Paycheck Calculator
Wondering what your actual paycheck looks like after taxes? Enter your salary or hourly rate, choose your pay schedule, and see exactly how much you take home each pay period.
Recommended Tools
How Paycheck Calculations Work
Your paycheck starts with a gross amount derived from your annual salary or hourly wage. For salaried employees, the gross pay per period is simply the annual salary divided by the number of pay periods. Hourly employees multiply their rate by weekly hours and then by 52 weeks before dividing by the number of pay periods.
Taxes and deductions then reduce that gross figure. Federal income tax is the largest bite for most workers, followed by state income tax (unless you live in one of the nine states with no income tax). The difference between gross and total deductions is your net pay, which is the deposit that actually hits your bank account.
Choosing the Right Pay Frequency
Your pay frequency affects the size of each check but not your annual total. Monthly paychecks are the largest individually but require careful budgeting since bills come due throughout the month. Biweekly is popular because it aligns with a regular two-week rhythm and gives you two bonus checks per year compared to semimonthly.
If you pay rent on the first of the month, a semimonthly schedule lines up neatly. If you prefer consistent pay dates tied to a specific day of the week, biweekly works better. Weekly pay is common in hourly industries and makes short-term budgeting simpler, though it means more checks to track over the year.
Salary vs. Hourly: Key Differences
Salaried employees receive a fixed amount regardless of hours worked, which provides income stability but means no extra pay for long weeks. Hourly employees earn based on actual hours, with overtime kicking in after 40 hours per week in most states at 1.5 times the regular rate.
When comparing a salary offer to an hourly rate, the hourly variant of this calculator helps you see the paycheck-level difference. A $60,000 salary and a $28.85 per hour rate both gross about $60,000 per year at 40 hours per week, but the hourly worker has overtime potential that can push total earnings significantly higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pay periods are in a year?
Weekly has 52, biweekly has 26, semimonthly has 24, and monthly has 12 pay periods. Biweekly is the most common schedule in the United States.
What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly?
Biweekly means every two weeks (26 paychecks per year). Semimonthly means twice a month, usually on the 1st and 15th (24 paychecks per year). Biweekly checks are slightly smaller but you get two extra per year.
Does this include Social Security and Medicare?
FICA taxes are not broken out separately. Add 7.65% to your combined tax rate to account for Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) withholdings.
How do I estimate my federal tax rate?
Look at your most recent pay stub. Divide the federal tax withheld by your gross pay and multiply by 100. That gives you your effective withholding rate to use here.
Why is my actual paycheck different from this estimate?
Real paychecks include pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions, health insurance, and HSA contributions that are not modeled here. The progressive tax bracket system also means your effective rate varies.