Free paycheck calculator

Uses 2024 IRS brackets and FICA rates to estimate your take-home pay after federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and a flat state tax rate you set.

How to use

Enter your gross pay for a single pay period.
Select how often you are paid — weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly.
Choose your federal filing status.
Enter your state’s flat income tax rate (find it on your state’s tax authority website).
Click Calculate paycheck to see your take-home pay and annual totals.

The formula

Federal tax — annualize gross pay, subtract 2024 standard deduction, apply progressive brackets, divide result by pay periods per year.

FICA:

Social Security: min(annualGross, $168,600) × 6.2% ÷ periods
Medicare: annualGross × 1.45% ÷ periods (+ 0.9% on amounts over $200,000/yr)

State tax: grossPay × stateRate% (flat rate, varies by state)

Net pay: grossPay − federalTax − stateTax − socialSecurity − medicare

2024 tax brackets (single filers)

Income up to	Rate
$11,600	10%
$47,150	12%
$100,525	22%
$191,950	24%
$243,725	32%
$609,350	35%
Over $609,350	37%

Married filing jointly and head of household brackets are wider — see the IRS website for full tables.

Worked example — $2,500 bi-weekly gross, single filer, 5% state tax

Annualized: $2,500 × 26 pay periods = $65,000 gross/year

Line	Per period	Annual
Gross pay	$2,500.00	$65,000
Federal income tax	−$235	−$6,110
Social Security (6.2%)	−$155	−$4,030
Medicare (1.45%)	−$36.25	−$942.50
State tax (5%)	−$125	−$3,250
Net pay	$1,948.75	$50,667.50

Take-home ratio: 78% of gross — fairly typical for a $65K salary in a mid-tax state. Federal income tax is 9.4%, FICA is 7.65%, state is 5%.

Pay period math — why the frequency matters

How often you’re paid doesn’t change annual tax, but it changes the size of each check and cash flow:

Period	Pay checks/year	$65k annual =
Weekly	52	$1,250 gross / check
Bi-weekly	26	$2,500 gross / check
Semi-monthly (1st & 15th)	24	$2,708 gross / check
Monthly	12	$5,417 gross / check

Bi-weekly and semi-monthly are not the same — bi-weekly gives you 26 checks (and occasional “three-paycheck months”), semi-monthly always 24.

Notes

This calculator uses 2024 tax law. Brackets adjust annually for inflation.
Pre-tax benefit contributions (401k, HSA, FSA) reduce federal and FICA taxable income but are not modeled here.
State income taxes vary significantly. Nine states have no income tax. Eleven states use flat rates; the rest have progressive brackets.
The additional 0.9% Medicare surtax is not withheld by employers until wages exceed $200,000 in a year.

Frequently asked

How is federal withholding calculated?

Your gross pay is annualized by multiplying by the number of pay periods per year. The 2024 standard deduction is subtracted (for your filing status), and then the remaining taxable income is run through the IRS progressive brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. The annual tax is divided back out by pay periods.

What are the FICA taxes?

FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act: Social Security (6.2%) on wages up to $168,600 per year for 2024, plus Medicare (1.45%) on all wages. An additional 0.9% Medicare surtax applies to wages over $200,000 per year.

Does the calculator include pre-tax deductions like 401k?

No. Pre-tax contributions to a 401(k), HSA, or FSA would reduce taxable income and lower your federal withholding. Enter your gross pay after pre-tax deductions if you want to account for those.

Why does the effective rate differ from the marginal rate?

The marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of income. The effective rate is total tax divided by gross income — always lower because only income above each bracket threshold is taxed at that bracket's rate.

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