Every term used on this site, explained in plain English and backed by a worked 2026 example — no circular definitions, no jargon.
Marginal is the rate on your next dollar; effective is what you actually paid as a share of gross. The state pages rank by effective rate because that is the comparable number.
Everything paid before deductions: base pay, overtime, bonus and taxable benefits. Take-home is what remains after federal tax, FICA and state tax.
Yes. Social Security (6.2% up to the annual wage cap) and Medicare (1.45%) are federal, so they do not change when you move — only state income tax does.
Open any salary or state page: each one shows the same definitions applied to a real paycheque, computed by the engine used site-wide.
Figures on this page are planning estimates built from published IRS tables and state agency rates; they are not tax advice. How we build and check these estimates · Edited by: Nuh Taspinar · Last updated: 2026-11-09
AfterTaxLab