Payroll Calculator
Sanity-check your own payroll: federal take-home pay per paycheck, with withholding, Social Security, and Medicare itemized.
Written by Dorothy Ibrahim, 10+ years in banking & finance
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How we calculate this
This calculator turns a gross paycheck into federal take-home pay, itemizing federal income-tax withholding, Social Security, and Medicare. It is the sanity check for owners running their own payroll: if the net pay on a real paycheck is far from this figure, something in the payroll setup deserves a second look. Figures are federal only — state income tax withholding is not included.
The formulas
- Annualized wages for withholding
- (gross pay per paycheck − pre-tax deductions per paycheck) × paychecks per yearPaychecks per year: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly, 12 monthly.
- Federal withholding per paycheck
- (federal tax on annualized wages minus the standard deduction, less the W-4 Step 3 dependents credit) ÷ paychecks per yearAnnualized percentage method for a 2020-or-later Form W-4, standard withholding.
- Social Security (employee share)
- 6.2% × annual gross, up to the wage base ($184,500 for 2026), ÷ paychecks per year
- Medicare (employee share)
- 1.45% × annual gross, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on annual gross above the filing-status threshold ($200,000 single), ÷ paychecks per year401(k) pre-tax contributions reduce income-tax withholding but are still FICA-taxable.
- Net pay per paycheck
- gross pay − federal withholding − FICA − pre-tax deductions
Worked example
- Say gross pay is $2,500 biweekly for a single filer with no dependents credit and no pre-tax deductions (2026 tax year).
- Annual gross = $2,500 × 26 = $65,000. Subtracting the 2026 single standard deduction of $16,100 leaves $48,900 subject to withholding.
- Federal tax on $48,900 (2026 single brackets) = 10% × $12,400 + 12% × $36,500 = $1,240 + $4,380 = $5,620 per year, or $216.15 per paycheck.
- FICA per paycheck: Social Security 6.2% × $2,500 = $155.00, Medicare 1.45% × $2,500 = $36.25 — $191.25 total.
- Net pay = $2,500 − $216.15 − $191.25 = $2,092.60 per paycheck, about $54,408 take-home for the year.
Rates, benchmarks & sources
- Withholding method for 2020-or-later Forms W-4, computed from the annual brackets and standard deduction — IRS Pub 15-T (percentage method, annualized)
- 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 MFJ / $24,150 HoH) — IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32; brackets made permanent by OBBBA
- Social Security wage base ($176,100 for 2025; $184,500 for 2026); FICA rates 6.2% + 1.45%; Additional Medicare 0.9% above $200,000 (single) — SSA (2025-10-24); IRS; PayrollOrg (2026)
- 2026 401(k) elective-deferral limit ($24,500) behind the over-contribution warning — IRS Notice 2025-67
Figures current as of 2026-07-02. See our methodology & editorial standards for how constants are versioned and verified.
What this tool doesn’t model
- Federal only — no state or local income-tax withholding, and no state disability or paid-family-leave deductions. In most states, actual take-home will be lower than this figure.
- Withholding uses the annualized percentage method built from the annual brackets and standard deduction; a payroll system applying the published Pub 15-T wage-bracket tables can differ by a few dollars per check.
- Models the standard 2020+ W-4 only — Step 2 (multiple jobs), Step 4(a)/(b) other-income and deduction adjustments, and Step 4(c) extra withholding are not modeled.
- FICA is applied to full gross each period. A Section 125 health deduction actually reduces FICA wages too, so entering health pre-tax here slightly overstates FICA.
- The Social Security wage-base cap and the Additional Medicare threshold are applied on an annualized basis, not by year-to-date tracking, so a raise mid-year shifts where the cap lands.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my actual paycheck different from this estimate?
The most common reasons are state and local income-tax withholding (not modeled here), W-4 Step 2 or Step 4 adjustments, and benefit deductions this tool does not itemize. Payroll systems also use the exact Pub 15-T tables, which can differ from the annualized method by a few dollars. If the gap is large, compare line by line against the pay stub — that usually locates the difference quickly.
Is federal withholding the same as the tax I owe?
No — withholding is a prepayment. The real bill is settled on the annual return: if withholding ran high you get a refund, and if it ran low you owe the difference (and possibly an underpayment penalty). This tool estimates what the W-4 settings will withhold, not the final tax liability.
Why does a 401(k) contribution lower withholding but not Social Security and Medicare?
Pre-tax 401(k) contributions are excluded from federal income-tax wages but remain FICA wages, so the 6.2% and 1.45% still apply to the full gross. Health premiums run through a Section 125 cafeteria plan do reduce FICA wages, though this tool applies FICA to gross either way as a simplification.
Does this include state payroll taxes like SUTA or state income tax?
No. This is a federal-only estimate: federal income-tax withholding plus the employee share of Social Security and Medicare. State income-tax withholding varies from zero to over 10% depending on the state, and employer-side taxes such as SUTA and FUTA are a separate cost — the True Cost of Employee calculator covers those.
What happens to Social Security withholding at high salaries?
Social Security tax stops once annual wages reach the wage base — $184,500 for 2026 ($176,100 for 2025) per SSA. Medicare has no cap; instead, an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to wages above $200,000 for a single filer. The tool applies both rules on an annualized basis.