How we calculate take-home pay

Who maintains the site

The calculator and guides are maintained by the Take-Home Calculator research team. We update tax tables when the IRS, the Social Security Administration, or a state or city publishes new figures, and we record the source and verification date for each one. Questions and corrections go to our contact page; we fix confirmed errors and update the verification date.

How a paycheck is calculated

1. Pre-tax deductions. Traditional 401(k), HSA, FSA, and health premiums come out first. Health, HSA, and FSA amounts also avoid Social Security and Medicare; 401(k) contributions do not.
2. Federal income tax. Wages are annualized and withheld with the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method: the 2026 standard deduction for your filing status, the 2026 brackets, and your W-4 entries (Step 2, Step 3 credits, Step 4 adjustments).
3. Social Security and Medicare. 6.2% Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base, 1.45% Medicare on all wages, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000.
4. State income tax. Each state's rules are applied to annualized wages: its starting point (wages or federal taxable income), standard deduction, personal exemptions and phase-outs, 0% bands, brackets or flat rate, and any deduction for federal tax paid. States with their own withholding certificates are estimated from annual liability.
5. Local income tax. City, county, school district, and occupational taxes use each jurisdiction's base and rates, including different resident and nonresident rates, Maryland county taxes on Maryland taxable income, NYC brackets, the Yonkers surcharge, and flat monthly fees such as Denver's.

Salary, hourly, and state comparison pages show a bracket-by-bracket walk-through built from the same calculation, so you can check each step.

Sources

• IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32

  2026 federal brackets and standard deductions

• IRS Publication 15-T

  Federal income tax withholding methods

• Social Security Administration

  2026 Social Security wage base

• State revenue departments

  Rates, brackets, deductions, exemptions, and withholding certificates for each state

• Tax Foundation

  State individual income tax rates and brackets, used to cross-check state data

• Local tax administrators

  Pennsylvania DCED EIT register, Indiana Departmental Notice #1, Maryland Comptroller county rates, Ohio RITA and CCA, New York State (NYC and Yonkers), and city finance departments

Each state and city page lists the specific sources and verification dates behind its figures.

How our guides are written and checked

The state and city guides are drafted with AI assistance and checked by an automated validator before they are published. Every dollar amount and percentage in a guide must match a figure generated by the tax engine for that page, such as a take-home amount, a bracket, or a local rate. Copy that cites any other number is rejected. Whenever tax data changes, our test suite re-runs that check, so a rate update cannot leave a guide quoting an old figure.

Qualitative statements, such as form names, reciprocity rules, and how local taxes are filed, are checked against state and city revenue department guidance. If you spot something out of date, please tell us.

Assumptions behind published examples

Unless a page says otherwise, examples assume a single filer, W-2 wages as the only income, the standard deduction, no pre-tax deductions, biweekly pay, and 2,080 working hours a year. State pages exclude local taxes; city pages assume you live and work in the city unless a figure is labeled for nonresidents.

What estimates leave out

• State disability and paid family leave contributions (for example California SDI and the New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Massachusetts programs) and local head taxes such as Pennsylvania's Local Services Tax.
• Tax credits other than the ones built into state formulas, such as the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and most state credits.
• Itemized deductions, and the federal deductions for tips, overtime, and seniors, which are claimed on the return rather than through paycheck withholding.
• Wisconsin's sliding standard deduction, Utah's taxpayer credit, the Massachusetts surtax on very high incomes, and the Illinois exemption phase-out for high earners.

Estimates are for planning and are not tax advice. Your employer's payroll system and your tax return are the final word; see our disclaimer.