Take-Home Pay Calculator

How the gross-to-net calculation works

This calculator deliberately does not know any country's tax law. It does not look up brackets, allowances or social-security ceilings. Instead you supply a single effective tax rate, and it applies simple arithmetic to your gross annual pay:

• tax = gross × effective rate
• retirement = gross × retirement %
• net per year = gross − tax − retirement − other yearly deductions
• net per paycheck = net per year ÷ pay periods

The pay-period divisor is 52 for weekly, 26 for every two weeks, 24 for twice a month, 12 for monthly and 1 for annual.

Worked example

Take a gross salary of 85,000, a 24% effective tax rate, a 6% retirement contribution and 1,200 a year of other deductions such as health insurance premiums.

• Tax: 85,000 × 0.24 = 20,400
• Retirement: 85,000 × 0.06 = 5,100
• Net per year: 85,000 − 20,400 − 5,100 − 1,200 = 58,300
• Biweekly paycheck: 58,300 ÷ 26 = about 2,242
• Monthly: 58,300 ÷ 12 = about 4,858

Finding your effective rate

Your effective rate is the total tax withheld divided by gross pay, not your top bracket. Take the year-to-date income tax and social or payroll contributions from a recent payslip, add them up, and divide by year-to-date gross. If your payslip shows 1,700 of tax and payroll deductions on 7,083 of gross for a month, your rate is about 24%. For background on what comes out of a paycheck, see Gross vs Net Pay explained.

Limits and common mistakes

• Pre-tax retirement contributions. The calculator takes tax on the full gross. In many countries a traditional 401(k) or pension contribution lowers taxable income, so your real take-home may be a little higher than shown. If your payslip rate was measured after the contribution, don't enter it twice.
• Graduated tax. A flat rate is an average. A raise taxed at your marginal rate will not raise take-home by 1 − effective rate.
• Employer-side costs and bonuses. Employer contributions do not reduce your pay. Bonuses are often withheld at a different rate than salary.
• Extra paychecks. With biweekly pay there are 26 checks, so two months a year contain three. Budget from the annual figure, not from a single month.

Pay-frequency reference

To turn a salary into an hourly rate, use the salary to hourly calculator. To check a percentage, try the percentage calculator.