Paycheck calculator

How it’s calculated

The calculator works out the whole year’s federal income tax with the same engine as our income tax calculator (standard deduction, brackets, child credits and the overtime deduction), then spreads it evenly over your paychecks. Social Security is 6.2% of pay up to the year’s wage base ($184,500 in 2026) and Medicare is 1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). State and local income tax and state payroll deductions such as disability and paid leave come from each state’s official rules.

Pre-tax 401(k) and 403(b) contributions lower the pay that income tax applies to, but not Social Security and Medicare. Health premiums through an employer plan lower both. Pennsylvania taxes retirement contributions, so its state and local tax use pay before them.

Salary to hourly divides yearly pay by hours per week times weeks paid. Your employer withholds using your W-4 form and the IRS withholding tables, so a real paycheck can differ a little; the yearly total is what you owe when you file.

Example

A single filer in Texas earning $75,000 in 2026, paid every two weeks, owes $7,670 of federal income tax for the year ($75,000 less the $16,100 standard deduction), $4,650 of Social Security and $1,087.50 of Medicare. Take-home pay is $61,592.50 a year, or $2,368.94 per paycheck.

A $60,000 salary for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, is $28.85 an hour.