2026 federal and state rates
Your gross pay is not what you take home
Enter your gross pay and see the whole deduction stack — federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and your state's withholding — worked out line by line.
Take-home pay
per paycheck · $43,962.10 a year
- Gross pay
- $2,000.00
- Federal income tax
- −$156.15
- Social Security
- −$124.00
- Medicare
- −$29.00
- Total withheld
- $309.15
15.5% of gross goes to taxes. 2026 rates. Estimate only — your employer's payroll may differ.
Free · No account · Runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere
Every rate has a document behind it
Nothing here is recalled or copied from another calculator. Each figure is transcribed from IRS Publication 15-T or the state’s own withholding guide, and every state page links the one it used.
Your pay never leaves the page
The whole calculation runs in your browser. There is no account, no submit button and no request carrying your wage anywhere — close the tab and nothing of it remains.
The stack, not just the total
A single take-home number tells you nothing about which line took the money. Every deduction is shown separately, so you can check it against the stub in your hand.
What comes out
Four lines take the money, and four things they can't see
Federal income tax
Your pay is annualised, your W-4 adjustments are applied, and the result goes through the IRS percentage-method tables for 2026. The annual figure is divided back down to one paycheck.
It is withholding, not your final tax bill. What you owe is settled on your return, and the two rarely land on the same number.
Social Security
6.2% of wages up to the annual wage cap. Pre-tax retirement money does not escape it — a traditional 401(k) lowers income tax and nothing else.
The cap is a year-to-date figure. This page sees one pay period, so it cannot know the month your contributions stop.
Medicare
A flat 1.45% on every dollar with no cap, plus an extra 0.9% once year-to-date wages pass $200,000.
That extra 0.9% is worked out from your own wages alone. Your employer cannot see a spouse’s income, which is why couples often settle up at filing time.
State withholding
Nine states take nothing from wages. The rest subtract an allowance or standard deduction and apply their own rate. Each state page shows the exact rule and the document it came from.
County and city taxes, and state disability premiums, are not modelled yet — which is why the states that have them are not published yet either.
Pick your state
State withholding is where two identical salaries stop matching
No tax on wages
Nothing withheld for state income tax. Washington and Alaska still take a payroll premium.
One flat rate
An allowance comes off, then a single rate applies to every dollar left.
Their own schedule
One rate, but an allowance that shrinks as your pay rises — so the bite never levels off.
Common questions
Before you trust the number
Every rate on this site is transcribed from a primary source — IRS Publication 15-T and Publication 15 on the federal side, each state's own withholding guide on the state side. Nothing is carried over from a previous year without being re-read.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. Every state page is public and the calculator runs without an account.
Does my salary get sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, on this page. No wage figure, filing status or deduction amount is transmitted to this site or to anyone else.
Why is my real paycheck different from this?
Usually because of something only your employer knows: a benefit deduction, a garnishment, imputed income, a bonus taxed at the supplemental rate, or a year-to-date total that has crossed the Social Security cap. This estimates withholding from the figures you enter; your payroll system works from your full record.
Is withholding the same as what I owe?
No. Withholding is a running prepayment your employer sends in on your behalf. Your actual liability is worked out on your tax return, and the difference comes back as a refund or is due as a payment.
Which tax year does this use?
2026. Federal figures come from IRS Publication 15-T and Publication 15 for 2026, and each state uses its own 2026 withholding guide. Rates are re-read from the source each year rather than carried forward.
Which states are covered?
13 so far: Texas, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire, Washington, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Utah. The rest are added one at a time, because a paycheck figure that is wrong is worse than one that is missing.