US Paycheck Calculator

Gross pay is the headline number on your offer letter; net pay is what hits the bank. The standard US deductions in order are federal income tax (withheld based on your W-4), Social Security at 6.2% on income up to the $168,600 wage base for 2024, Medicare at 1.45% on all wages plus an extra 0.9% above $200,000, state income tax (0-13.3%), and any state disability or unemployment add-ons (California SDI at 1.1%, for example).

After mandatory deductions, voluntary ones come off: 401(k) contributions, health insurance premiums, HSA or FSA contributions, dental and vision. A single filer in Texas earning $75,000 with a 5% 401(k) contribution typically nets around $58,000 a year, or about $2,230 every two weeks. The same person in California nets roughly $54,500 because of the 8% state tax on income at that level.

Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly schedules all add up to the same annual total but the per-paycheck amount and timing differ. Biweekly (every 2 weeks) gives 26 paychecks a year, so two of those months will have three paydays. Semi-monthly (1st and 15th) gives 24 paychecks - the per-paycheck amount is slightly higher but you never get a 'three-paycheck month'.

The withholding tables get more accurate the more frequently you are paid. A weekly schedule pulls federal tax in 52 small bites; a monthly schedule does it in 12 larger ones. The annual total ends up the same. Use the [US W-4 Withholding Calculator](/us-w4-withholding-calculator) if your refund or bill last April was wildly off; the W-4 is the one lever you control here.

Money you put into a traditional 401(k), HSA, or pre-tax health insurance comes out before federal and (usually) state income tax. A $200/paycheck 401(k) contribution at a 22% federal + 5% state combined rate only reduces your take-home by about $146, because $54 of that contribution would have gone to tax anyway. The HSA is the most tax-advantaged of all, dodging Social Security and Medicare too if done through payroll.

Roth 401(k) contributions come out after tax, so they hit your take-home harder dollar-for-dollar. The trade-off is no tax in retirement on the gains, which often wins for younger workers expecting higher tax rates later. Your employer match is always pre-tax regardless of which 401(k) flavour you pick.

Bonuses are taxed at supplemental rates by the IRS - 22% federal flat below $1 million, 37% above - which often over-withholds compared to your normal rate. The extra usually comes back as part of your refund the following April. Overtime, by contrast, is taxed at your normal marginal rate; the higher take in overtime weeks just bumps you further up the bracket structure for those weeks.

If you regularly work overtime, your effective rate creeps up across the year. If you got a big bonus you were not expecting, check whether your year-end withholding now over-shoots; you may be able to pull back on W-4 withholding for the remaining paychecks. The [US Bonus Tax Calculator](/us-bonus-tax-calculator) shows how much of a bonus you actually keep.