Take-Home Paycheck Calculator

Estimate your 2026 U.S. take-home paycheck after federal income tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, and (for Texas) state withholding — based on your actual Form W-4 elections.

Free to use · Instant results

Calculator Inputs

Gross Pay This Period

Your gross wages for this one paycheck, before any deductions.

Pay Frequency

How often you're paid.

W-4 Filing Status (Step 1(c))

From your Form W-4, Step 1(c). Single and Married Filing Separately share the same withholding schedule on the W-4.

W-4 Step 2 Checkbox (Multiple Jobs / Spouse Works)

Check this if you checked the box in Step 2 of your Form W-4 — it results in higher withholding to account for a second job or a working spouse.

W-4 Step 3: Annual Credits (Dependents)

The annual dollar amount from Step 3 of your Form W-4 (child tax credit / other dependents).

W-4 Step 4(a): Other Annual Income

Annual income not from jobs (e.g. interest, dividends), from Step 4(a) of your Form W-4, if any.

W-4 Step 4(b): Annual Deductions

Annual deductions beyond the standard deduction, from Step 4(b) of your Form W-4, if any.

W-4 Step 4(c): Extra Withholding Per Paycheck

Any additional flat amount you asked to be withheld each paycheck, from Step 4(c) of your Form W-4.

Year-to-Date Social Security Wages (Before This Paycheck)

Total wages this employer has already paid you this year, subject to Social Security tax, BEFORE this paycheck. 0 means this is your first paycheck of the year from this employer — it does not mean "unknown." Needed to correctly stop Social Security withholding once you reach the annual wage base.

Year-to-Date Medicare Wages (Before This Paycheck)

Total wages this employer has already paid you this year, subject to Medicare tax, BEFORE this paycheck. For most employees this equals your YTD Social Security wages. Needed to correctly start the Additional Medicare Tax once this employer has paid you over $200,000 this year.

Traditional 401(k) Contribution

A traditional (pre-tax) 401(k) percentage of this paycheck. Reduces your federal income-tax withholding wages, but not your Social Security or Medicare wages. This calculator does not check the IRS annual contribution limit.

State

State payroll withholding is currently supported for Texas only. Every other state — including Illinois, New York, and California, which already have their own separate annual income-tax estimates — will show an explicit "not yet supported" result here rather than a fabricated withholding number.

Estimated Net Paycheck: $1,651.00
Total Deductions & Withholding: $349.00
Gross Pay: $2,000.00
Traditional 401(k) Contribution: $0.00
Federal Income Tax Withholding: $196.00
Social Security Withholding: $124.00
Medicare Withholding: $29.00
Additional Medicare Withholding: $0.00
State Withholding: $0.00
Other State Payroll Deductions: $0.00
State Note: Texas has no broad individual state income tax on wages, so state withholding is $0. This does not mean every state has zero payroll deductions — it's specific to Texas. Local (city/county) payroll taxes are also excluded, though Texas has none relevant here.
Note: 2026 U.S. take-home paycheck estimate. This is an estimate, not payroll or tax advice — actual employer payroll may differ due to benefits, payroll timing, employer-specific adjustments, supplemental wages, local taxes, unsupported deductions, or year-to-date corrections.

Your spreadsheet is generated in your browser.

Paycheck Breakdown

Each deduction making up your estimated take-home pay.

Each deduction making up your estimated take-home pay.
Component	Amount
Gross Pay	$2,000.00
Traditional 401(k)	$0.00
Federal Income Tax Withholding	$196.00
Social Security Withholding	$124.00
Medicare Withholding	$29.00
Additional Medicare Withholding	$0.00
State Withholding	$0.00
Other State Payroll Deductions	$0.00
Estimated Net Paycheck	$1,651.00

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How It's Calculated

Formula

\text{Net Pay} = \text{Gross Pay} - 401(k) - \text{Federal W/H} - \text{SS} - \text{Medicare} - \text{Add'l Medicare} - \text{State W/H}

This calculator estimates your 2026 take-home pay for ONE paycheck, using the IRS Percentage Method (Publication 15-T) for federal income-tax withholding — this is PER-PAYCHECK WITHHOLDING, not your full-year tax liability (for an annual estimate, see the Income Tax Calculator). Federal withholding uses your actual Form W-4 elections: filing status (Step 1(c)), the Step 2 checkbox for multiple jobs or a working spouse (which increases withholding), Step 3 credits, and Step 4(a)/(b)/(c) adjustments. Social Security tax is withheld at 6.2% up to the annual wage base — this calculator asks for your year-to-date Social Security wages so it can correctly stop withholding once you cross that cap partway through the year, rather than assuming every paycheck is your first of the year. Medicare is withheld at 1.45% on all wages with no cap, plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% once this employer has paid you over $200,000 this year — this $200,000 employer-withholding trigger applies the same way regardless of your filing status, which is a different rule from the filing-status-specific thresholds used for your ANNUAL Additional Medicare Tax liability. A traditional 401(k) contribution reduces the wages subject to federal income-tax withholding, but not your Social Security or Medicare wages — this calculator does not check the IRS annual 401(k) contribution limit. State withholding is currently supported for Texas only, which has no broad individual wage income tax at all. Local (city/county) payroll taxes are excluded from this calculator entirely. This is an estimate for general planning purposes, not payroll or tax advice.

