US paycheck calculator by state, 2026
At the national median wage of $50,980, a single filer keeps $43,142 a year after federal income tax and FICA, $1,659 every two weeks. In a state that does not tax wages that is the whole story; in one that does, the state's own tax comes off as well.
Written by Usain Olivard, who is not a qualified tax adviser. The federal rates on this page were read from the IRS on or before 2026-10-01.
State by state
Each state page works its own wages: the Bureau of Labor Statistics' percentiles and mean for that state, so the examples are what people there are actually paid.
| State | Median wage | Take-home | Every two weeks | State tax on wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota paycheck calculator | $47,080 | $40,008.78 | $1,539 | None |
| Tennessee paycheck calculator | $47,380 | $40,249.83 | $1,548 | None |
| Texas paycheck calculator | $48,620 | $41,246.17 | $1,586 | None |
Federal only: work out any salary
Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, with no state tax. Runs in your browser.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. Rules read on 2026-09-06.
How a US paycheck is taxed in 2026
Three federal charges, on two different bases. Getting the bases wrong is the commonest way a paycheck calculator goes wrong.
1. Federal income tax, on wages less the standard deduction
A single filer deducts $16,100, then the 2026 schedule applies to what is left. Rates apply only to the slice of income inside each band.
| Taxable income from | to | Rate | In wage terms, from |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $12,400 | 10% | $16,100 |
| $12,400 | $50,400 | 12% | $28,500 |
| $50,400 | $105,700 | 22% | $66,500 |
| $105,700 | $201,775 | 24% | $121,800 |
| $201,775 | $256,225 | 32% | $217,875 |
| $256,225 | $640,600 | 35% | $272,325 |
| $640,600 | and above | 37% | $656,700 |
2. Social Security, on every dollar up to the wage base
6.2% of wages up to $184,500, so at most $11,439 a year. Nothing above the base.
3. Medicare, on every dollar with no cap
1.4% of all wages, and an Additional Medicare tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000, which only the employee pays.
What every state page assumes
- A single filer taking the standard deduction, with wages from one employer for the whole year.
- No 401(k), HSA, health premium or other pre-tax deduction, each of which would lower federal income tax.
- No credits. The Earned Income Tax Credit in particular can change a low-wage result a great deal.
- Wages only: no investment or self-employment income, and no other state's tax on income earned there.
- Per-check figures are the year's tax spread evenly. Payroll withholding rounds each check on its own, so one check can differ by a few dollars while the year comes out the same.
Which states are not here yet
- States that tax wages, such as California, New York and Illinois. Each needs its own rules, read from its own revenue department, before it can be computed. None is guessed in the meantime.
- Washington and Alaska tax no wage income but take payroll deductions of their own (long-term care and paid leave in Washington, unemployment insurance in Alaska). Leaving those out would make the number wrong, so they wait.
- Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wyoming do not tax wages, but their official sources could not be read and archived yet. A state page goes up with its source or not at all.
Questions
How much federal tax comes out of a $50,980 salary in 2026?
$3,937.60 of federal income tax, $3,160.76 of Social Security and $739.21 of Medicare for a single filer on the standard deduction, leaving $43,142.43. $50,980 is the national median wage in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Why is federal tax worked on less than my salary?
Because the $16,100 standard deduction comes off first. On $50,980 that leaves $34,880 taxable, and the brackets apply to that. Social Security and Medicare get no deduction: they are charged on every dollar of wages.
Which states do these pages cover?
States that do not tax wages, and only once the state's own constitution or revenue department is on file saying so: South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas so far. States that tax wages need their own rules, which are not built yet.
Where these figures come from
us.income_tax.bands.single.ty2026: US federal income tax, unmarried individuals, tax year 2026, read 2026-09-06. Rev. Proc. 2025-32, annual inflation adjustmentsus.income_tax.standard_deduction.single.ty2026: US standard deduction, unmarried, tax year 2026, read 2026-09-06. Rev. Proc. 2025-32, annual inflation adjustmentsus.fica.social_security.rate.ty2026: Social Security tax, employee share, read 2026-09-06. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding ratesus.fica.social_security.wage_base.ty2026: Social Security wage base limit, 2026, read 2026-09-06. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding ratesus.fica.medicare.rate.ty2026: Medicare tax, employee share, read 2026-09-06. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding ratesus.fica.additional_medicare.rate.ty2026: Additional Medicare tax, employee only, read 2026-10-01. Topic no. 560, Additional Medicare taxus.fica.additional_medicare.threshold.single.ty2026: Additional Medicare tax threshold, all filers other than married, read 2026-10-01. Topic no. 560, Additional Medicare tax
Ruleset sha256:b5e5aaa1f6ad0922. Method on methodology, provenance on sources, the OECD's view of US rates on United States.