US paycheck calculator 2026

What lands in your bank account each pay period after federal income tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, your 401(k) and your state tax.

Take-home pay per paycheck

$1,938.07

$50,390 a year after tax, on $60,000 gross

26 paychecks a year
$84 kept of each $100

On $60,000 a year paid biweekly (26 paychecks), your gross pay is $2,307.69 per paycheck. After $193.08 of federal income tax, $143.08 of Social Security and $33.46 of Medicare, you take home $1,938.07.

Over a year the deductions come to $9,610, which is 16% of your gross pay: $5,020 federal income tax withholding and $4,590 of Social Security and Medicare. Withholding is only an advance: your real federal income tax is settled when you file your return, and the difference comes back to you as a refund or is paid with the return.

This is the federal withholding for a Form W-4 with the answers above and nothing else. Your actual paycheck depends on your own W-4, local taxes and other deductions such as union dues or a Roth 401(k).

I’m not an accountant or a financial advisor. This is an estimate, for information only. Check with a professional before you decide.

Your numbers

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Gross salary a year

Your pay before any tax or deduction, as a yearly figure. For an hourly wage, multiply the hourly rate by the hours you work in a year (a full-time year is about 2,080 hours).

How often you are paid

The number of paychecks you get in a year.

Weekly52 paychecksEvery two weeks26 paychecksTwice a month24 paychecksMonthly12 paychecks

Filing status on your Form W-4

Step 1(c) of your W-4. Married filing separately uses the single table.

Single or married filing separately$16,100 standard deductionMarried filing jointly$32,200 standard deductionHead of household$24,150 standard deduction

Another job, or a spouse who works? (W-4 Step 2 box)

If you checked the box in Step 2 of your W-4 because you have two jobs, or you and your spouse both work, more tax is withheld from each paycheck.

YesNo

Qualifying children under 17 (W-4 Step 3)

Each child you claim in Step 3 of your W-4 lowers the withholding by $2,200 a year. W-4 Step 3 is for total income of $200,000 or less ($400,000 if married filing jointly).

Your 401(k) contribution

The percentage of your pay you put into a traditional 401(k). It lowers your income tax now, but not Social Security and Medicare. The 2026 limit is $24,500.

Health insurance and other pre-tax benefits, per paycheck

Premiums for health, dental or vision insurance, and amounts into an HSA or FSA, taken from each paycheck before tax through your employer. They lower income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

State income tax rate

The rate your state takes from wages, as a single percentage. Leave 0 if your state has no income tax on wages, such as Texas or Florida. This is a flat estimate: real state tax depends on your state’s brackets.

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Each paycheck
	Gross pay	$2,307.69
−	Federal income tax withholdingPublication 15-T percentage method	$193.08
−	Social Security (6.2%)on the first $184,500 of pay	$143.08
−	Medicare (1.45%)	$33.46
=	Take-home pay	$1,938.07

How it works

Take your gross pay for the year and subtract what comes out before tax: 401(k) contributions and pre-tax benefits. The result is your taxable wages.
Federal income tax is withheld with the IRS percentage method (Publication 15-T): subtract $8,600 ($12,900 if married filing jointly), apply the table for your filing status, subtract any W-4 credit for children, and divide by the number of paychecks.
Social Security is 6.2% of your pay up to $184,500 a year and Medicare is 1.45% of all of it, plus 0.9% on pay over $200,000. Your 401(k) does not reduce these two; pre-tax health insurance does.

Worked example

On $60,000 a year paid every two weeks, single, with nothing else: gross pay $2,307.69; federal withholding $193.08 (the table gives $5,020 a year); Social Security $143.08; Medicare $33.46; take-home pay $1,938.07.

Sources

Text checked on October 12, 2026

Good to know

The calculator follows the IRS rules for 2026 and the filing status on your W-4. Your employer’s payroll software uses the same tables, so for the same inputs the federal withholding should match to the cent.
Federal withholding is not your tax bill. It is a prepayment, and your actual tax is worked out on your return from your whole year, including a second job, the credits you qualify for and any other income.
A traditional 401(k) lowers your income tax today but not your Social Security and Medicare, and a Roth 401(k) lowers neither. Pre-tax health insurance, an HSA or an FSA through your employer lowers all three.
States work differently: some do not tax wages, many have flat rates and others have brackets. Some cities and counties add their own tax, and some states have payroll programs such as disability insurance. The flat rate here is an estimate.
The new deductions for qualified tips, overtime pay and car loan interest, in effect for 2025 through 2028, are claimed on your tax return and are not part of this table. You can account for them on your W-4 if you want less tax withheld (IRS).
If you ended up owing tax or got a big refund last year, check your W-4 with the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator on irs.gov and update it with your employer.

Frequently asked questions

How much of my paycheck goes to taxes?

Federal income tax depends on your pay and filing status, then Social Security takes 6.2% and Medicare 1.45% of your pay, and your state may take more. On a $60,000 salary the federal and payroll taxes come to roughly 16 cents of each dollar.

What is the Social Security wage base for 2026?

$184,500. You pay 6.2% Social Security tax only on the first $184,500 of your pay in the year; Medicare tax has no limit.

Does my 401(k) reduce my payroll taxes?

No. A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers the pay your federal income tax is figured on, but not the pay used for Social Security and Medicare. Pre-tax health insurance lowers all three.

What does the Step 2 box on the W-4 do?

It tells payroll to use a table that withholds more, because two jobs or two earners together push the household into higher brackets than each job alone suggests.

Why is my paycheck different from this estimate?

Your own W-4 entries, other deductions, local taxes, your state’s real brackets, a Roth 401(k), bonus withholding and the timing of the Social Security cap all change the numbers.