Worked Examples

Ordinary biweekly paycheck, Texas, Single, no 401(k)

Gross pay this period = $2,000.00; pay frequency biweekly (26 periods/year)
Annualized wages = $2,000 × 26 = $52,000.00
Federal withholding bracket walk (Standard, Single): $0 on the first $7,500 (0%); $1,240.00 on the next $12,400 (10%); $3,852.00 on the remaining $32,100 up to $52,000 (12%) = $5,092.00 tentative annual tax
Per-period federal withholding = $5,092.00 ÷ 26 = $195.85, rounds to $196
Social Security = $2,000 × 6.2% = $124.00; Medicare = $2,000 × 1.45% = $29.00; Additional Medicare = $0.00 (well below the $200,000 threshold)
Texas state withholding = $0.00 (no broad individual wage income tax)
Total deductions = $196 + $124.00 + $29.00 + $0.00 + $0.00 = $349.00; estimated net paycheck = $2,000.00 − $349.00 = $1,651.00

Higher-income paycheck crossing both the Social Security wage base and the Additional Medicare threshold mid-paycheck

Gross pay this period = $10,000.00, biweekly, Single, YTD Social Security wages $180,000, YTD Medicare wages $198,000
Annualized wages = $10,000 × 26 = $260,000.00 — reaches the 32% bracket
Federal withholding bracket walk (Standard, Single) sums to $57,256.00 tentative annual tax; ÷26 = $2,202.15, rounds to $2,202
Social Security: remaining room under the $184,500 wage base = $184,500 − $180,000 = $4,500; only $4,500 of this $10,000 paycheck is taxed: $4,500 × 6.2% = $279.00
Medicare (uncapped) = $10,000 × 1.45% = $145.00
Additional Medicare: remaining room under the $200,000 employer threshold = $200,000 − $198,000 = $2,000; the excess ($10,000 − $2,000 = $8,000) is taxed at 0.9% = $72.00
Total deductions = $2,202 + $279.00 + $145.00 + $72.00 = $2,698.00; estimated net paycheck = $10,000.00 − $2,698.00 = $7,302.00

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same as the Income Tax Calculator?

No. The Income Tax Calculator estimates your full-year federal (and, for some states, state) tax LIABILITY — what you'd owe for the whole year. This calculator estimates PER-PAYCHECK WITHHOLDING — what gets taken out of one specific paycheck, using the IRS's own payroll withholding method (Publication 15-T), which uses different rate schedules and rules than the annual liability calculation. The two are related but never interchangeable — dividing your annual liability by the number of paychecks would not give an accurate withholding estimate.

Why does this calculator ask for my year-to-date wages?

Social Security tax stops being withheld once your wages from this employer reach the annual wage base ($184,500 for 2026) — without knowing your year-to-date wages, this calculator couldn't tell whether this paycheck crosses that cap. The Additional Medicare Tax has a similar year-to-date dependency, triggered once a single employer has paid you over $200,000 in the year. Entering 0 means this is your first paycheck of the year from this employer — it's a real answer, not a placeholder for "I don't know."

Which states does this calculator support?

Texas only, for now. Texas has no broad individual wage income tax, so its result is a real, confident $0 for state withholding. Illinois, New York, and California are listed in the selector — and each already has its own separate ANNUAL income-tax estimate in the Income Tax Calculator — but none of them has been researched for PAYROLL WITHHOLDING specifically yet, since a state's withholding method is often structurally different from its annual tax rules. Selecting one of them here shows an explicit "not yet supported" result rather than a number derived from the wrong model.

Does this account for every payroll deduction my employer might take out?

No. This calculator models federal income-tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, Additional Medicare, a traditional 401(k) contribution, and (for Texas) state withholding. It does not model health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, Roth 401(k) contributions, wage garnishments, union dues, or any other employer-specific deduction — your actual paycheck will differ if you have any of these.

What does the W-4 Step 2 checkbox do?

Checking Step 2 on your Form W-4 tells your employer to withhold at a higher rate, because it accounts for the fact that you (or your household) have more than one job. If you check this box on your real W-4, check it here too — leaving it unchecked when it should be checked will make this estimate under-withhold compared to your real paycheck.

Does this calculator check the annual 401(k) contribution limit?

No. It computes your traditional 401(k) contribution as a flat percentage of each paycheck with no running annual total and no comparison to the IRS's annual elective-deferral limit. If you're contributing at a rate that would exceed the annual limit before the end of the year, this calculator won't catch that — it estimates each paycheck independently.