Take-home pay is what's left after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any state or local tax — and it's usually meaningfully less than the salary on an offer letter. This calculator applies the real 2026 US federal tax brackets and FICA rates to give an accurate breakdown, rather than a single flat-percentage estimate.
How to Use This Salary Calculator
Enter your pay as an annual salary, a monthly amount, or an hourly rate — if hourly, also enter your typical hours per week. Choose how often you're actually paid and your filing status, since both change the numbers. Enter your combined state and local tax rate as a flat percentage; add any pre-tax deductions (like a 401(k) or HSA) and post-tax deductions (like a Roth 401(k)) if they apply to you.
How Take-Home Pay Is Calculated
Federal income tax is calculated using the actual 2026 progressive tax brackets for your filing status, after subtracting pre-tax deductions and the standard deduction from your gross income. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base, and Medicare is 1.45% of all wages, with an additional 0.9% surtax above a filing-status threshold — both calculated on your full gross wages, since 401(k) contributions reduce income tax but not FICA. State and local tax is applied as the flat rate you provide, since it varies too much by location to compute precisely without knowing your state.
Marginal Rate vs. Effective Rate
Your marginal tax rate is what you pay on your next dollar of income — the rate of your highest tax bracket. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, and it's always lower than your marginal rate, because every dollar below your top bracket is taxed at a lower rate. This calculator shows both, because conflating them is one of the most common misunderstandings about how income tax actually works.
Example Calculation
A single filer earning $85,000 a year with no pre-tax deductions and a 5% state tax rate would owe federal tax calculated across the 10%, 12%, and 22% brackets on their taxable income after the standard deduction, plus 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on the full $85,000, plus 5% state tax on their taxable income. The combination typically leaves a take-home percentage in the high 70s, though the exact figure depends on all the inputs above.
What Affects Your Take-Home Pay
- Filing status — different brackets and a different standard deduction apply to single, married, and head-of-household filers.
- Pre-tax deductions — reduce your federal (and state) taxable income, but not the wages FICA is calculated on.
- State and local tax — varies enormously by location; a handful of states charge none at all.
- Income level — higher earners cross into higher brackets and, eventually, the additional Medicare surtax.