Calculate your exact US take-home pay — across all 50 states.

Take-home pay starts with your gross salary, then subtracts federal income tax (calculated using 2026 IRS brackets after the standard deduction), Social Security (6.2% on the first $176,100), Medicare (1.45% — plus 0.9% above $200K single / $250K married joint), state income tax where applicable, and any state-specific levies like California SDI or NYC local tax. Pre-tax 401(k) and health insurance reduce taxable income before federal tax is computed.

Nine states do not tax wage income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (no tax on wages — interest/dividend tax phased out in 2025), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington (a 7% capital gains tax applies above $270K but no wage tax), and Wyoming. Most no-income-tax states recoup revenue through higher property or sales taxes, so net cost-of-living gains vary.

For single filers, 2026 brackets are 10% on income up to $11,925, 12% to $48,475, 22% to $103,350, 24% to $197,300, 32% to $250,525, 35% to $626,350, and 37% above. The standard deduction is $15,750 for single, $31,500 for married joint, and $23,625 for head of household — per IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

Pre-tax 401(k) contributions reduce your federal taxable income (and most state taxable incomes) but not your FICA wages — Social Security and Medicare are still calculated on the full salary. So contributing $10,000 to a traditional 401(k) saves you about your marginal-rate × $10,000 in tax now, while still costing you $620 SS and $145 Medicare. Roth 401(k) contributions don't reduce current taxes.

California has a top marginal rate of 12.3% plus a 1% Mental Health Tax above $1M, plus a 1.1% State Disability Insurance contribution on the first $153,164. At $100,000 single, a California filer takes home roughly $5,500–$6,200 less per year than a Texas filer (no state income tax). However, Texas property taxes are among the highest in the US, so the total burden differs by housing situation.

The calculator is built directly from IRS Pub 15-T 2026, the SSA wage base, and each state's 2026 Department of Revenue publication. Results match official withholding tables to within $50/year for most income levels. The main sources of variance are local taxes (e.g., NYC, Yonkers, Pennsylvania municipalities), variable W-4 elections, supplemental wage rules for bonuses, and state-specific credits — these you should verify with a CPA before tax filing.

Federally, supplemental wages (bonuses, commissions) are typically withheld at a flat 22% up to $1M and 37% above — separate from your regular bracket. Overtime is taxed at your regular bracket; the persistent myth that overtime is "taxed at a higher rate" is wrong — only your withholding rate may rise temporarily because the extra hours bumped your annualized estimated income up.

Recalculate any time your salary, filing status, dependents, or state of residence changes — and once each January when new federal and state brackets take effect. The 2026 brackets apply to wages earned January 1, 2026 onward. Major mid-year life events (marriage, baby, home purchase) are also good triggers to update your W-4.

Not directly — this tool computes W-2 paycheck withholding. Self-employed income is subject to a 15.3% self-employment tax (the full FICA both halves), and you can deduct half of that tax plus a Qualified Business Income deduction up to 20%. We're publishing a dedicated self-employment calculator soon; in the meantime, multiply your net self-employment income by ~14.13% to estimate the SE tax above your federal/state income tax.

Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar of income — for $100,000 single in 2026, that's 22% federal. Your effective rate is total tax ÷ gross income — for the same person it's about 14.4% federal. The effective rate is what determines your take-home; the marginal rate tells you the tax cost of a raise, an overtime hour, or a Roth conversion.

The biggest levers, in order of impact: max out pre-tax 401(k) ($23,500 in 2026), contribute to an HSA if you have a high-deductible plan ($4,400 single / $8,750 family), elect pre-tax health and dependent-care FSAs, file as Head of Household if you qualify, and time large itemizable expenses (charity, state taxes) into a single year to clear the standard-deduction threshold. State residency planning can save 5-13% but requires real domicile change, not just an address.

No. AI Overview generates a static estimate from average withholding tables — it doesn't model your filing status, 401(k), pre-tax health, state-specific contributions, or local taxes. We've tested ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity at $75K California and seen errors of $1,800–$4,200 per year. Always run your numbers through an interactive calculator built on the actual published brackets, like this one.