My State Paycheck estimates regular employee wages using 2026 federal and state payroll withholding instructions. The same browser calculation engine produces the live result and the salary examples. All numbers are estimates. Last rules review: October 23, 2026.
Start with annual regular wages
An annual salary is used as entered. Hourly pay is hourly rate × straight-time hours per week × 52. We use 52 weekly checks, 26 biweekly checks, 24 semimonthly checks or 12 monthly checks. We assume steady pay for a full year, one employer, and that you live and work in the selected state.
The headline amount is average annual take-home divided by those checks. It is not a reconstruction of a particular payday. Actual checks can change during the year when a wage cap is reached. Years with a 53rd weekly or 27th biweekly check, partial employment, bonuses, tips, overtime premiums, commissions and stock compensation are not modeled.
Federal income tax withholding
We use IRS Publication 15-T, Worksheet 1A and the standard percentage-method schedules for a Form W-4 from 2020 or later. Step 2 is unchecked, Step 3 credits are zero, and Steps 4(a) and 4(b) are zero. The extra withholding field is Step 4(c), added to every paycheck. Federal filing choices are single, married filing jointly and head of household.
Annual 2026 standard deductions are $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly and $24,150 head of household. The actual implementation follows the payroll worksheet adjustments and withholding schedule, rather than deducting these amounts twice. This is withholding, not a final income-tax return. Multiple jobs, a working spouse, dependent credits, itemized deductions and qualified tip/overtime deductions can materially change the amount you should withhold.
Benefits and different tax bases
A traditional 401(k) contribution reduces federal income-tax wages but does not reduce Social Security or Medicare wages. We cap ordinary employee contributions at the 2026 basic $24,500 limit. Catch-up contributions, Roth contributions, employer matches and other retirement plans are outside this model.
The health field means qualified Section 125 accident or health insurance premiums per paycheck. It reduces the federal income-tax and FICA wage bases. It is not a catch-all field for HSA, dependent-care, after-tax insurance or other benefit deductions. State treatment follows each state's sourced rule. Other payroll deductions are after-tax amounts only, such as a known employee workers' compensation premium.
Social Security and Medicare
The employee Social Security rate is 6.2% on covered wages up to $184,500 in 2026. Medicare is 1.45% of covered wages without that cap. Employer payroll withholding adds 0.9% on that employer's covered wages over $200,000, regardless of filing status. This employer withholding threshold differs from the income thresholds on an individual's final Additional Medicare Tax return.
State and local withholding
Each state has its own dated source record, percentage-method implementation and manually worked reference cases. State withholding settings are separate from federal W-4 settings. Use the allowance counts, dollar amounts or elections on your state certificate. Defaults are disclosed on each page. Where a state changed its schedule during 2026, the current schedule is projected over every check; historical withholding is not reconstructed.
Required employee programs are displayed separately from income tax. Employer-only taxes are not deducted from your pay. Covered-employment assumptions, alternative plans and specific exclusions are shown beside the calculator. New York City and Yonkers resident tax options appear on the New York page when its verification is complete. Nonresident local taxation, interstate reciprocity and multistate work require separate calculations.
Rounding and validation
We retain precision through federal calculations and round dollar results to cents. State-specific per-paycheck rounding follows the documented state method, including North Carolina's whole-dollar instruction and Utah's whole-dollar worked-example convention. Annual averages of capped employee contributions can differ from an actual early- or late-year check.
Before a state is released, at least three literal reference cases are checked against worked official formulas or official examples, plus shared federal and boundary checks. Values are not generated by the production engine to create the expected test results. Passing tests establishes those cases, not universal payroll certification. Source review and code review have been performed in the build process; an independent human tax-professional audit has not been completed.
Maintenance and corrections
The tax year is fixed at 2026. Data updates require a new official source check, regression tests and a new published review date. A page is withheld if its rules or companion deductions have not completed verification. See coverage and official sources for that boundary. Always compare an estimate with your payroll certificate and employer's pay stub before relying on it.
- IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and annual standard withholding schedules
Retrieved 2026-10-23 - IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, sections 3.01 and 3.14 (2026 brackets and standard deduction)
Retrieved 2026-10-23 - SSA Contribution and Benefit Base, 2026 row
Retrieved 2026-10-23 - IRS Publication 15 (2026), sections 9 and 15 (FICA, Additional Medicare and traditional 401(k))
Retrieved 2026-10-23 - IRS qualified cafeteria-plan benefit tax treatment
Retrieved 2026-10-23 - IRS 2026 401(k) contribution limits
Retrieved 2026-10-23