Take-Home Pay Calculator — Estimate Your Net Paycheck After Taxes

Your salary offer and your paycheck are two very different numbers. A $70,000 job does not put $70,000 in your bank account — payroll first carves out federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and whatever you set aside for a 401(k) or health insurance. What's left is your take-home pay (also called net pay), and for most American workers it lands somewhere around 70–80% of the gross figure on the offer letter.

This calculator turns a gross salary (or an hourly rate × hours) into a realistic per-paycheck and annual net number. Here's the order payroll actually works in, and the math behind each step.

Step 1 — Pre-tax deductions. Traditional 401(k) contributions and most employer health premiums come out before tax, lowering the income that gets taxed. If you earn $70,000 and put 6% into a 401(k), that's $4,200 set aside, leaving $65,800. Subtract, say, a $2,400/yr health premium and you're at $63,400.

Step 2 — Federal income tax. The IRS doesn't tax every dollar at the same rate. You subtract the standard deduction ($15,000 single / $30,000 married filing jointly for 2025), then apply the 2025 brackets to what remains — 10%, 12%, 22%, and up. Only the dollars inside each bracket are taxed at that bracket's rate. This is the #1 thing people get wrong: a "22% bracket" does not mean 22% of your whole salary.

Step 3 — FICA. This is the flat payroll tax: 6.2% for Social Security (on the first $176,100 of wages in 2025) plus 1.45% for Medicare (no cap) — 7.65% total. FICA is calculated on your gross wages, not on your taxable income, so your 401(k) does not reduce it.

Worked example (single, $70,000, 6% 401(k), $2,400 health, paid biweekly): Gross $70,000. Pre-tax 401(k) = $4,200, health = $2,400. Taxable income = $70,000 − $4,200 − $2,400 − $15,000 = $48,400. Federal tax on $48,400 = (10% × $11,925) + (12% × $36,475) = $5,569.50. FICA is figured on gross minus health ($67,600, since health is FICA-exempt but the 401(k) is not): 6.2% + 1.45% = $5,171.40. Net ≈ $70,000 − $4,200 − $2,400 − $5,569.50 − $5,171.40 = $52,659/yr, or about $2,025 per biweekly check.

State tax varies wildly — nine states have none, others run 3–13% — so this tool treats it as an optional flat rate you enter yourself. This is an estimate for planning, not tax advice; your real withholding depends on your W-4, allowances, local taxes and credits.