See how federal income tax, FICA contributions, and Alaska withholding may affect your estimated paycheck. Your result depends on the pay and withholding details entered above.
We start with the pay amount and pay schedule you enter, then estimate the applicable federal income-tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, and state income tax for the selected jurisdiction. Where the calculator supports them, filing status, pay frequency, retirement contributions and other deductions can change the estimate. The state portion is based on the selected state’s tax structure and should be read alongside any local-tax limitations displayed on the page.
Your actual paystub can differ from this result. Employers may use different payroll timing, benefit elections, supplemental-wage methods, rounding, or withholding elections. The annual state and federal tax returns may also include deductions, credits, other income, or adjustments not represented in a paycheck estimator. Use this result for planning and comparison, then verify important decisions against your paystub, employer payroll department, and current tax-agency guidance.
Federal withholding and payroll taxes
Your state paycheck estimate starts with gross wages, but gross pay is not the same as taxable wages for every tax. Federal income-tax withholding is calculated by employers under the 2026 IRS Publication 15-T methods using pay frequency and the employee’s Form W-4 elections. This estimator models the inputs it exposes, including filing status, the Step 2 checkbox, dependent credits, and extra per-paycheck withholding; it does not apply every individual deduction or employer-specific payroll rule automatically. Withholding is a prepayment toward the eventual federal tax return, not a guarantee of the final amount owed or refunded.
The IRS updated the 2026 Form W-4 to account for federal deductions created by the 2025 tax law, including eligible qualified tips and overtime compensation. Those deductions have eligibility limits and are claimed under federal income-tax rules; tips and overtime generally remain subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. The calculator does not identify eligible tip or overtime amounts on its own, so use current IRS instructions and payroll records before adjusting withholding.
Social Security and Medicare are separate from federal income-tax withholding. For 2026, employee Social Security tax is 6.2% on covered wages up to the $184,500 contribution and benefit base, for a maximum employee contribution of $11,439. Medicare tax is 1.45% on covered wages without a wage cap. Employers must begin withholding the additional 0.9% Medicare tax after an employee's wages from that employer exceed $200,000; the employee's final tax return threshold depends on filing status.
Once an employee’s covered wages from an employer exceed the Social Security wage base, Social Security withholding on additional covered wages generally stops for that employer for the rest of the calendar year. That does not mean all payroll taxes stop: Medicare generally continues. If an employee changes jobs, each employer may withhold Social Security separately; excess withholding may be claimable as a credit on the federal return, depending on the circumstances.
Pre-tax benefits need careful treatment. A traditional 401(k) salary deferral generally reduces federal income-tax wages but ordinarily remains subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. HSA contributions made through a qualifying employer cafeteria plan can receive different payroll-tax treatment than contributions made directly by an individual. Health, FSA, commuter and other benefits also depend on plan design and applicable law. State treatment may differ from federal treatment, so do not assume every pre-tax deduction lowers every state tax base.
Hourly estimates commonly annualize regular hours across the year. Real pay can differ because of overtime, unpaid leave, bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, multiple jobs, midyear job changes, benefit enrollment, or changes to Form W-4. A take-home pay estimator is most useful when users enter the same pay frequency, filing status, benefit deductions and location that apply to their actual paycheck.