Paycheck Calculator — Estimate Your Take-Home Pay After Taxes

A pay stub is a document from your employer that accompanies each paycheck. It shows your gross pay for the period, a breakdown of all taxes withheld (federal, state, Social Security, Medicare), any benefit deductions, your net (take-home) pay, and year-to-date totals. Pay stubs are important for budgeting, verifying payroll accuracy, and serving as proof of income for loans or rental applications.

Start with gross pay — your earnings before deductions. Then review each deduction line: federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%). If you have benefit deductions like a 401(k) or health insurance, those appear next. Net pay at the bottom is what you actually receive. The YTD (year-to-date) column shows cumulative totals from January 1. For a full visual walkthrough, see our article on what a pay stub looks like.

If you're a sole proprietor, you don't receive traditional pay stubs. For income proof (loans, leases), use your tax returns (Schedule C), 1099 forms, bank statements, or a profit and loss statement. If you operate as an S corporation and pay yourself a salary, your payroll software will generate legitimate pay stubs. Never create documents designed to look like employer-issued stubs — that could constitute fraud.

Mandatory deductions include federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and state income tax (in 41 states). Voluntary pre-tax deductions — which you elect through your employer — can include 401(k) contributions, health/dental/vision insurance premiums, HSA, and FSA contributions. These pre-tax deductions reduce your taxable income. Post-tax voluntary deductions include Roth 401(k) and certain insurance premiums.

Net pay = Gross Pay − Pre-Tax Deductions − Federal Income Tax − Social Security (6.2%) − Medicare (1.45%) − State Income Tax − Post-Tax Deductions. The federal and state tax amounts are estimated based on your annualized income, filing status, and applicable brackets and deductions. Use our calculator above to get an instant estimate without doing the math yourself.

No — a paycheck is the payment itself (a physical check or direct deposit). A pay stub is the documentation that explains how that payment was calculated. When you receive a paper check, the stub is the detachable portion showing your earnings and deductions. With direct deposit, you typically access your pay stub through your employer's online HR portal.

You should review your pay stub every single pay period, not just when you think something is wrong. Payroll errors — incorrect rates, missed overtime, wrong benefit deductions — happen more often than most people realize and are much easier to correct when caught early. A quick glance at gross pay, FICA amounts, and net pay each period only takes a minute and can save you significant money over time.

Contact your HR or payroll department promptly with the specific line item that looks incorrect and why. Bring documentation if possible — your offer letter for salary discrepancies, your benefits enrollment confirmation for benefit deduction errors, or your timesheet for hourly or overtime errors. Most legitimate errors are corrected in the next paycheck. If the issue persists across multiple pay periods, escalate to your HR manager or contact your state's Department of Labor.

Federal law does not require employers to provide pay stubs, but most states do. Approximately 36 states require employers to provide either a written or electronic pay statement with each paycheck. The required information varies by state but typically includes gross wages, deductions, and net pay. Even in states without a mandate, most employers provide pay stubs through their payroll system or an online portal.

For salaried workers with no changes in pay or benefits, federal withholding should be consistent each period. If it changes, common causes include: a mid-year raise that changed your annualized income bracket, a change to your W-4 filing status or extra withholding, a bonus payment taxed at the supplemental 22% flat rate, or a system update to IRS withholding tables at the start of the new tax year. Review your pay stub's tax lines against the previous period to identify the change.

The Social Security wage base is the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax in a calendar year. For 2026, this limit is $176,100. Once your cumulative wages reach this threshold, Social Security withholding (6.2%) stops for the rest of the year, giving you a slight increase in take-home pay for those remaining paychecks. The wage base is adjusted annually by the Social Security Administration based on average national wage growth.

This calculator is designed for W-2 employees. Freelancers and 1099 contractors have a different tax situation: no employer withholds taxes on your behalf, and you owe self-employment tax (15.3% covering both employer and employee FICA) on top of income tax. For freelance income, you'll want to estimate your taxes as a percentage of net self-employment income and make quarterly estimated payments to the IRS. The calculator can still be useful as a rough guide to your income tax portion.

Even working for the same employer in the same state, your state income tax withholding can differ from a coworker's based on filing status, the number of dependents claimed, additional withholding requested on your state withholding certificate, and whether you elected any state-specific allowances. State withholding is based on each individual's certificate on file with your employer, not a flat rate applied uniformly to all employees.

Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions — the number on your job offer or salary agreement. Net pay, also called take-home pay, is what actually lands in your bank account after federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare are withheld. A take-home pay calculator like this one helps you understand the gap between the two so you can budget accurately.

Your filing status determines both your standard deduction and your tax bracket thresholds. For example, Married Filing Jointly doubles most bracket thresholds compared to Single, meaning a couple can earn more before reaching higher tax rates. Head of Household falls between Single and MFJ. Using a salary calculator after taxes that accounts for filing status gives you a much more accurate estimate than a flat percentage.

As of 2026, nine states have no tax on wage income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. If you are comparing a job in California or New York against a role in Texas, the paycheck calculator by state feature in this tool is especially useful — the difference in take-home pay can be significant even if the gross salaries are similar.

FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It funds two programs: Social Security (6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $176,100) and Medicare (1.45% on all wages). Higher earners also pay an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on income above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). Unlike income tax, FICA is not reduced by your standard deduction — it applies to every dollar of wages.

For tax year 2026, the standard deductions are: $15,000 for Single and Married Filing Separately filers, $30,000 for Married Filing Jointly, and $22,500 for Head of Household. The standard deduction is subtracted from your gross income before federal income tax brackets are applied.