Salary / Take-Home Pay Calculator

Your salary isn't your paycheck. Here's what actually arrives.

Tax rates are your estimates, not real tax tables. FICA applies automatically at 7.65%.

How to estimate your take-home pay

  1. Pick your pay frequency and enter your gross pay in it (hourly needs hours/week too).
  2. Add annual pre-tax deductions: 401(k) contributions and health insurance premiums.
  3. Enter your effective federal and state tax rates — total tax ÷ taxable income from last year's return, not your marginal bracket.
  4. Press Calculate. Take-home per year, month, two weeks, and hour appears, with the full breakdown.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my take-home pay from salary?

Start with gross salary, subtract pre-tax deductions (401k, health premiums), then subtract federal tax, state tax, and FICA (7.65%). What's left is take-home. This calculator does it with your own estimated tax rates.

What is the difference between gross and net pay?

Gross pay is your full salary before anything is taken out. Net (take-home) pay is what lands in your bank account after deductions and taxes — often 65-80% of gross.

What effective federal tax rate should I enter?

Enter YOUR effective rate, not the bracket: total federal income tax divided by taxable income. For most employees it's well below their marginal bracket. Check last year's return or a paystub to estimate.

Does this calculator use real tax tables?

No — and that's by design for honesty. Real withholding uses tax brackets, filing status, state/local rules, and the Social Security wage-base cap, which a simple static calculator can't do fairly. It applies the rates YOU enter, so it never invents fake tax law.

How do I convert an hourly wage to annual salary?

Multiply hourly rate x hours per week x 52. Pick the hourly option above and the calculator does it for you — $25/hr at 40 hours/week is $52,000/year.

Is this financial advice?

No. Planning estimates only.

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