Calculate net take-home salary after Federal income tax, State taxes, FICA (Social Security & Medicare), and retirement deductions.
Calculates standard marginal tax bracket deductions, standard deduction allowances, and progressive tax rates for single and married filers.
Trigger: Comparing two employment opportunities in different states or compensation tiers.
Compute your true after-tax take-home pay to ensure that a higher gross nominal salary offer isn’t erased by higher state income taxes and municipal deductions.
Trigger: Annual benefits open enrollment or receiving an executive pay raise.
Simulate how increasing your 401(k) or Health Savings Account contribution reduces your marginal federal taxable liability while barely denting take-home pay.
Trigger: Transitioning to consulting or freelance contracting.
Factor in the full 15.3% self-employment FICA tax burden to determine the minimum hourly billing rate required to match corporate benefits.
Your marginal tax bracket is the rate paid on your highest dollar of income. Your effective tax rate is the actual overall percentage of your total income paid in taxes. Because of standard deductions and lower tiered brackets, your effective rate is almost always significantly lower than your top marginal rate.
Context: A software engineer evaluates an identical $120,000 base salary offer between San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX as a single filer taking the standard deduction.
Analysis & Result: In California, estimated net take-home is $79,800/yr ($6,650/mo) after federal tax, FICA, and ~$8,100 in CA state taxes. In Texas (0% state income tax), net take-home is $87,900/yr ($7,325/mo)—putting $675 extra cash in pocket every month.
Key Takeaway: State tax differentials represent an immediate 8% to 10% net pay divergence, which must be factored directly into local housing and cost-of-living negotiations.
$135,000 base salary, Single filer in Colorado (~4.4% state tax), $10,000 401k contribution.
Result: $95,300 net annual pay
Pre-tax deductions (like traditional 401k, HSA, and employer health plans) reduce your taxable income dollar-for-dollar, lowering both federal and state tax liabilities.
FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act and funds Social Security (6.2% on wages up to the statutory cap) and Medicare (1.45% on all earnings, plus 0.9% on wages exceeding $200,000 for single filers). Most W-2 and 1099 workers are legally required to pay FICA, with exemptions limited to specific foreign students on F-1/J-1 visas, certain religious groups, and specific government employees covered by alternative pension systems.
The standard deduction is a fixed dollar amount ($14,600+ for single filers, $29,200+ for married filing jointly) that automatically reduces your taxable income. You should only itemize deductions (Schedule A) if the sum of your mortgage interest, state and local taxes (SALT capped at $10,000), and charitable contributions exceeds the generous standard deduction threshold.
Published Standards: Published IRS statutory income tax withholding tables (IRS Publication 15-T), statutory FICA tax rates (Social Security and Medicare), and state marginal schedules.
Methodology: Applies statutory progressive federal marginal tax brackets, standard deduction adjustments, Social Security wage base caps, Additional Medicare tax (0.9%), and state tax schedules.
Last Updated: September 2026