Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your take-home pay after 2026 federal income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) withholding.
Net pay per paycheck
$2,566.35
Net annual pay
$61,593
Federal income tax
$7,670
Social Security + Medicare
$5,738
Effective federal tax rate
17.9%
Federal income tax + FICA only — does not include state/local tax or pre-tax deductions (401(k), health insurance, etc.).
How it's calculated
This calculator uses 2026 federal income tax brackets and the 2026 standard deduction for your filing status to estimate federal income tax, applying each bracket's rate only to the portion of income within it (the way the IRS actually calculates tax, not a flat rate on your full income).
FICA taxes are calculated separately: Social Security at 6.2% up to the annual wage base (income above that cap isn't taxed for Social Security), and Medicare at 1.45% with no cap, plus an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax on income above $200,000 from a single employer.
Important scope limits: this calculator estimates federal income tax and FICA only. It does not include state or local income tax (which varies enormously by location), nor pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions or health insurance premiums, which would lower your taxable income further. Treat this as a federal-only baseline, not your complete take-home pay.
Worked example
A single filer earning $75,000/year, paid semi-monthly (24 pay periods), has a 2026 taxable income of $58,900 after the standard deduction, resulting in federal income tax of about $7,670.
Adding FICA — $4,650 in Social Security and $1,087.50 in Medicare — brings total federal-level withholding to about $13,407.50, for a net annual pay of about $61,592.50, or roughly $2,566.35 per paycheck. That's an effective federal tax rate of about 17.9%.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why doesn't this include my state income tax?
- State income tax rules vary dramatically — some states have no income tax at all, while others have their own bracket systems entirely separate from federal rules. Modeling all 50 states accurately is out of scope for this calculator; check your state's tax agency or a state-specific calculator for that piece.
- Why is my actual paycheck different from this estimate?
- This calculator doesn't account for pre-tax deductions (401(k) contributions, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions), which reduce your taxable income and would make your actual take-home pay different from this federal-only estimate. It also doesn't include state/local tax.
- What tax year does this use?
- This calculator uses 2026 federal tax brackets, the 2026 standard deduction, and current Social Security/Medicare thresholds. Tax brackets are adjusted annually for inflation, so figures will change in future tax years.