Take-Home Pay Calculator

Gross salary is not the money you can spend

A $72,000 offer feels like $6,000 a month until the first paycheck arrives closer to $4,400. Rent, groceries, and loan payments are paid with take-home pay, so comparing jobs on gross salary alone is how people sign leases they cannot carry. This take-home pay calculator gives a fast U.S. federal estimate so you can budget from a more honest number.

The estimate is intentionally simple. It assumes a single filer who takes the standard deduction and has no pre-tax 401(k), no state tax, and no credits. That keeps the tool usable in one screen. It also means a resident of California or New York will take home less than the figure you see, while someone with a large 401(k) deferral will also see a different federal tax bill.

What the estimate includes

Taxable income starts with annual salary minus the estimated 2026 single standard deduction. Federal income tax is then applied with a progressive bracket stack: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, and higher rates on income that reaches those bands. Only the dollars inside each band are taxed at that band’s rate. That is why jumping from $58,000 to $62,000 does not suddenly tax the entire salary at 22%.

Payroll taxes sit on top. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the wage base used in the calculator. Medicare is 1.45% of all wages. Together they are the 7.65% FICA line most employees recognize. Self-employed people pay both the employee and employer halves; this tool models an employee paycheck, not a Schedule C profit.

The result is shown as annual net, monthly net, and an effective combined rate so you can see how much of each dollar never reaches your bank account.

How to use the numbers without fooling yourself

Enter the gross annual salary from the offer letter, not the hopeful number after a raise you have not received. If you are paid biweekly, monthly net × 12 is still the right planning total; a year has 26 biweekly checks, so a single check is annual net ÷ 26.

If you know your state tax rate, subtract that percentage from the monthly figure yourself. A flat 5% state tax on a $70,000 salary is about $292 a month. Pre-tax health insurance of $180 per paycheck (biweekly) is about $390 a month. Those two lines alone explain why a “simple federal” estimate looks optimistic.

Worked examples

On this model, a $45,000 single salary loses federal income tax in the 10% and 12% bands plus FICA, leaving a monthly net in the low $3,000s. A $90,000 salary reaches the 22% band on the top slice and lands closer to the mid $5,000s per month. A $150,000 salary still has most dollars taxed below 24%, which is why effective rates stay much lower than the top marginal rate people quote on social media.

These examples assume no state tax and no benefits deductions. They are for orientation: enough to decide whether a city with $2,400 rent is plausible, not enough to replace payroll software or a CPA.

Limits you should read before you rely on this

The calculator does not model head-of-household or married filing jointly brackets, child tax credit, student loan interest, itemized deductions, extra Medicare tax, or supplemental withholding on bonuses. It does not know your W-4 extra withholding box. Two coworkers with the same salary can have different take-home pay for all of those reasons.

Use KindCalc to get a planning floor. Confirm the real number with a paystub, your employer’s payroll preview, or tax software when the decision is a lease, a car note, or a job resignation.

Typical examples

Frequently asked questions

Why is my real paycheck different?

State income tax, city tax, 401(k), health premiums, HSA contributions, and extra withholding all change net pay. This tool only models federal income tax, the standard deduction, Social Security, and Medicare for a single filer.

Which tax year do the brackets follow?

The brackets and standard deduction are a 2026 planning estimate for a single filer. Congress and the IRS can change them. Treat the output as a planning range, not a guarantee.

Does this include Social Security and Medicare?

Yes. Employee Social Security is 6.2% up to the annual wage base used in the tool, and Medicare is 1.45% with no wage cap. Additional Medicare tax on high earners is not modeled.

Can I use this for hourly jobs?

Convert hourly pay to an annual figure first with the salary calculator, then estimate take-home. Irregular overtime will make any annualized net-pay number bounce from check to check.

Is this safe to use for a mortgage application?

Lenders want documented paystubs and W-2s. Use this to sanity-check a budget, not to replace underwriting documents.