Take Home Pay Calculator
Turn an annual salary into take-home pay per paycheck after federal tax, payroll taxes, 401(k), benefits and state tax.
Free · No sign-up · Your inputs stay in your browser
Your numbers
From salary to paycheck
Your projection
$2,011.37 per paycheck
Take-home a year
$52,296
Federal income tax
$5,740
Social Security + Medicare
$5,324
401(k) + benefits
$6,000
State income tax
$2,640
Marginal federal rate
12%
2026 federal brackets and standard deduction, no credits. Your employer withholds from your W-4, which can differ; the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator checks it.
About this tool
Method, assumptions, practical next steps, and limits.
Salary is not the number you spend
A spending plan starts from the amount that reaches your bank account. This tool estimates it from the salary on an offer letter.
How the calculation works
Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce income taxed by the IRS but not Social Security and Medicare. Cafeteria plan premiums reduce both. Federal tax uses the 2026 brackets and standard deduction from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Social Security is 6.2% up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, and Medicare is 1.45% plus 0.9% above $200,000 for a single filer.
A single filer earning $72,000, saving 5% in a 401(k) with $2,400 of pre-tax premiums and a 4% state rate, pays about $5,740 in federal income tax, $5,324 in payroll tax and $2,640 in state tax. Take-home pay is about $52,296 a year, or $2,011 from each of 26 paychecks.
Where this differs from your paycheck
Withholding follows your Form W-4, not this estimate, and credits such as the child tax credit are not included. State taxes are a flat estimate; some states have brackets and some localities add income tax. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator checks whether your withholding is on track.
