After-Tax Income Calculator — Federal + State + FICA + Medicare (2026)

What is After-Tax Income?

After-tax income is the dollar amount actually deposited in your bank account after every layer of federal, state, and payroll tax has been subtracted from your gross wages. It is the only number that matters for budgeting, mortgage qualification, and rent decisions — gross income is essentially a vanity number that tells you nothing about what you can actually spend.

For a US W-2 employee, four distinct taxes stack on top of each other to produce the gap between gross and net:

• Federal income tax— progressive bracket schedule published annually by the IRS. Ranges from 10% to 37%.
• FICA — Social Security— 6.2% of wages, capped at the annual wage base ($181,000 projected for 2026, indexed each year by SSA).
• FICA — Medicare— 1.45% on all wages, no cap. Plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 single / $250,000 married filing jointly.
• State income tax— varies by state. Nine states have none (AK, FL, NV, NH, SD, TN, TX, WA, WY); the rest range from a 3% flat rate to a 13.3% top marginal (California). Some cities add additional local income tax on top.

On a typical $100,000 single-filer salary, those four layers carve out roughly 24-35% of the gross, leaving $65,000-$76,000 of actual take-home, depending overwhelmingly on which state you live in.

The Stack: How Each Tax is Calculated

Order of operations matters because some deductions reduce the taxable base for certain taxes but not others.

Step 1: Gross income

Start with your annual W-2 wages, including base salary and any cash bonuses. Stock-based compensation (RSUs, ISOs, NSOs) has separate tax treatment addressed by the capital gains tax calculator.

Step 2: Pre-tax deductions (401k, HSA, FSA, traditional IRA)

Subtract any pre-tax contributions to retirement and health accounts. These reduce the base for federal AND state income tax. HSA contributions also reduce the base for FICA (Social Security + Medicare) when made through payroll — a quirk specific to HSAs.

2026 limits worth knowing: 401(k) at $23,500 + $7,500 catch-up for 50+. HSA at $4,300 single / $8,550 family + $1,000 catch-up for 55+. Health FSA at $3,300. Traditional IRA at $7,000 + $1,000 catch-up.

Step 3: Federal taxable income

Federal taxable income = gross − pre-tax deductions − standard deduction (or itemized). Projected 2026 standard deductions: Single $15,750; Married filing jointly $31,500; Head of household $23,650.

Step 4: Federal income tax (progressive brackets)

Apply the projected 2026 federal brackets to the taxable income from step 3. Single filer:

Brackets are marginal, not flat— a $100K earner pays 10% on the first $12,000, 12% on income from $12,001 to $48,900, and 22% on the rest. That distinction confuses many people; see the tax bracket calculator for marginal-vs-effective math broken out explicitly.

Step 5: FICA (on gross wages, NOT post-deduction)

FICA is computed on a different base than income tax. Social Security and Medicare apply to gross wages minus only pre-FICA deductions (HSA + some employer-sponsored health insurance premiums — not 401(k) or traditional IRA).

• Social Security:6.2% × min(wages, $181,000). Caps at $11,222 in 2026.
• Medicare:1.45% × all wages. No cap.
• Additional Medicare:0.9% × (wages − $200,000 single / $250,000 MFJ). Only triggers for high earners.

Step 6: State income tax

State tax is calculated on a base similar to federal taxable income, with state-specific adjustments. This calculator uses each state’s top marginal rateas a flat-rate approximation — accurate within about ±5-8% for most income levels. For precise per-state math, use the take-home pay calculatoror the relevant state-specific paycheck calculator.

Worked Example: $100K Single, WA vs NY vs CA

Same $100,000 gross salary, single filer, no pre-tax 401(k) or HSA. The only difference is state of residence:

The gap between Washington and New York City on identical gross income is $8,600/year ($717/month). Over a 30-year career, that’s $258,000 in raw dollars — substantially more after compounding if the WA worker invests the difference. State-of-residence is the largest controllable lever on after-tax income for a worker with comparable job options, full stop.

Marginal vs Effective Rate

Two different numbers that get conflated constantly:

• Marginal rate — the rate you pay on the nextdollar of income. Your “bracket.” At $100K single, marginal federal is 22%; add state at 6% = 28% marginal total.
• Effective rate— total tax ÷ total gross. Your blended actual rate, averaging across all the lower brackets your income passes through. At $100K single in CA, effective is roughly 28.7%; marginal is roughly 34%.

For decision-making, the right rate depends on the question:

• “Should I take a $5K bonus?” — use marginal. The bonus is added at your top bracket.
• “Should I contribute to pre-tax 401(k)?” — use marginal. Each dollar contributed avoids the marginal rate.
• “Can I afford this rent?” — use effective. Net take-home is what you can spend, calculated as gross × (1 − effective).
• “What’s my total tax bill?” — use effective× gross.

