Net Pay Calculator
Calculate net pay from gross salary after federal tax, state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and pre-tax deductions like 401(k) and health insurance.
Net Pay Calculator
Calculator
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Formula: Net = Gross - Federal Tax - State Tax - SS (6.2%) - Medicare (1.45%) - Pre-Tax Deductions
Worked example — Net ≈ $1,904 per paycheck
Formula
Net = Gross - Federal Tax - State Tax - SS (6.2%) - Medicare (1.45%) - Pre-Tax Deductions
Calculates take-home pay after all deductions. Pre-tax deductions like 401k and health insurance reduce taxable income. Federal tax uses 2024 brackets.
Worked Examples
Example 1: $60K salary, semimonthly
Problem:$60,000/yr, 24 periods, single, 5% state
Solution:Gross/period: $2,500. After std deduction, federal ~$280, state ~$125, SS ~$155, Med ~$36
Result:Net ≈ $1,904 per paycheck
Frequently Asked Questions
What reduces my taxable income?
Pre-tax deductions like 401k contributions, HSA contributions, health insurance premiums, and FSA reduce your taxable income before federal and state taxes are calculated.
How is net pay different from gross?
Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions. Net pay (take-home pay) is what you actually receive after federal tax, state tax, FICA, and other deductions.
What is FICA and how much is deducted?
FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act and covers Social Security and Medicare taxes. In 2024, employees pay 6.2% for Social Security (on wages up to $168,600) and 1.45% for Medicare (no wage cap). Employers match these amounts. An additional 0.9% Medicare surtax applies to wages over $200,000 for single filers.
How do I adjust my W-4 to change my withholding?
Submit a new Form W-4 to your HR or payroll department. To withhold more tax (and get a smaller refund or owe less at filing), add extra withholding in Step 4(c). To withhold less (and receive more in each paycheck), claim dependents or adjustments. Using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov helps you find the right amount to avoid surprises at tax time.
What is the difference between my marginal tax rate and my effective tax rate?
The marginal rate is the percentage applied to the next dollar you earn — the bracket you are sitting in. The effective rate is total federal tax divided by total income, which is always lower because the brackets are progressive: only the income above each threshold is taxed at that bracket's rate. This is why a raise that pushes you into a higher bracket never reduces take-home pay; only the portion above the threshold is taxed more heavily.
Why does an actual paycheck differ from this estimate?
Payroll systems withhold using the IRS percentage or wage-bracket method driven by your Form W-4 entries, not by a full-year bracket calculation, and they cannot know about other income, itemised deductions or credits. This model also applies one flat state percentage, while real state systems may be progressive, flat, or absent, and many cities and school districts levy their own income tax. Treat the output as a planning estimate and your pay statement as the authority.
What is the Social Security wage base, and what happens once I cross it?
Social Security tax applies only up to an annual wage base that is indexed and republished each year; earnings above it are not subject to the 6.2 percent employee tax, so high earners see take-home pay rise partway through the year. Medicare has no such ceiling and continues at 1.45 percent on all wages, with an additional Medicare tax applying above a statutory threshold. Confirm the current wage base figure against IRS guidance before relying on it.
How do pre-tax and Roth retirement contributions differ in this calculation?
A traditional pre-tax contribution is subtracted before federal and state income tax is computed, so it reduces both taxable income and the tax withheld, and the deferred tax is paid on withdrawal. A Roth contribution comes out of pay after income tax, so net pay falls by the full amount contributed and qualified withdrawals are later untaxed. Note that both are still subject to Social Security and Medicare tax, so FICA does not change either way.
Does the number of pay periods change my annual take-home pay?
No — it changes the size of each cheque, not the yearly total. Twenty-four semi-monthly periods produce larger individual payments than twenty-six biweekly ones for the same salary, and biweekly schedules produce two months a year with three cheques. Payroll withholding is scaled per period so annual tax comes out the same. What does change is budgeting: fixed monthly bills line up cleanly with semi-monthly pay and less cleanly with biweekly.
How is a bonus withheld differently from regular salary?
Bonuses are supplemental wages, and payroll often withholds them at a flat supplemental rate or by aggregating them with regular pay, which frequently withholds more than your normal paycheque rate. That is a withholding timing effect, not a higher tax on bonuses: the final liability is settled when you file, and any excess comes back as a refund. Because Net Pay Calculator spreads an annual salary evenly, it will not reproduce the smaller-than-expected bonus cheque.
References
Reviewed for accuracy by Sahil, Senior Finance & Tax Editor · Editorial policy
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