by the employee. Pre-tax deductions reduce the federal and state taxable base.
What reduces your take-home pay
- Federal income tax: withheld based on filing status, pay frequency, and annualized wages using 2025 brackets.
- Social Security: 6.2% on wages up to $176,100 annually. Stops mid-year if wages exceed the cap.
- Medicare: 1.45% on all wages with no cap; an additional 0.9% applies above $200,000.
- State income tax: ranges from 0% (nine states) to over 13% (California top rate).
- Pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA, health insurance) reduce your federal and state taxable wages, increasing your net pay relative to the deduction amount.
Take-home paycheck: frequently asked questions
What deductions reduce my take-home pay?
Mandatory deductions include federal income tax withholding, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%). Optional pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) contributions, health insurance premiums, and FSA contributions reduce taxable income before federal withholding is calculated.
How does pay frequency affect my withholding?
Federal income tax withholding is annualized by pay period. The IRS tables assume your regular paycheck amount is paid for all pay periods in the year. Higher-frequency paychecks (biweekly vs. monthly) result in lower per-paycheck withholding, but the same annual amount.
What is a W-4 and how does it affect withholding?
Form W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to withhold. The 2020+ W-4 uses filing status, multiple jobs adjustments, dependent credits, and additional withholding to determine the per-paycheck amount. This calculator uses a simplified approach based on annualized gross income.
Does state income tax affect my take-home pay?
Yes. Most states impose income tax at various rates. Nine states have no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (wages only), South Dakota, Tennessee (wages only), Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. State tax input in this calculator is user-editable to reflect your state rate.
What is the difference between gross pay and net pay?
Gross pay is your total compensation before any deductions. Net pay (take-home pay) is what is deposited into your bank account after federal tax, FICA, state tax, and any voluntary pre-tax deductions are subtracted.
Official sources
- IRS: Publication 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods).
- IRS: Topic 751 - Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 15 June 2026. See our methodology.