US Paycheck Calculator

Gross to net: where the money actually goes

An $85,000 offer letter and an $85,000 lifestyle are separated by four deductions, each with its own rules. Federal income tax is progressive and applies after the standard deduction. Social Security takes a flat 6.2% of wages up to an annual cap. Medicare takes 1.45% of everything, plus a surtax at high incomes. State income tax ranges from zero (nine states) to double digits (California’s top brackets). Because each deduction uses a different base and different thresholds, questions like “what does a $10,000 raise really pay me?” or “what does a 6% 401(k) contribution really cost me?” have unintuitive answers — which is what this calculator is for.

A worked example: $85,000, single, two states

Jordan earns $85,000 and is comparing offers in Austin and Los Angeles. In Texas the 2026 numbers run: federal income tax $9,870 (on $68,900 of taxable income after the $16,100 standard deduction), Social Security $5,270, Medicare $1,233, state tax zero — take-home $68,628, or 81 cents of every gross dollar. The same salary in California keeps the federal numbers identical but adds about $3,932 of state tax: take-home $64,695. The gap — roughly $328 a month — is a real input to the offer comparison, but only one: LA rent differences dwarf it, which is why state tax should inform a relocation decision, not decide it.

Now add a 6% traditional 401(k) contribution in Texas. $5,100 goes into the account, but Jordan’s take-home falls only to $64,650 — a drop of $3,978. The missing $1,122 is federal tax he no longer owes, because contributions come out before income tax. Every dollar he saves costs him about 78 cents. Note what did not change: Social Security and Medicare are still charged on the full $85,000 — pre-tax retirement money escapes income tax, not FICA.

The two rates worth knowing by heart

Jordan’s effective rate in Texas is 19% — total deductions over total pay, the number that matters for budgeting. His marginalrate is 24% federal plus 7.65% FICA: what the next dollar loses, the number that matters for evaluating overtime, a side income, or the raise that comes with a promotion. Neither is the “I’m in the 22% bracket so I lose 22% of everything” folk model — crossing a bracket boundary never reduces take-home pay, because higher rates apply only to the dollars above each threshold.

Withholding is not your tax bill

The deductions on a real pay stub are your employer’s estimate of your annual tax, spread across pay periods according to your W-4. The truth arrives at filing time: withhold too much all year and the difference comes back as a refund; too little and you owe. Life events that break the estimate — a second job, a working spouse, large non-wage income — are exactly when a W-4 update is worth the ten minutes. A calculator like this one gives the annual liability side of that comparison; your pay stub gives the withholding side.

Distinctions that save real money

• Pre-tax vs Roth contributions.Traditional 401(k) money skips income tax now and pays it in retirement; Roth pays now and skips later. The worked example’s 78-cents-per-dollar math applies only to traditional — a Roth dollar costs a full dollar of take-home today. The traditional vs Roth guide covers how to choose.
• FICA vs income tax. They fund different things and follow different rules: FICA is flat, capped (Social Security), and unavoidable through deductions; income tax is progressive and highly plannable. Advice that works on one is often useless against the other.
• Salary vs taxable income. The brackets apply to income after the standard deduction ($16,100 single in 2026) and pre-tax contributions. An $85,000 salary is $68,900 of taxable income before any 401(k) — comparing your salary directly to bracket thresholds overstates your tax.

Where to go from here

The ready-made tables answer the common questions instantly: take-home by salary level across every state, and take-home by state across every salary. For the full anatomy of a pay stub — every code, every box — read how to read your paycheck.