Paycheck calculator
Enter your gross pay, how often you are paid, and your filing status. The calculator annualizes the check, applies simplified 2026 federal brackets and payroll taxes, and divides the result back into your take-home pay per paycheck.
Your paycheck
One job, identical checks, simplified annualized withholding.
Your annual summary
The same estimate stretched across a full year of identical checks.
| Gross annual pay | $65,000 |
| 401(k) contributions | $0 |
| Other pre-tax deductions | $0 |
| Federal income tax (estimate) | $5,672 |
| Social Security (6.2%, up to the $184,500 wage base) | $4,030 |
| Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% over the threshold) | $943 |
| State tax estimate | $0 |
| Net annual pay | $54,356 |
How this estimate works
The method is deliberately simple, and it is stated here in full so you can judge the result:
- Annualize. Your paycheck is multiplied by the number of checks in a year, as if every check were identical.
- Subtract pre-tax money. Your 401(k) percentage and other pre-tax deductions come off the top, then the 2026 standard deduction for your filing status ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household).
- Apply simplified 2026 federal brackets to what remains.
- Add payroll taxes. Social Security at 6.2% on wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500; Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000 (single or head of household) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). Payroll taxes are charged on gross pay — a 401(k) deferral does not reduce them here, just as it does not in real payroll.
- Add your state estimate — the flat percentage of gross wages you entered. There is no hidden state table.
- Divide back across your pay periods to get net pay per paycheck.
Estimate, not tax advice. This ignores tax credits, itemized deductions, other household income, extra W-4 withholding, and mid-year raises or job changes — each of which moves a real paycheck. Use it to understand where a check goes and to sanity-check a stub, not to file anything.
A $3,000 biweekly paycheck, single filer, with a 10% 401(k) and a 5% state estimate: gross pay annualizes to $78,000. The 401(k) removes $7,800 and the standard deduction $16,100, leaving $54,100 of taxable income and $6,816 of federal tax. Social Security takes $4,836 on the full $78,000 — the 401(k) does not reduce it — Medicare takes $1,131, and the state estimate takes $3,900. Net pay: $53,517 a year, or $2,058 a paycheck.
Why your real paycheck differs
Employers do not annualize the way this page does. Payroll software applies IRS withholding tables to each period separately, so a bonus, an overtime-heavy check, or a mid-year raise is withheld as if that check were your new normal — which is why variable pay often looks over-taxed in the moment and trues up at filing time. Real stubs also carry lines this estimate omits: pre-tax health premiums (which usually do reduce payroll tax), union dues, garnishments, and after-tax items like Roth contributions. And your W-4 can instruct extra withholding per check, which no estimator can see. The estimate is the shape of your paycheck with the noise removed; the stub is the same shape with your actual life in it.
Budget from the net figure on your actual stub, and use this estimate to explain the gap between gross and net — or to preview a raise, a 401(k) increase, or a job change before it happens.
Frequently asked questions
Will this match my actual pay stub?
Rarely to the cent. Your employer withholds using IRS percentage-method tables period by period, and real stubs include things this estimate leaves out — tax credits, garnishments, and employer rounding conventions. Treat the result as a close planning estimate: if your stub differs by more than a few percent, one specific line on the stub is usually the reason.
Why do I enter a state percentage instead of choosing my state?
States tax income too differently for one honest table: different brackets, standard deductions, credits, and sometimes city taxes on top. A percentage you control is more accurate than a fake state table. To get yours, divide the state withholding on your last pay stub by that stub’s gross pay and enter the result.
Does my 401(k) contribution lower Social Security and Medicare tax?
No — a 401(k) deferral skips federal income tax for now, but Social Security and Medicare still apply to the full gross amount, and this calculator models it that way. One simplification to know: pre-tax health premiums usually reduce payroll tax in real payroll too; this estimate reduces only federal income tax for the other-deductions line, so it can slightly overstate payroll tax when premiums are large.
What is the Social Security wage base?
It is the cap on earnings charged the 6.2% Social Security tax — $184,500 for 2026. Above it, Social Security tax stops for the rest of the year while Medicare continues on every dollar, and an additional 0.9% Medicare tax applies over $200,000 of wages if you file single or head of household, or $250,000 if married filing jointly.
How can I make the estimate closer to my stub?
Match the inputs to your most recent stub: the same gross pay and frequency, your stub’s state withholding divided by its gross as the state percentage, and recurring pre-tax amounts entered as they appear. If the estimate is still off, the gap is usually a tax credit, a second job, or extra withholding you requested on your W-4 — none of which a simplified estimator models.
Working in Canada? Use the Canadian paycheck calculator (Alberta edition)