2026 federal + state tax rules
See exactly where your paycheck goes.
Estimate federal, state and FICA deductions using current rules — with every source and assumption shown.
Build your 2026 paycheck picture
Three answers is enough for an estimate. Everything this assumes on your behalf is listed with the result.
Assuming: Single
Example · $85,000 salary · Texas
$2,640
per paycheck · Every two weeks (26 checks)
Using 8 standard assumptions · 0 of 11 inputs reviewed
Qualified overtime premium · Qualified tips · Residence state · Local jurisdiction · Filing status · Dependents · Age 65 or blind exemptions · 401(k) contribution
Calculated · 2026 ruleset
Current- Rule year
- Sources cited
- Federal rules read through
- Texas read through
Per line
Estimated take-home pay
$68,628
per year after modeled taxes and 401(k)
Per paycheck
$2,640
Effective tax
19.3%
Tax year
2026
Estimate only, not tax or legal advice — consult a certified CPA before relying on it for filing or planning decisions.
Annual allocation
Where your gross pay goes
- Take-home pay$68,628
- Federal income tax$9,870
- Social Security & Medicare$6,503
Estimated paycheck withholding
What an employer would actually take out of each paycheck, per Form W-4 — a different figure from the liability above it, computed a different way. The gap between them is your likely refund or bill.
Federal, per paycheck
$380
Texas, per paycheck
$0
Over the year, this withholding pattern would take out $0 more than your estimated liability above — pointing toward a refund of roughly that size at filing, before any credits or income this calculator does not model.
The same salary in two other states
- Texas$68,628your state
- California$63,863−$4,765
- New York$64,267−$4,360
Take-home only. It says nothing about what living there costs — the cost-of-living adjustment is a separate question and a separate page.
Audit this paycheck
Verified against 2026 tables$68,628 of your $85,000 reaches take-home pay — an effective rate of 19.26%.
Your biggest lever is a health savings account. Funding one to the self-only limit would cut your tax by about $1,305 this year.
9 checks
- Reconciled 26 pay periods against gross pay of $85,000.
- Applied the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100.
- Located the top federal band at 22% on $68,900 of taxable income.
- Checked the Social Security ceiling: this salary is $99,500 below it.
- Confirmed Texas takes no wage income tax: the entire state share is $0.
- Ranked 51 jurisdictions on this salary: nowhere keeps meaningfully more than Texas.
- Stacked federal, state, and FICA rates to a combined marginal rate of 29.65%.
- Computed an effective tax rate of 19.26% across every tax modelled.
- Divided the same annual tax across 26 pay periods — frequency does not change what is owed.
Nowhere would keep meaningfully more of your salary than Texas
Across the 51 jurisdictions priced here, not one would leave you any better off — and the spread between the best and worst of them is $7,196 a year. Relocating is the one lever that cannot improve your position.
How much room you have left in this federal band
Your 22% band runs to $105,700 of taxable income, $36,800 above where you land. Income beyond that point is taxed at 24% — but only the part above it, never your whole salary.
Your bracket is not the rate you actually pay
Your next dollar is taxed at about 29.65% once federal, Texas and FICA are stacked, but your salary as a whole is taxed at 19.26% — a gap of roughly 10.4 points. Quoting the marginal rate as "your tax rate" overstates what you owe.
- $1,305 off your tax this year, from funding a self-only HSA in full.Model an HSA or FSA
- $660 saved, for another $3,000 into your pre-tax 401(k).Model a 401(k) change
- $12,010 of payroll tax moves onto you, going 1099 at your current rate.Compare 1099 with W-2
Every figure above is computed from the 2026 federal and state tables in this calculator. Estimates only — they model withholding and liability, not your filed return.
- No signup
- Runs in your browser
- Official sources
Where a $85,000 salary goes in Texas
A single filer with no pre-tax retirement contributions, paid biweekly — the same baseline the calculator below opens on. Adjust any input there for your own figures.
| Gross salary | $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$9,870 |
| Social Security | −$5,270 |
| Medicare | −$1,233 |
| Estimated take-home | $68,628 |
| Effective tax rate | 19.3% |
How calculations work
A calculator that shows its work
Every figure below was read from the issuing agency on the date shown. Nothing here is remembered, inferred, or carried forward from a previous year without being checked again.
Straight to an answer
Popular lookups
Each page carries a full 2026 breakdown and hands the figures to the calculator, so you can change any assumption.
When the question is more specific
Every calculator
A paycheck estimate answers the common case. These answer the one you actually came with — a bonus, an offer, a contribution, a move.
Self-employment and offers
6Converting between rates
5When your household changes
3Pre-tax contributions
2Take it with you
2Saving and investing
1All calculators — the same list with a line on what each one answers.
State coverage
Every published jurisdiction and the standard its 2026 figures were read to.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington, DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Before you start
Frequently asked questions
Is PaycheckBase free to use?
Yes. The calculator, every scenario tool, and all state guides are free with no account or sign-up.
How accurate is the estimate?
It is a paycheck-level estimate built from official federal and state sources, not a substitute for a filed return. It does not model employer withholding elections, itemized deductions, most credits, or every state-specific rule. Each state's profile shows its source confidence and any exclusions.
Which states and tax year does it cover?
All 50 states plus Washington, DC, for tax year 2026. Selected local income taxes are modeled for the cities and counties offered in the locality dropdown; others are not yet covered.
Does this replace a CPA or tax software?
No. It is an educational estimate, not tax or legal advice. Consult a certified CPA before relying on it for filing or planning decisions.
Do I need to create an account or upload anything?
No. There is no account, login, or file upload. Every input you enter runs locally in your browser.
Where does my data go when I share a link?
Nowhere but the link itself. Every input you set — salary, state, filing status, and so on — is stored in that page's URL, not on a server, so sharing the link is the only way a scenario leaves your browser.
How often are the tax figures updated?
Federal and state figures are sourced directly from primary publications, each with the URL and date it was read. When a state has not yet published its 2026 figures, that is disclosed on its profile rather than estimated.
More detail on sources, coverage, and known limitations lives on the methodology page.