State Paycheck Calculator

• Uses each state's 2026 brackets, rates, standard deductions and exemptions, checked against state revenue department publications.
• Includes employee payroll deductions that states require: California SDI, New York disability and Paid Family Leave, and Pennsylvania unemployment compensation.
• Handles pretax 401(k) and health premiums the way each state does, including Pennsylvania's rule that 401(k) contributions are still taxed.
• Shows the same salary in all ten states side by side. Local income taxes are not included; you can add an estimate.

How to use this calculator

Choose the state you live and work in, then enter your annual salary, filing status and how often you are paid. Open Advanced to add a traditional 401(k) contribution, pretax health insurance premiums, or an estimated local income tax rate. The result shows your take-home pay per paycheck, a line-by-line breakdown, and a table of what the same pay would leave you with in each of the ten states.

It assumes you live and work in the same state. If you commute across a state line, the rules for credits between states apply and the result here will not match your paycheck.

The ten states and their 2026 rules

• California: nine brackets from 1% to 12.3% (2026 thresholds indexed 3.4% by the Franchise Tax Board), a $5,900 standard deduction ($11,800 joint or head of household), a $158 personal exemption credit ($316 joint), and a further 1% on taxable income over $1 million. State Disability Insurance takes 1.3% of all wages, with no cap.
• Texas and Florida: no state income tax on wages.
• New York: rates from 3.9% to 10.9% for 2026, after cuts to the lower brackets; a standard deduction of $8,000 single, $16,050 joint and $11,200 head of household. Above $107,650 of New York AGI the state gradually recaptures the benefit of its lower brackets. Employees also pay disability insurance (0.5%, at most $0.60 a week) and Paid Family Leave (0.432%, at most $411.91 in 2026).
• Pennsylvania: a flat 3.07% with no standard deduction, and employee 401(k) contributions are not excluded. Employees pay 0.07% unemployment compensation tax.
• Illinois: a flat 4.95% after a $2,925 exemption per person for 2026, which is lost above $250,000 of AGI ($500,000 joint).
• Ohio: from 2026, no tax on the first $26,050 of taxable income, then $332 plus 2.75% of the excess, after personal exemptions of $1,900 to $2,400 that depend on income.
• Georgia: a flat 4.99% for 2026 (cut from 5.19% in May 2026, retroactive to January), after a $15,000 standard deduction ($30,000 joint).
• North Carolina: a flat 3.99% for 2026 after a $12,750 standard deduction ($25,500 joint, $19,125 head of household).
• Michigan: a flat 4.25% after a $5,900 exemption per person.

How take-home pay is calculated

Federal wages     = salary - pretax health premiums
Federal income tax = 2026 brackets on (federal wages - 401(k) - standard deduction)
FICA              = 6.2% Social Security (to the wage base) + 1.45% Medicare (+0.9% above threshold)
State income      = salary - health - 401(k)   (Pennsylvania: salary - health)
State income tax  = state brackets or flat rate after the state's deduction or exemptions
State payroll     = SDI, PFL, UC where the state requires them
Take-home pay     = salary - all taxes - 401(k) - health premiums

Federal tax is worked out exactly as on our Take-Home Pay calculator. Both are estimates of the tax owed on a full year's pay, not a copy of your employer's withholding formula.

A worked example

A single worker earning $75,000 and paid every two weeks, with no pretax deductions, owes about $7,670 of federal income tax and $5,738 of Social Security and Medicare tax wherever they live.

In California, state income tax is $2,665 and SDI is $975, leaving $57,952 a year, or $2,228.94 per paycheck. In Texas there is no state income tax, so take-home is $61,592, or $2,368.94 per paycheck.

In New York the state tax is $3,453 plus $355 of disability and Paid Family Leave deductions. Pennsylvania takes $2,302, Illinois $3,568 and Ohio $1,619. Across the ten states, the highest take-home at this salary is $61,592 in Texas and Florida and the lowest is $57,784 in New York.

How pretax deductions are treated

A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers the wages used for federal income tax but not Social Security and Medicare tax. California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan start from federal adjusted gross income, so the contribution lowers state tax too. Pennsylvania is the exception: it taxes employee retirement contributions as compensation, so the state tax is the same with or without the 401(k).

Health insurance premiums paid through a cafeteria (Section 125) plan come out before federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and before state income tax in these states, though Pennsylvania excludes them only when the cafeteria plan meets its own requirements. In California they also reduce the wages SDI is charged on. Confirm on your pay stub which deductions your employer treats as pretax.

Local income taxes are not included

Several of these states let cities, counties or school districts tax wages too, and those taxes are not in the result:

• New York: New York City residents pay city income tax of roughly 3.1% to 3.9%, and Yonkers has its own surcharge.
• Pennsylvania: most municipalities and school districts levy a local earned income tax, commonly around 1%, and Philadelphia's wage tax is higher.
• Ohio: many cities tax wages at 1% to 2.5%, and some school districts add their own.
• Michigan: Detroit and about two dozen other cities tax income.

If one applies to you, enter an approximate rate under Advanced. It is applied as a flat percentage of pay after pretax deductions, which is close for most local wage taxes.

Assumptions and limitations

• Full-year estimate. Tax is worked out on a year of pay. Employers' withholding tables, W-4 and state allowance choices, and mid-year changes (such as Georgia's rate cut in May 2026) can make each paycheck differ.
• Standard deductions only. Itemized deductions are not modelled.
• No dependents or credits. The federal child tax credit, state dependent exemptions and credits such as California's dependent credit and renter's credit are not included. California's exemption credit phase-out at high incomes is not applied, and Ohio's small joint-filer and low-income credits are left out.
• One earner. On a joint return the calculator assumes the other spouse has no wages.
• Same state for work and home. Multi-state and reciprocity rules are not modelled.
• Payroll item bases. California SDI is taken on wages after pretax health premiums; New York and Pennsylvania items on gross wages. Your employer's treatment can differ slightly.

Common mistakes

Comparing salaries without state tax. A job in Texas and one in California at the same salary leave very different take-home pay, but housing and other costs can more than make up the difference.

Forgetting local tax. In New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit or most Ohio cities the local tax can be as large as the state tax.

Assuming 401(k) contributions cut state tax everywhere. In Pennsylvania they do not.

Reading the 2025 rates. Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and New York all cut rates for 2026, and many older calculators have not caught up.

Frequently asked questions