Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026
Enter a salary, pick your state and filing status, and see the estimated take-home: 2026 federal income-tax liability, employee payroll taxes and your state's income-tax schedule, itemized line by line.
Paid by the hour? Use the hourly paycheck calculator instead.
California: progressive 2026 bracket schedule.
Capped at the 2026 standard employee limit of $24,500.
Reduces modeled income tax and take-home cash, but not payroll taxes. Benefit tax treatment varies.
- Annual gross ÷ 26
- $2,884.62
- Annual federal tax ÷ 26
- −$263.27
- Annual California tax ÷ 26
- −$101.57
- Annual payroll taxes ÷ 26
- −$220.67
- 401(k) contribution
- −$144.23
- Annual estimate ÷ 26
- $2,154.87
In California, an estimated $2,641 a year goes to state income tax on a $75,000 salary.
Annual tax-liability estimate apportioned for display. It is not payroll withholding and excludes Form W-4 adjustments, local taxes, credits and other state payroll deductions.
- This is an annual federal and state income-tax liability estimate apportioned across the period you choose. It is not employer payroll withholding.
- It does not collect Form W-4 steps, pay date, year-to-date pay or withholding, residence/work-state interaction, or local tax.
- State schedules are an interim planning model. Filing combinations without a sourced schedule are unavailable rather than silently approximated.
- Internal Revenue Service: 2026 inflation adjustments and income-tax brackets — Federal annual-liability brackets and standard deductions.
- Internal Revenue Service: Publication 15-T (2026) — The payroll-withholding method PlainSums does not yet implement.
- Social Security Administration: 2026 contribution and benefit base — Social Security wage base and employee rate.
- Internal Revenue Service: Additional Medicare Tax — Liability thresholds and the additional 0.9% rate.
- Tax Foundation: 2026 state individual income-tax rates and brackets — Secondary compilation used as a starting reference; local taxes are excluded.
- Arizona State Legislature: Arizona Laws 2026, Chapter 140 — Signed June 13, 2026; supersedes the earlier Arizona deduction snapshot.
- Plante Moran state and local tax advisor (April 2026): Supplemental budget with OBBBA conformity — Maine's 2026 IRC-conformity update; supersedes the earlier Maine deduction snapshot.
The email includes this route only; calculator inputs are not attached.
From gross salary to take-home, in order
Every salary loses money to the same four stops, and this calculator itemizes each one. First, pre-tax deductions such as a traditional 401(k) come off the top and shrink the income the tax math sees. Second, federal income tax applies 2026 brackets to what is left after the standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly). Third, employee payroll taxes take 6.2% Social Security on wages up to $184,500 plus 1.45% Medicare on everything. Fourth, your state applies its own 2026 schedule — a flat rate, progressive brackets, or nothing at all in the nine no-income-tax states.
The state step is where identical salaries diverge. The same $75,000 (single filer, no 401(k)) keeps a different amount depending on where it is earned:
| State | State income tax | Annual take-home |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | None | $61,593 |
| North Carolina | −$2,484 | $59,109 |
| California | −$2,941 | $58,652 |
Single filer, no 401(k) or other pre-tax deductions; federal tax and FICA are identical in all three rows, so the gap is state income tax alone. Compare all 51 jurisdictions on the state paycheck hub.
Salary take-home by pay frequency
Taxes are annual, but pay arrives in periods — so the calculator estimates the year first, then apportions it. Weekly pay divides the annual estimate by 52, bi-weekly by 26, semi-monthly by 24 and monthly by 12. Bi-weekly and semi-monthly look similar but differ twice a year: a bi-weekly schedule delivers 26 paychecks, so two months contain a third check.
Because this is an annual estimate split evenly, it will not reproduce paycheck quirks like mid-year raises, bonuses (see the bonus tax calculator) or the moment high earners cross the Social Security wage base and their checks grow late in the year.
Frequently asked questions
- How is take-home pay calculated in 2026?
- Start with gross salary, subtract pre-tax deductions such as a traditional 401(k), then subtract federal income tax (2026 brackets after the $16,100 single / $32,200 married standard deduction), employee payroll taxes (6.2% Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base plus 1.45% Medicare, with a 0.9% surtax for high earners) and your state's 2026 income tax. What remains is the estimated annual take-home.
- Is this the amount my employer will withhold each paycheck?
- No. This tool estimates annual federal and state income-tax liability and divides it across the pay periods you select. Employer withholding uses pay-period wages, Form W-4 entries, year-to-date figures and payroll rounding, so individual paychecks can differ.
- What percentage of salary is take-home pay?
- Roughly 70–82% for most salaried workers, depending on income, filing status, state and pre-tax deductions. A $75,000 single filer keeps about 82% in a no-income-tax state like Texas and about 78% in California under this model.
- Which states have no income tax on wages?
- Nine states levy no state income tax on wages in 2026: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Federal income tax and payroll taxes still apply everywhere.
- Does contributing to a 401(k) raise my take-home pay?
- No — it lowers it, but by less than the contribution. Traditional 401(k) money comes out before income tax, so a $6,000 contribution on a $75,000 salary reduces take-home cash by roughly $4,200–$4,700 while the full $6,000 goes to your retirement account. Payroll taxes still apply to the contributed wages.
- How is this different from the state paycheck pages?
- Same 2026 tax engine, different lens. This page lets you switch between all 50 states and DC in one calculator; each state page adds that state's bracket table, take-home figures across common salaries and a neighboring-state comparison.
Take-home pay by state (2026)
Each state page pairs this calculator with the state's 2026 bracket table, take-home estimates across common salaries and a neighboring-state comparison.