Paycheck Calculator

How this calculator works

1. Enter your annual gross salary and choose how often you're paid.
2. Add any pre-tax deductions (401k, health insurance) and post-tax deductions (Roth 401k, garnishments).
3. Enter your estimated combined tax rate — or leave the default and adjust it to match your last pay stub.
4. The calculator subtracts pre-tax deductions first, applies the tax rate, then subtracts post-tax deductions to estimate your take-home pay.

A paycheck calculator estimates the money you actually receive after taxes and deductions are taken out of your gross salary. Because real tax withholding depends on your exact tax bracket, state, filing status and benefit elections, this tool asks you for one number that drives the whole estimate: your combined estimated tax rate (federal + state + FICA). That keeps the math transparent — no hidden assumptions about current tax brackets — and lets you plug in a rate from your last pay stub or W-4 estimator for a far more accurate result.

Example

Someone earning $65,000/year, paid biweekly (26 pay periods), with $150/period pre-tax 401k contributions and an estimated 22% combined tax rate would see roughly $2,500 gross per paycheck, about $2,350 taxable after the 401k deduction, around $1,833 after estimated taxes, for a take-home pay near $1,833 per paycheck — about $47,650 per year.

Limitations

This is not a payroll or tax-withholding tool. It does not model IRS tax brackets, standard deductions, tax credits, or state-specific rules, and it does not replace your employer's payroll system or a W-4 withholding estimator. Filing status and state are shown for context only — the calculation itself uses the tax rate you enter, so accuracy depends entirely on how close that rate is to your real effective rate.