Calculators

Six tools that use the same 2026 engine as every page on this site: pre-tax contributions, overtime, raises, filing status, hourly-to-salary and working backwards from a target net.

Pick the right one

Related pages

Questions

Every tool on this page runs on the same 2026 engine that generates the tables and charts across the rest of the site: the 2026 federal brackets with a standard deduction of $16,100 for a single filer and $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly, Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, Medicare at 1.45% with no cap, the additional 0.9% Medicare tax once income passes $200,000 for a single filer or $250,000 jointly, and the income tax model of whichever state you choose - including the states that levy no tax on wages at all.

Pre-tax contributions are taken out before federal income tax and FICA, which is why a 401(k) contribution reduces take-home pay by less than the amount that lands in the retirement account. The difference is the tax you would otherwise have paid on that money, and the 401(k) calculator shows it explicitly rather than burying it in the total.

What is deliberately left out matters just as much. The tools do not model city or local income taxes, tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit, itemised deductions, self-employment tax, state disability or paid-family-leave contributions, wage garnishment, or an employer 401(k) match. They assume a full year at the same salary with no gaps, no bonus and no mid-year raise, and every figure is rounded to the nearest dollar. A payslip can therefore differ from these results without either number being wrong: withholding is an estimate, and a refund or a bill at filing time is normal.

Two different questions get confused constantly, and the tools answer them separately. "How much tax do I pay overall?" is an effective-rate question: a $100,000 salary in Texas leaves about $79,180 after federal tax and FICA, an average bite of roughly 21%. "What do I keep from the next dollar?" is a marginal-rate question: at that income each additional dollar sits in the 22% federal bracket and also carries 7.65% in payroll tax, so the next dollar is worth about 70 cents, not 79. The raise and overtime calculators are built around the second question, because that is the one that decides whether extra work is worth taking on.

Used in sequence the tools settle most real decisions: reverse take-home to size the salary a target net pay requires, the 401(k) calculator to price the cost of saving, and the raise or overtime calculator to value extra hours or a new offer. Treat the output as a planning estimate - the assumptions above are stated rather than hidden, and they are the reason a real payslip can land slightly either side of the figure shown here.