Take-Home Pay vs After-Tax Income

Two phrases for the same idea, used slightly differently. After-tax income is usually the annual number used for budgeting and tax planning. Take-home pay is usually the per-paycheck number on your direct deposit. The take-home pay calculator focuses on the per-paycheck breakdown (with 26 bi-weekly periods or 24 semi-monthly periods per year), and supports US, UK, and India tax math. Use this after-tax-income calculator when you want the annual figure with pre-tax-deduction stacking; use take-home-pay when you want the dollar amount actually hitting your account each pay cycle.

Why Pre-Tax 401(k) and HSA are Such Powerful Levers

Pre-tax contributions are the most reliable tax savings available to W-2 employees. The math:

At a 22% federal marginal bracket plus a 5% state marginal:

• $1,000 to traditional 401(k): Saves $270 in current-year tax ($220 federal + $50 state). Net cost: $730 of take-home. Full $1,000 grows tax-deferred until retirement withdrawal.
• $1,000 to HSA (HDHP-eligible):Saves $270 federal+state PLUS $76.50 FICA (only if contributed through payroll). Total savings: $346.50. Net cost: $653.50 of take-home. Full $1,000 grows tax-free, withdraws tax-free for qualified medical — the only quadruple-advantaged account in US tax code.
• $1,000 to Roth 401(k):Saves $0 now. Full $1,000 grows tax-free, withdraws tax-free in retirement. Better when your retirement bracket is expected to be higher than today’s.

Maxing the 2026 $23,500 individual 401(k) limit at a 24% federal + 6% state bracket saves $7,050 in current taxes (transferring that $7,050 from the IRS to your retirement balance). The retirement savings calculator projects the compounded retirement-side impact; the 401k early withdrawal calculator shows the cost of pulling the money out early.

Common Mistakes & Edge Cases

• Forgetting the FICA wage cap on Social Security. Above the $181,000 wage base in 2026, no further SS tax is withheld. High earners see their bi-weekly take-home jump by ~$432 per check in November or December when the cap is hit. Plan for the windfall.
• Skipping the Additional Medicare Tax for high earners. The 0.9% extra applies to wages above $200K single / $250K MFJ. Many employers start withholding it automatically at $200K regardless of filing status, producing an over-withholding for MFJ couples where one spouse earns $200K-$250K. The over-withheld amount gets refunded at filing.
• Using gross income for affordability decisions. Mortgages and rents are quoted as fractions of gross by lenders (28/36 rule), but actual affordability is bounded by net take-home. The house affordability (true) calculator uses net cash flow rather than gross ratios.
• Forgetting local income taxes. NYC adds up to 3.876% local tax on residents; Yonkers, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and many Ohio + PA + IN municipalities add wage taxes (1-4%). The state-specific paycheck calculators (CA, TX, etc.) layer these in.
• Self-employed using W-2 math.Self-employment income owes SE tax (15.3% on net earnings — double the FICA employee share because there’s no employer match). Plus the W-4 worker has tax withheld every paycheck; the SE worker pays quarterly estimated tax. Use the quarterly-estimated-tax calculator for SE-specific stack.
• Mixing up filing status mid-year.Marriage changes both brackets and standard deduction. If you marry in October, you can elect to file jointly for the whole year — potentially reducing combined tax by thousands. Get a tax professional to model the change before filing.
• Under-withholding triggers IRS penalty.If your withholding plus estimated tax is less than 90% of current-year liability or 100% of prior-year (110% for AGI > $150K), the IRS imposes an underpayment penalty on the shortfall. Adjust your W-4 mid-year if your effective rate from this calculator is meaningfully higher than your current withholding rate.

The Same Calculator, Different Angles

Use this calculator when you want the annual net figure on a US W-2 salary, broken into monthly / bi-weekly / weekly buckets, with the lever of pre-tax 401(k) and HSA stacking surfaced as a separate input. For per-paycheck detail with international (UK, India) support, use take-home pay. For the marginal-bracket view that answers “what does my next dollar of income actually cost in tax,” use the tax bracket calculator.

Related Calculators

• Take-home pay calculator— per-paycheck breakdown with US, UK, and India support.
• Tax bracket calculator— marginal-rate view of your bracket and the cost of your next dollar of income.
• California paycheck calculator— exact CA tiered-bracket math including SDI and local tax rules.
• Texas paycheck calculator— no-state-tax simpler stack for the largest no-tax state.
• Salary to hourly converter— reverse the annual figure to an hourly rate for comparing freelance/contract offers.
• 401k early withdrawal— the inverse of pre-tax stacking: what it costs to pull pre-tax dollars out before age 59½.