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By Paycheck Calculators Editorial Team • Last updated 2026-11-08

About

We built Paycheck Calculators because a simple question — "what do I actually take home?" — should have a simple, honest answer. No sign-up, no paywall, no email needed just to see a number.

Who built this

This site is run by a small editorial team, listed on every page as the Paycheck Calculators Editorial Team. We are not a tax firm, not an accounting practice, and not a payroll company. We got tired of paycheck calculators that hide the answer behind a form, or show a single number with no working shown. So we built the tool we wanted to use ourselves: type in your pay, pick your state, and see the full breakdown — gross pay, federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare, state tax, 401(k) and health cover — with the formula and figures printed next to the result. Every page carries a byline and a last-updated date.

Why we built it

Most of us only look closely at our pay when something changes: a new job, a raise, a move, or a paycheck that looks smaller than expected. At that moment, what you need is a straight number and the maths behind it. You do not need an account, a sales call, or a long article before the answer. That is the whole idea of this site. Every calculator on it is free, works in your browser, and shows its working. If a number is a rough estimate, the page says so in plain words, next to the number.

How the calculators work

Every calculation runs in your browser, on your own device. The salary or hourly rate you type in is never sent to us, stored by us, or seen by anyone else. Here is how the main paycheck calculator works. First it takes your gross pay for the year. Then it takes off your 401(k) contributions and your health premiums, and then the standard deduction for your filing status. What is left is your taxable federal income. Federal tax is figured from simplified 2026 brackets on that amount. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to $184,500, and Medicare is 1.45%, with another 0.9% on wages over $200,000. State tax is figured for the state you picked: states with no state income tax come out at $0, California uses simplified CA brackets, and other states use a flat-rate estimate the page labels as one. The result is shown per pay period and per year, with every line listed so you can check it yourself.

The salary and hourly converters use the 2,080-hour year: 40 hours a week times 52 weeks. The overtime calculator uses the federal rule of 1.5 times pay for hours over 40 in a week, and 2 times pay for hours over 60 in this simple model. Each tool page shows a worked example with real numbers, so you can see exactly what the tool does before you trust it with your own pay.

The 2026 figures we use

The calculators use these 2026 figures, taken from IRS Publication 15-T and IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married filing jointly. The Social Security wage base is $184,500. Social Security is charged at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%, with an extra 0.9% Medicare charge on wages over $200,000. Federal tax uses simplified 2026 brackets — a simplified illustration, not the full IRS tables. State tax outside Texas and California is a simplified flat-rate estimate.

How we check and update the figures

We check the figures against the IRS publications named above before each tax year, and we update the site every January when the new figures come out. The standard deduction, the Social Security wage base and the bracket limits change then, and we change them on every page at the same time. If a reader tells us a figure looks wrong, we check it against IRS Publication 15-T first and fix the page if we got it wrong. You can report a wrong figure on the Contact page — tell us the salary, the state and the result you saw, and we will check it.

What this site does not do

This site does not give tax advice, financial advice, or legal advice. It does not file your taxes, fill in your W-4, or talk to your employer. It does not store your pay details, and it does not sell anything. The numbers are estimates from simplified tables. Your real paycheck is figured by your employer from your W-4 and the full IRS tables, so it can be a little different. If you need an exact answer, talk to a tax professional — and bring the breakdown from this site with you.