2026 US Paycheck Calculator
Paycheck Calculator by State
Select your state for a pre-loaded calculator with the correct 2026 state tax tables.
How We Calculate Your Take-Home Pay
ExactTakeHome uses IRS Publication 15-T federal withholding tables and official state employer withholding schedules for every jurisdiction on this hub. The calculator models per-paycheck withholding — the amounts your employer deducts from each check — not your annual tax-return liability after deductions and credits. That distinction matters when you compare a calculator result to a W-2 or pay stub at year-end.
What Affects Your Take-Home Pay
Your net paycheck depends on several components working together: federal income tax withholding, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), state income tax where applicable, local or city tax in certain metros, your filing status, how often you are paid, and any pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) or HSA contributions. Changing any one input can shift net pay even when your gross salary stays the same.
How to Use This Calculator
ExactTakeHome's calculator hub is built for one job: getting you to the right state-specific paycheck calculator before you start modelling deductions, filing status, and withholding changes. Federal income tax withholding, Social Security, and Medicare apply nationwide, but state and local payroll rules do not. Choosing your state first ensures the calculator loads the correct 2026 withholding tables, local tax treatment where applicable, and any state-specific payroll adjustments that affect take-home pay.
Each state route lets you test common paycheck scenarios without sending salary or deduction data to a server. All calculations run in your browser using the same tax engine and 2026 data files that power the rest of ExactTakeHome. You can model annual salary, filing status, pay frequency, pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) and HSA contributions, and the W-4 inputs that often change net pay the most. That makes this hub useful whether you are checking a new job offer, reviewing a raise, or comparing how much of your pay you keep after moving to another state.
If you are not sure where to start, pick your work state first, then compare the calculator result against your most recent pay stub. Look at the federal withholding line, FICA withholding, and any state or local tax rows one by one. If the estimate is close but not exact, the fastest next step is usually updating your filing status, W-4 Step 3 credits, or extra withholding inputs. For deeper side-by-side analysis, you can move from any state calculator to related salary, hourly, and compare pages without re-learning a new workflow.
Every calculator page also carries the same core disclaimer: results are estimates, not tax advice. ExactTakeHome uses IRS Publication 15-T withholding logic and official state employer withholding tables, but your actual paycheck can still differ based on employer payroll settings, benefit deductions, and reciprocal state rules. When the dollar impact matters, use the calculator as a review tool and confirm the final numbers with payroll documentation or a qualified CPA.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Browse by salary band
Pick a salary level first, then open any state for a static take-home estimate. This two-step path keeps every state salary-band calculator within three clicks of the homepage.
Featured state paycheck calculators
Priority state pages for the current internal-linking and content-depth sprint, including the original quick-win states plus the next expansion batch.
Research & Guides
Data-driven studies on take-home pay, state tax structure, and remote work — all computed from the ExactTakeHome engine using 2026 withholding tables.
More research worth opening from the calculator hub
- Best States for Take-Home Pay 2026 - Tiered rankings across salary levels
- Remote Worker Tax Savings 2026 - How much interstate moves can change net pay
- How Much of My Raise Do I Keep? - Raise-retention math by tax bracket
- Is TurboTax Worth It in 2026? - Cost and value framing for paid filing software
- Gusto Pricing Breakdown 2026 - Payroll software cost context for small employers
- True Cost of Hiring an Employee - Employer-side payroll overhead beyond salary
- Equity Compensation Tax Guide 2026 - RSU, ISO, and NSO tax mechanics
- W-2 Guide 2026 - Definition-first walkthrough of the W-2 boxes that affect take-home pay
State and payroll comparisons
- Massachusetts vs Texas - High-tax vs no-tax salary comparison
- Minnesota vs Texas - Progressive state vs no-income-tax spread
- Texas vs Washington - No-income-tax states with different payroll context
- TurboTax vs Free Filing - Paid filing cost vs no-cost options
- TurboTax vs TaxAct - Side-by-side tax software tradeoffs
- Gusto vs Manual Payroll - Payroll software vs manual processing
- Gusto vs QuickBooks Payroll - SMB payroll workflow comparison
- Gusto vs ADP Run - Employer payroll platform comparison
Advanced take-home tools
- Employer Cost Calculator - Estimate payroll taxes and total employer cost
- Raise Impact Calculator - See how much of a raise survives withholding
- Severance Pay Tax Calculator - Model withholding on a severance payout
- Stock Option Tax Calculator - Estimate net proceeds after option exercise taxes
- No Tax on Overtime Deduction Calculator - Estimate the federal qualified-overtime deduction and state conformity status
- No Tax on Tips Deduction Calculator - Estimate the federal qualified-tips deduction and state conformity status
- Paycheck Comparison Calculator - Compare two salary or hourly paycheck scenarios with independent W-4 inputs
- Work Abroad Tax Calculator - Compare FEIE, housing exclusion, and FTC annual U.S. tax scenarios
Paycheck & Tax Guides
New to paycheck withholding? Our CPA-verified guides explain each component of your pay stub in plain language.
Payroll glossary
Need the short version first? These definition-first glossary pages explain the payroll terms that show up most often in calculators, W-4 questions, and pay-stub reviews.
- Semi-monthly pay - Semi-monthly pay means you are paid twice per month, usually for 24 paychecks per year.
- Gross pay - Gross pay is the amount an employee earns before taxes, withholding, and other deductions are taken out.
- FICA - FICA is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act payroll tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare.
- FEIN - FEIN stands for Federal Employer Identification Number and is another name for an EIN issued by the IRS.
- Net pay - Net pay is the amount you actually receive after taxes and deductions are taken out of gross pay.
- Withholding - Withholding is the tax your employer subtracts from each paycheck and remits to the IRS and other tax agencies.
- W-4 - Form W-4 is the IRS Employee's Withholding Certificate used by employees to tell employers how much federal income tax to withhold.
- Pay period - A pay period is the recurring block of time an employer uses to measure wages before issuing a paycheck.