Paycheck Calculator
Model take-home pay through federal brackets, FICA, state tax and pre-tax deductions — and see why a 401(k) contribution costs you far less than it deposits.
Paycheck Calculator
Results recalculate instantly on every keystroke. Nothing you type is transmitted.
What this result does not account for
- Results are a model, not a quotation — an institution's own figures govern.
- Every input is an assumption; change one and the answer changes with it.
- Rounding is applied only at the display layer, so totals may differ by a cent from a statement that rounds each line.
In short: On $85,000 gross with a 6% 401(k) contribution and 5% state tax, take-home is $59,983.50 a year, or $2,307.06 every two weeks. The $5,100 contribution reduces take-home by only $3,723 — 73 cents on the dollar — because it escapes income tax but not FICA, which is charged on the full gross.
Formula
Note the asymmetry: pre-tax contributions reduce the income tax base but not the FICA base, which is computed on gross pay before any 401(k) deduction.
Worked Example
- Take out the pre-tax money. 6% of $85,000 = $5,100 to the 401(k).
- Find taxable income. $85,000 − $5,100 − $14,600 = $65,300.
- Run the brackets. 10%, 12% and 22% in sequence give $9,419 of federal tax.
- Apply FICA to the full gross. 6.2% + 1.45% of $85,000 = $6,502.50 — the 401(k) does not reduce this.
- Net it down. After $3,995 of state tax, take-home is $59,983.50, or $2,307.06 biweekly.
Analyst's note. The number worth internalising is the cost of the 401(k) contribution: $5,100 goes into the account but take-home falls by only $3,723, because the contribution escapes federal and state income tax. That is 73 cents of net pay for a dollar of retirement saving, before any employer match. The counterpart is that FICA is charged on the full gross regardless — $390.15 on the contribution itself — so pre-tax status is a shield against income tax only, not against payroll tax.
Strengths & Limits Of This Model
Where this engine is strong
- Runs entirely in your browser — no figure you type is transmitted or stored.
- Shows the full working, so every number can be traced and challenged.
- Free, unmetered and free of affiliate incentives.
Where it stops
- Generalised assumptions cannot capture every individual circumstance.
- Jurisdiction-specific rules and mid-year changes may not be reflected.
- A model output is not a substitute for a professional review of your position.
Practical Use Cases
Deciding how much to contribute to a 401(k)
Model the contribution here to see the real cost in take-home terms rather than the gross figure. At a 22% marginal rate plus state tax, each dollar saved costs 73 cents. Project the balance it builds with the 401k Calculator.
Checking a payslip
Compare the engine's federal, FICA and state figures against your actual deductions. Persistent discrepancies usually indicate a stale W-4 or an incorrect state setting, both of which are worth correcting before year end.
Budgeting on take-home rather than gross
Every sensible budget runs on net pay. Take the per-period figure into the Budget Calculator rather than the salary, which overstates available money by roughly a quarter.
Methodology & Editorial Standards
The engine applies 2024 federal income tax brackets for a single filer to income after pre-tax deductions and the standard deduction. FICA is applied to gross pay: 6.2% Social Security up to the 2024 wage base of $168,600 and 1.45% Medicare with no cap. The Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% above $200,000 is not modelled, nor are married or head-of-household brackets, itemised deductions, tax credits, local income taxes, or state-specific rules such as flat rates, standard deductions or exemptions — the state figure is a simple flat rate on income after pre-tax deductions, which approximates many states but matches few exactly. Roth 401(k) contributions, HSA and benefit deductions are not separately modelled. This is an estimate, not tax advice. The engine implements the standard published formula for this calculation. Inputs are validated for domain and sign before evaluation, and any undefined case returns an em-dash rather than a spurious value.
Computation runs in IEEE-754 double precision at full internal precision; rounding to two decimal places occurs strictly at the display layer, so no cumulative drift enters the result. All monetary outputs use accounting presentation — grouped thousands, two decimals, negatives in parentheses — so figures can be transcribed directly into a model or working paper. Division-by-zero and out-of-domain inputs return an em-dash rather than a misleading number.
This engine was reconciled against an independent reference implementation and hand-verified for the worked example above before release. Our full five-stage review process is published on the About Us page.
Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for informational and modelling purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Verify all figures with a qualified professional before acting on them.
Paycheck Calculator — 20 Expert FAQs
20 analyst-written answers to the questions practitioners actually ask — optimised for voice and answer-engine retrieval.
How much of my salary do I actually take home?
On $85,000 with a 6% 401(k) and 5% state tax, $59,983.50 a year — $2,307.06 every two weeks. Tax alone is 23.43% of gross, before the retirement contribution.
Why does my 401(k) contribution cost less than it deposits?
Because it comes out before income tax. A $5,100 contribution reduces take-home by only $3,723, so you save a dollar for 73 cents of net pay. At higher marginal rates the discount is larger still.
Does a 401(k) reduce my FICA tax?
No, and this is widely misunderstood. Social Security and Medicare are charged on gross pay before any 401(k) deduction, so $390.15 of FICA applies to the contribution itself. Pre-tax status shields you from income tax only.
What is FICA?
Social Security at 6.2% up to a wage cap — $168,600 in 2024 — plus Medicare at 1.45% with no cap. Together $6,502.50 here. Your employer pays the same amounts again, which is why self-employment tax is roughly double.
What is the difference between marginal and effective rate?
Marginal is the rate on your next dollar — 22% federally here. Effective is total tax divided by gross — 23.43% including FICA and state. The marginal rate drives decisions; the effective rate describes the outcome.
Why is my paycheck smaller than salary divided by 26?
Because tax, FICA and any pre-tax deductions come out first. Gross biweekly is $3,269.23 while net is $2,307.06 — a difference of $962.17 that never reaches your account.
Does this handle married filing jointly?
No, the engine uses 2024 single-filer brackets. Married brackets are roughly double at the lower end, so a joint filer on the same income generally pays materially less federal tax than shown here.
How accurate is the state tax figure?
It is a flat-rate approximation. States vary enormously — some have no income tax, some are genuinely flat, and many have their own brackets, deductions and exemptions. Treat it as indicative and verify against your payslip.
Should I contribute more to my 401(k)?
At minimum, enough to capture any employer match, which is an immediate guaranteed return no other instrument offers. Beyond that, weigh the 73-cent cost per dollar saved against your other priorities and liquidity needs.
What is the standard deduction?
The amount of income exempt from federal tax without itemising — $14,600 for a single filer in 2024. Itemising only helps if your deductible expenses exceed it, which is uncommon since the 2017 increase.
Why did my take-home change mid-year?
Most often because you hit the Social Security wage cap, after which 6.2% stops and take-home rises. It can also reflect a bonus taxed at supplemental rates, a benefits change, or reaching an annual contribution limit.
What is the Additional Medicare Tax?
An extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers, withheld by the employer once you cross that threshold. It is not modelled here, so high earners should expect slightly less take-home than shown.
Should I budget on gross or net pay?
Net, always. Budgeting on gross builds in a shortfall equal to your entire tax bill — roughly a quarter of income here — which is the single commonest reason household budgets fail on paper before they fail in practice.
How do bonuses get taxed?
Supplemental wages are typically withheld at a flat 22% federally, which often over- or under-withholds relative to your actual rate. The difference reconciles at filing. Use the Bonus Tax Calculator to model it separately.
What if I am paid weekly or monthly?
Select the frequency and the engine divides annual take-home accordingly. Annual tax is identical; only the per-period figure changes. Weekly pay smooths cash flow but makes each individual deduction look smaller.
Is this paycheck calculator free to use?
Yes. It is free, requires no account, and has no usage limits. ApexConverter is funded by contextual advertising, never by selling user data.
Is my data sent to a server?
No. The engine runs as Vanilla JavaScript inside your browser under our Zero-Server Client-Side Execution model. Your figures are computed locally and are never transmitted, logged, or stored.
How accurate is this calculator?
It applies the standard closed-form formula in IEEE-754 double precision, rounding only at the display layer. The engine is reconciled against an independent reference implementation before release.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. The interface is mobile-first with numeric keypad hints and is tested down to a 320-pixel viewport with no horizontal scrolling.
Can I use it offline?
Largely, yes. Because computation is client-side, the page continues to calculate without a network connection once it has loaded.