The real reason your paycheck is smaller than your salary
The number on your offer letter is gross pay. The number that lands in your bank account is net pay. The gap between them is taxes, and the gap is bigger in some states than others. A $75,000 salary in Texas takes home roughly $59,000 a year. The same $75,000 in California takes home about $54,500. That is a $4,500 a year difference for the same job at the same salary.
How federal tax works in 2026
Every paycheck the IRS takes a cut based on a seven-bracket system. In 2026 the brackets for a single filer go 10 percent on the first $12,400, 12 percent on income up to $50,400, 22 percent up to $105,700, 24 percent up to $201,775, 32 percent up to $256,225, 35 percent up to $640,600, and 37 percent on anything above that. Married couples filing jointly get roughly double those thresholds. The brackets are marginal, which means you only pay the higher rate on the dollars that fall inside that bracket, not on all your income.
Before any of that math runs, you get a standard deduction. In 2026 that is $16,100 for a single filer or $32,200 for married filing jointly. So a single filer making $50,000 a year only owes federal income tax on $33,900. That comes out to about $3,810 a year in federal tax.
What FICA actually costs you
FICA is two separate taxes. Social Security takes 6.2 percent of your wages up to $184,500 in 2026. Medicare takes 1.45 percent of all your wages with no cap. If you earn more than $200,000 in a year (or $250,000 as a married couple filing jointly), an extra 0.9 percent Additional Medicare tax kicks in on the dollars above that line.
For someone earning $75,000 a year, FICA alone costs $5,737 (Social Security) plus $1,087 (Medicare), which is $6,825 before federal or state income tax even shows up.
Why state tax is the wild card
Nine states do not tax wage income at all. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming all let you keep every dollar after federal and FICA. Another fifteen states use a flat rate, meaning every dollar of taxable income gets the same percentage. The rest use progressive brackets like the federal system.
California has the most complex setup with ten brackets and a top rate of 13.3 percent on income above a million dollars. Hawaii has twelve brackets. New York has nine brackets plus an additional NYC city tax for NYC residents. Maryland adds a county tax on top of the state rate. Pennsylvania has a flat 3.07 percent state rate but most cities add a local Earned Income Tax of 1 to 4 percent on top.
This is why a generic calculator that "just runs the numbers" usually gets state tax wrong. Each state has its own quirks, exemptions, and brackets. Picking the right state below pulls in the right rules.
Pre-tax deductions are the biggest lever
Traditional 401(k) and 403(b) contributions, HSA contributions, FSA contributions, and Section 125 health insurance premiums all come out of your paycheck before federal and state income tax run. Putting $500 a paycheck into your 401(k) does not reduce your take-home by $500. It reduces it by about $360 to $400, because the IRS and your state are no longer taxing that money.
HSA and Section 125 health premiums go one step further. They also come out before FICA, which saves you an extra 7.65 percent. That makes HSA contributions the most tax-efficient dollar in the entire US tax code for people who qualify.
What this calculator does not cover
This is a regular-paycheck calculator. Bonuses, equity vesting events, and other supplemental wages are withheld at a flat federal rate (22 percent under $1 million, 37 percent above), which is different from regular brackets. Self-employment income gets hit with the full 15.3 percent FICA both halves, not just 7.65 percent. State income tax credits like California's child credit, New York's earned income credit, or state-specific renter's credits all happen at tax filing time, not in your paycheck.
For a regular salaried W-2 job, the numbers below will be within a few dollars of your actual paycheck. Pick your state and run the math.