💼 Take-Home Pay Calculator (US): Salary to Net Pay

How to use this calculator

1. Enter your pay: annual salary or hourly rate with hours per week, then pick your pay frequency.
2. Add your Form W-4 choices: filing status, Step 2 checkbox, Step 3 credits and Step 4 amounts.
3. Add paycheck calculator deductions: Section 125 health premium, traditional 401(k) percentage or amount, and any post-tax deduction.
4. Choose your state and pay year, then adjust any rule value in the "Rules you can edit" panel if you have a verified figure.
5. Read net pay per paycheck, per month and per year, the gross-to-net waterfall, the effective deduction rate and the scenario difference.

Net pay calculator: from gross to net

The chart below is the gross-to-net waterfall for your inputs. Each bar shows how much of one paycheck goes to that line, and the caption describes taxes taken out of paycheck by type. The same figures appear in the accessible table above, so nothing depends on the bars alone.

Scenario A versus scenario B

Scenario A is what you entered. Scenario B is the alternative you switched on, for example a raise from $85,000 to $92,000 or a different 401(k) percentage. The engine runs the identical method on both inputs, so the difference per paycheck and per year is a like-for-like comparison.

Scenario B is off, so only scenario A is shown. Tick "Use scenario B in the comparison" to compare a raise or a different 401(k) percent.

401(k) sensitivity: one percentage point

Take-home change per 1 percentage point of deferral: run the calculator with your inputs to see the illustrative figure computed by the engine. It is illustrative only; the actual effect depends on your W-4, your bracket and your employer's payroll setup.

Monthly budget view and pay-period equivalents

Planning usually happens monthly, but pay arrives per paycheck. Both views are shown side by side, together with weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly equivalents of the same net result. The conversion convention: every equivalent is derived from rounded per-paycheck lines, never by re-dividing a rounded annual total.

What this estimate includes and what it leaves out

Calculating net pay: method and sources

The engine works per pay period. For each period it computes gross, subtracts Section 125 premiums and the 401(k) deferral, applies Social Security and Medicare to FICA wages, estimates federal withholding from your editable bracket table and W-4 inputs, then subtracts state and post-tax lines. Monthly and annual views are derived from rounded per-period lines; monthly equals per-period net multiplied by pay periods per year and divided by 12.

annual net = annual gross
  − pre-tax deductions (Section 125 premium + 401(k))
  − Social Security − Medicare − additional Medicare
  − federal income tax withholding estimate
  − state and local withholding − post-tax deductions

FICA wages per period = gross − Section 125 premium
(401(k) deferrals do not reduce FICA wages in this model)
per-paycheck net = annual net run through the per-period engine
effective deduction rate = (gross − net) ÷ gross

Worked example: $85,000 salary, paid biweekly

This example uses hypothetical inputs and tests arithmetic, not law. Gross pay of $85,000.00 a year over 26 biweekly periods gives $3,269.23 per paycheck. A 6% traditional 401(k) deferral is $196.15 and a Section 125 health premium is $150.00, so FICA wages are $3,119.23. With the default Social Security and Medicare rates in the rules panel, Social Security is $193.39 and Medicare is $45.23 per paycheck. Subtracting a placeholder federal amount of $400.00 with no state tax leaves $2,284.46 of take-home pay per paycheck. The $400.00 federal figure is a placeholder used only to test the subtraction; it is not a tax rule and never appears as a result.

Your own result is computed live from the inputs above. If your engine figure differs from a check in this table, treat the table as the arithmetic reference and report the difference rather than editing the table.

Gross pay and net pay: what changes the gap

Reading the result: status labels and what they mean

Why is my paycheck different from this estimate?

Use this checklist when the number on your stub does not match the estimate. Each item names a real cause and where to look.

• W-4 differences. A Step 2 checkbox, Step 3 credits or Step 4(c) extra withholding changes federal withholding directly. Compare your Form W-4 on file with the fields above (IRS Form W-4).
• Supplemental pay. Bonuses and commissions are often withheld at an optional flat rate rather than your regular bracket; this estimator applies the regular method to every period.
• Benefits beyond Section 125. HSA, FSA, life, disability and union dues lines change the total deduction and are entered as the post-tax field here.
• State and local taxes. Several states also run disability, paid family leave or long-term-care payroll programs, and some cities levy wage taxes.
• Pay-date count. Biweekly means 26 checks a year and semimonthly means 24, so annual totals can match while per-check amounts differ.
• Withholding is not the tax you owe. Federal withholding is a prepayment toward the return; the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator helps you align the two (irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator).

FAQ: take-home pay calculator questions

Glossary: pay and withholding terms

Gross pay

Total wages before any deduction, including salary, hourly pay and overtime. The starting bar of the waterfall.

Net pay

What remains after all withholding and deductions; the same figure this page calls take-home pay.

Take-home pay

Money that actually reaches your bank account each pay period. On this page it means pay after payroll withholding, not money left after filing a return.

Withholding

Amounts your employer sends to tax agencies on your behalf during the year. Federal withholding is a prepayment, not your final tax.

Pre-tax deduction

A deduction taken before income tax withholding, such as a Section 125 health premium or a traditional 401(k) deferral. Rules on FICA treatment differ: premiums reduce FICA wages, 401(k) deferrals do not, in this model.

Post-tax deduction

A deduction taken after tax, such as Roth contributions or garnishments you enter manually; it reduces net pay only.

Effective rate

Total deductions divided by gross pay, expressed as a percentage — the share of your salary that never reaches you.

Marginal rate

The rate applied to the next dollar of taxable income. See the editable bracket table in the method section.

FICA wages

The wages Social Security and Medicare are computed on: gross pay minus Section 125 premiums, before the 401(k) deferral in this model.

Related calculators and topics

For a single pay period in paycheck-stub form, use the Paycheck Calculator on Varnda. Conversion tools such as a salary to hourly calculator or an hourly to salary calculator and an overtime pay calculator cover how pay is stated rather than how much of it survives withholding; those pages are separate tools and are not linked here.

Household planning next steps: budget from the monthly figure in this calculator, then revisit your W-4 whenever your circumstances change.

Limitations, exclusions and assumptions

• Withholding is not the final tax bill. This is not a tax-return, refund or balance-due estimator.
• State and local taxes are an editable amount only; no state formula is implemented, so no state produces a computed figure.
• Self-employment and 1099 income, tips, garnishments, equity compensation, employer cost and benefit valuation are outside scope.
• The example figures are hypothetical arithmetic checks, not tax advice, and no person or expert reviewed this page.

Summary and next step

This take home pay calculator gives you net pay per paycheck, per month and per year, the share of gross taken, a gross-to-net waterfall, a scenario A versus scenario B comparison and a 401(k) sensitivity figure — all from one set of inputs you control, including every rule value. Use it to judge an offer, choose a 401(k) percentage or build a monthly budget from income after taxes, then confirm the withholding on your first pay stub.

Corrections and feedback: this page is maintained by the Varnda Editorial Team. If you find a mistake, use the contact channel published on the Varnda site to report it with the pay year and inputs you used.