How much tax comes out of a US paycheck in 2026
A single person earning USD 60,000 in 2026 with no state income tax pays about USD 9,610 in federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare for the year, and takes home about USD 50,390, or USD 1,938 every two weeks. Three taxes make up the deduction: federal income tax on a sliding scale, Social Security at 6.2%, and Medicare at 1.45%. The US paycheck calculator works all three out for any salary, pay frequency and state.
All figures are USD and apply to tax year 2026 (1 January to 31 December 2026). State and local taxes are covered at the end.
The three deductions on every paycheck
Federal income tax is withheld by your employer based on your Form W-4 and the IRS tables in Publication 15-T. Over a full year, for someone who takes the standard deduction and has no other income, it comes to the same thing as the bracket calculation below.
Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the wage base, which is 184,500 in 2026. Earn more than that and the deduction stops for the rest of the year.
Medicare is 1.45% of all wages with no cap. An extra 0.9% applies to wages over 200,000 (single), 250,000 (married filing jointly) or 125,000 (married filing separately). Employers withhold it once wages pass 200,000, whatever the filing status.
Social Security and Medicare together are often shown as FICA on a pay stub. Your employer pays a matching 7.65% that never appears on your paycheck.
2026 federal income tax brackets
The brackets apply to taxable income, which is wages minus the standard deduction (or itemized deductions) and minus pre tax items like 401(k) contributions.
Standard deduction 2026: single 16,100, married filing jointly 32,200, married filing separately 16,100, head of household 24,150.
| Rate | Single, taxable income over | Married filing jointly, over |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 0 | 0 |
| 12% | 12,400 | 24,800 |
| 22% | 50,400 | 100,800 |
| 24% | 105,700 | 211,400 |
| 32% | 201,775 | 403,550 |
| 35% | 256,225 | 512,450 |
| 37% | 640,600 | 768,700 |
The brackets are marginal. A single person with 43,900 of taxable income does not pay 12% on all of it. They pay 10% on the first 12,400 and 12% on the rest. The federal income tax calculator lays out this split bracket by bracket for any salary and filing status.
Worked example: 60,000, single, no state tax
- Taxable income: 60,000 minus 16,100 = 43,900.
- Federal income tax: 10% of 12,400 = 1,240, plus 12% of 31,500 = 3,780. Total 5,020.
- Social Security: 6.2% of 60,000 = 3,720.
- Medicare: 1.45% of 60,000 = 870.
- Take home: 60,000 minus 5,020 minus 3,720 minus 870 = 50,390.
Per paycheck, that is 1,938.08 every two weeks (26 pays) or 4,199.17 a month.
Three salaries side by side
Single filer, wages only, standard deduction, no 401(k), no state income tax (as in Texas, Florida or Washington).
| Wages (USD) | Taxable income | Federal income tax | Social Security | Medicare | Take home a year | Take home every 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60,000 | 43,900 | 5,020.00 | 3,720.00 | 870.00 | 50,390.00 | 1,938.08 |
| 85,000 | 68,900 | 9,870.00 | 5,270.00 | 1,232.50 | 68,627.50 | 2,639.52 |
| 150,000 | 133,900 | 24,734.00 | 9,300.00 | 2,175.00 | 113,791.00 | 4,376.58 |
Notice that the 150,000 earner's effective federal income tax rate is 16.5%, even though they are "in the 24% bracket". Only the taxable income above 105,700 is taxed at 24%.
What makes the real paycheck different
Your pay stub will rarely match the table exactly. The usual reasons:
- State income tax. 41 states and DC tax wages. Nine do not: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. A few cities add their own, New York City being the largest.
- Pre tax deductions. 401(k) contributions, health insurance premiums, HSA and FSA contributions come off before income tax is calculated. A 401(k) contribution also lowers taxable income but not Social Security or Medicare wages.
- W-4 settings. Extra withholding, a second job, or a spouse's income change what is withheld each pay period without changing what you owe for the year. Over or under withholding shows up as a refund or a bill in April.
- Self employment. Freelance and contract income has no employer to pay half of Social Security and Medicare, so the self employed pay 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, the Social Security part only up to the wage base, and send it in quarterly. The self employment tax calculator works out that tax and the four payments.
- New deductions for 2025 to 2028. Federal law now allows deductions for qualified tips, qualified overtime premium pay, a larger deduction for people aged 65 and over, and interest on loans for new US assembled cars, each with limits and income phase outs. They reduce taxable income at filing time, and tips and overtime still count for Social Security and Medicare. The paycheck calculator has optional inputs for tips, overtime and age 65 or over, with the limits confirmed on irs.gov. The car loan interest deduction is not part of the calculator. The overtime and tips deduction calculator shows how much federal income tax the tips, overtime and age 65 deductions take off for a given income.
Where to check
The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator uses your actual pay stub and W-4 to tell you whether your withholding is on track. The calculator here gives the annual picture and the per paycheck figure for comparing offers, moving states or planning a 401(k) change. Neither one is tax advice. Take home pay is also where a home budget starts, and the US mortgage calculator turns a price, a down payment and a rate into a monthly payment with property tax, insurance and PMI.
See your take home per paycheck with the US paycheck calculator
Questions about US paycheck tax
What percentage of my paycheck goes to taxes in 2026? For a single person on 60,000 with no state tax, about 16% (5,020 federal income tax plus 4,590 FICA on 60,000). Add your state's rate on top. The percentage rises with income because the brackets are progressive.
When does Social Security tax stop being deducted? Once your wages for the year pass 184,500. At that point the 6.2% deduction stops until January. Medicare never stops.
Is the standard deduction taken from each paycheck? Not as a line item. The withholding tables build it in, so a full year of normal withholding already assumes you will claim it.
Sources
- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32, inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (standard deduction and brackets)
- Federal Register, Social Security Administration, 2026 contribution and benefit base of 184,500
- IRS, Publication 15-T, federal income tax withholding methods, and the Tax Withholding Estimator
- Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 (the nine states without a wage tax)
- IRS, Topic 560, Additional Medicare Tax thresholds
- IRS, One Big Beautiful Bill Act deductions for tips, overtime and seniors