Paycheck Calculator in your browser, no signup

The number on your offer letter is not the number that reaches your bank account. Between the two sit federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, possibly state tax, and whatever you have chosen to put into a retirement plan or health cover. This calculator works out that gap for the 2026 tax year, so you can see your realistic take-home pay before you sign a contract, accept a raise, or decide how much to contribute to your 401(k). It handles the detail most simple calculators skip - notably that 401(k) contributions reduce your income tax but not your Social Security and Medicare.

These numbers are the kind you check twice before sending a quote, a tax form or a loan application. The tool does the arithmetic; you still own the inputs.

Paycheck Calculator is a good fit when weighing a job offer, where the gross figure alone tells you very little.

In plain English

Paycheck Calculator is built around a few practical wins, not a long feature list:

• Uses the official 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction and Social Security wage base.
• Correctly treats 401(k) money as exempt from income tax but still subject to FICA - a distinction that changes the answer by roughly 7.65% of whatever you defer.
• Shows your effective rate and your marginal bracket separately, which are commonly confused.
• Tells you when your income passes the Social Security wage base, after which your later paychecks get bigger.
• Runs in your browser, so your salary never leaves your device.

How to run it

1. Enter your gross pay for one period. Use the amount before any deductions. If you only know your annual salary, choose "Annually" as the frequency and enter it there.
2. Set your pay frequency and filing status. Every two weeks is the most common US schedule at 26 paychecks a year. Filing status changes both your brackets and your standard deduction.
3. Add your retirement contribution. Enter what you put into a 401(k) or 403(b) as a percentage of gross pay. This lowers your taxable income.
4. Add health and other pre-tax deductions. Medical premiums, HSA and FSA contributions come out before every tax, including Social Security and Medicare.
5. Set your state rate if you have one. Leave it at zero if you live in a state with no income tax. Otherwise enter your approximate effective rate.
6. Read your take-home figure. The breakdown shows every deduction line by line, so you can see exactly where the money goes.

Real situations

• Weighing a job offer, where the gross figure alone tells you very little.
• Working out whether you can afford to raise your 401(k) contribution.
• Budgeting after a raise, a bonus, or a move to a different state.
• Checking a new pay stub looks roughly right after a payroll change.
• Comparing two offers with different salaries, benefits and state tax.

Small habits that help

• Increase your 401(k) contribution and watch the take-home figure. The drop is always smaller than the contribution, because you save tax on it.
• Money into an HSA or FSA escapes Social Security and Medicare too, which makes it slightly more tax-efficient per dollar than a 401(k).
• If your income is above the Social Security wage base, your take-home rises partway through the year once that tax stops.
• Your effective rate is what you actually pay across all your income. Your marginal rate only applies to your next dollar - do not use it to estimate your whole bill.

Skip these

• Assuming your marginal bracket is the rate you pay on everything. A single filer in the 22% bracket pays an effective rate far below 22%.
• Expecting a 401(k) contribution to cut Social Security and Medicare. It does not - only Section 125 benefits like health premiums do that.
• Forgetting that "twice a month" (24 paychecks) and "every two weeks" (26) are different, and produce different per-paycheck figures.
• Treating this as your exact withholding. Real payroll follows your Form W-4 including allowances and extra withholding, which this does not model.

Does anything leave your device?

Paycheck Calculator runs in your browser. The file or text you paste stays on your device. There is no account, and nothing is stored on a ToolBox server for this job.

Related tools worth opening next

If this is one step in a longer job, these usually come after it:

• Salary Tax Calculator - Income tax and take-home pay by country and tax year
• Hourly to Salary - Convert an hourly wage to a yearly salary and every cadence in between

FAQ

How accurate is this calculator?

It uses the official 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction and FICA rates, so the annual tax figure is a close estimate for someone taking the standard deduction. Real payroll withholding follows your Form W-4, including Steps 2 to 4, credits and any extra withholding you requested, so your actual pay stub can differ by a modest amount.

Why does my 401(k) contribution not reduce Social Security tax?

Traditional 401(k) deferrals are excluded from federal income tax but are still counted as wages for Social Security and Medicare. Only Section 125 benefits - health premiums, HSA and FSA - are excluded from FICA as well. Calculators that miss this overstate your take-home pay.

What is the 2026 Social Security wage base?

It is $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025. You pay 6.2% on earnings up to that amount, giving a maximum of $11,439 for the year. Above it, Social Security tax stops but Medicare continues with no cap.

What is the standard deduction for 2026?

It is $16,100 for single filers and married filing separately, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household.

Which states have no income tax?

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming have no state tax on wage income. If you live in one of those, leave the state rate at zero.

What is the Additional Medicare Tax?

An extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married filing jointly. It is paid by the employee only - employers do not match it - and those thresholds are set in statute, so they do not rise with inflation.

What is the difference between effective and marginal rate?

Your marginal rate is the percentage charged on your next dollar of income. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, which is always lower because the earlier brackets tax the earlier portion at lower rates.

Can I use this to check my pay stub?

It is a good sanity check. If the difference is large - more than a few percent - it usually means your W-4 has extra withholding, you itemise rather than take the standard deduction, or there is a benefit deduction you have not entered here.

Open the Paycheck Calculator when you are ready. It is free, and you do not need an account.