Take-Home Almanac
US Paycheck Calculator
US Paycheck Calculator
Take-Home Almanac is a free take-home pay calculator for people who work in the United States. Enter your salary or hourly wage and your state, and it shows exactly how much you keep after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax for the 2026 tax year. It also publishes what every occupation earns in every state, from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, with the tax already applied. It is a paycheck calculator for employees and hourly workers — not a payroll service, a payment processor, or a tax preparer. No signup, no spreadsheet, and no advertising.
Together these are called FICA. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 in 2026 — a maximum of $11,439 — and stops entirely above that ceiling, which is why high earners see their take-home jump partway through the year. Medicare takes 1.45% of every dollar with no ceiling, plus another 0.9% above $200,000 for single filers. Your employer matches the 6.2% and the 1.45%, but not the 0.9%.
The US has four filing statuses and each has its own standard deduction and its own bracket widths. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly and $24,150 head of household. Married-jointly brackets are exactly twice as wide as single brackets up to the 32% band, which is where the so-called marriage penalty starts for high, evenly matched incomes.
Where you live matters more than most people expect. The same $75,000 salary keeps $61,593 in Alaska and $55,867 in Oregon. Nine states take nothing from wages at all; the rest range from a flat couple of percent to graduated rates above 10%. Local income taxes in places like New York City and Maryland counties are on top of that again.
Annual take-home pay for a single filer at three income levels in six of the largest states. Federal tax and FICA are identical in every column; every difference you see is state income tax.
| Gross salary | TX | FL | CA | NY | IL | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $42,355 | $42,355 | $41,315 | $40,252 | $40,025 | $40,820 |
| $75,000 | $61,593 | $61,593 | $58,818 | $58,140 | $58,025 | $59,290 |
| $100,000 | $79,180 | $79,180 | $74,125 | $74,320 | $74,375 | $76,110 |
2026 estimates for wage income, single filer with the standard deduction and no other credits, from the Take-Home Almanac rules engine using IRS and state revenue department rates. Local income taxes are not included. Compare all 51 jurisdictions →
US wage income is taxed at the federal level and, in 41 states, at the state level too. On a $75,000 salary in Texas in 2026 you keep about $61,593 (roughly $5,133 a month) after federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Use the calculator above for your own state and income.
Social Security is 6.2% of your wages up to $184,500 in 2026, for a maximum employee contribution of $11,439. Earnings above that ceiling are not subject to it. Your employer pays the same amount again. Medicare is a separate 1.45% with no ceiling at all.
An extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 married filing jointly, and $125,000 married filing separately. Unlike almost every other tax figure, these thresholds are fixed in statute and have never been adjusted for inflation, so they reach further down the income scale every year.
9 states levy no tax on wage income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. Washington taxes capital gains and New Hampshire formerly taxed interest and dividends, but neither takes anything from a paycheck.
A lot. The same $75,000 salary leaves $61,593 in Alaska and $55,867 in Oregon — a gap of $5,726 a year on identical gross pay. Federal tax and FICA are the same everywhere, so the entire difference is state income tax.
It is your annual tax liability — what you owe for the year. The amount withheld from an actual paycheck is computed differently, under IRS Publication 15-T, and depends on the W-4 you filed. The two are usually close but rarely identical; the difference is what produces a refund or a bill in April.