Take-home per paycheck
$4,720
Annual: $122,720
Federal income tax$780
FICA (SS + Medicare)$497
State tax$303
Pre-tax deductions$540
Gross pay minus federal income tax, FICA (Social Security + Medicare), state tax, and pre-tax deductions. The number that hits your account.
A US W-2 paycheck is a stack of subtractions, applied in a fixed order set by IRS Publication 15 (the Employer's Tax Guide) and your employer's payroll system. Each step shrinks the taxable amount for the next step, which is why pre-tax deductions are powerful and post-tax deductions are not.
Federal and state are computed on (Gross − Pre-tax). FICA is computed on (Gross − HSA only) — most pre-tax deductions still owe FICA.
Effective combined withholding rate: 38.8%. Of that 38.8%: 20.1% is pre-tax savings she still owns, 7.8% federal income tax, 6.9% FICA, 4.0% state. The "real" tax bite is closer to 18.7%.
| Social Security wage base | $184,500 |
| Social Security rate (employee) | 6.20% |
| Medicare rate | 1.45% |
| Additional Medicare (single > $200k / MFJ > $250k) | +0.9% |
| 401(k) employee limit | $24,500 |
| 401(k) catch-up (50+) | +$8,000 |
| 401(k) super catch-up (60–63) | +$11,250 |
| HSA limit (self-only / family) | $4,300 / $8,550 |
| HSA catch-up (55+) | +$1,000 |
| FSA limit | $3,300 |
| Standard deduction (single / MFJ / HoH) | $16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150 |
| Federal supplemental wage rate (bonuses ≤ $1M) | 22% |
| Federal supplemental rate (bonuses > $1M YTD) | 37% |
Not all pre-tax deductions are equal. The ranking depends on which taxes the deduction skips. Sample: 24% federal bracket, 7.65% FICA, 5% state.
| Deduction | Skips federal | Skips FICA | Skips state | $ saved per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSA (payroll) | Yes | Yes | Most states | $36.65 |
| Section 125 health premium | Yes | Yes | Most states | $36.65 |
| FSA (medical/dependent care) | Yes | Yes | Most states | $36.65 |
| Traditional 401(k) | Yes | No | Most states | $29.00 |
| Commuter benefits | Yes | Yes | Most states | $36.65 |
| Roth 401(k) | No | No | No | $0.00 today |
| Roth's value comes later — qualified withdrawals are 100% tax-free. The "skips" tradeoff is "now vs later", not "good vs bad". | ||||
HSAs are the only account that skips FICA — but only when funded via payroll deduction. Same dollar contributed by direct deposit to your HSA brokerage skips federal and state but not FICA. Always run HSA contributions through payroll if you can.
"I'm in the 24% bracket so I lose 24% of every dollar to taxes" is wrong. Only the dollars in the 24% bracket pay 24%. The effective federal rate on a $90,000 single filer is closer to 16% before adjustments. The calculator's federal-tax line is what you actually owe.
A $5,000 refund means you gave the IRS an interest-free loan of about $200/paycheck. That's withholding too much, not earning more. The healthy outcome is roughly $0 owed at filing. Adjust your W-4 (Step 4(c) extra withholding line) if you're routinely getting big refunds.
Once your YTD wages cross $184,500, the 6.2% Social Security tax stops for the rest of the calendar year. High earners see a meaningful paycheck increase in late summer or fall. Plan that money before it arrives or it tends to get absorbed.
Sources: IRS Publication 15 (Employer's Tax Guide), Pub 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods), Pub 590 (IRAs and Roth IRAs), Form W-4 instructions, SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 limits).
Three reasons. (1) Marginal vs effective: only the dollars in the top bracket pay the top rate. The brackets stack from 10% upward. (2) FICA: 6.2% Social Security up to $184,500 (2026 wage base) plus 1.45% Medicare on every dollar — added on top of income tax. (3) State and local tax. So gross × marginal rate always overstates the federal bite, but adding FICA + state usually understates the total.
Traditional. A traditional contribution reduces current taxable income, so federal withholding drops by your marginal rate × contribution. Roth contributions are post-tax — same gross, same withholding. The traditional "paycheck bump" equals exactly your marginal-bracket savings: at the 24% bracket, every $100 to traditional 401(k) raises take-home by ~$24 vs Roth (state tax can add a bit more).
$184,500. Wages above that pay Medicare (1.45%) but not Social Security (6.2%). High earners get a noticeable paycheck bump once they cross the wage base mid-year. The Medicare side adds a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 (single) in a calendar year, withheld by the employer per IRS rules and reconciled on Form 8959.
Form W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to withhold. Wrong inputs mean either a big refund (you gave the IRS an interest-free loan) or a tax bill in April (you under-withheld). Aim for roughly $0 owed at filing. The 2020 W-4 redesign uses dollar amounts (other income, deductions, dependents credits) instead of allowances. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator (irs.gov) is the canonical tuning tool.
Per dollar contributed, the order is HSA > 401(k) > FSA > commuter. HSA contributions skip federal income tax, FICA, and (most) state tax — a true triple advantage. 401(k) skips federal and most state income tax, but FICA still applies. At a 24% federal + 7.65% FICA + 5% state stack, an HSA dollar saves ~36.65 cents; a 401(k) dollar saves ~29 cents.
Nine states (AK, FL, NV, NH on wages, SD, TN, TX, WA, WY) levy no broad personal income tax. Most others use a flat rate (e.g., PA at 3.07%) or progressive brackets (CA, NY, NJ). Some cities also impose income tax (NYC, Yonkers, several PA municipalities). This calculator uses a single flat state rate as a simplification.
Not really, but the withholding feels different. Bonuses are "supplemental wages" under IRS rules; employers typically withhold a flat 22% federally (37% on amounts over $1M YTD) regardless of your bracket. That's just withholding — your actual tax is whatever your bracket dictates when you file. So a $10,000 bonus where you're in the 32% bracket shows 22% withheld but you'll owe the extra 10% in April.
Several common events: (1) crossing the SS wage base mid-year (6.2% drops off), (2) crossing $200,000 cumulative wages (additional 0.9% Medicare kicks in), (3) FSA/HSA reset on plan year, (4) raises and bonuses, (5) the annual IRS bracket and standard-deduction inflation adjustment effective in January. Compare your January and July paystubs against November to spot these.
This calculator assumes W-2 employment. As a 1099 contractor you owe self-employment tax (15.3%) — both halves of FICA — no employer match, and you typically pay quarterly estimated tax via Form 1040-ES. Useful rule of thumb: set aside 25–30% of every 1099 dollar for federal+state+SE tax until you've calibrated your bracket. Solo 401(k) and SEP-IRA scale much higher than a W-2 401(k) for self-employed retirement saving.
A "gross-up" starts from a target net (e.g., signing bonus net of taxes) and computes the gross required. The math: gross = net ÷ (1 − combined rate), where combined rate stacks federal supplemental withholding (22%) + FICA (7.65%) + state. For a $10,000 net signing bonus to a CA resident in the 24% bracket: gross ≈ $10,000 ÷ (1 − 0.22 − 0.0765 − 0.0925) ≈ $16,300. Many employers offer to gross up moving allowances and signing bonuses on request.