Pay raise calculator
A raise lands on top of income already taxed at lower brackets, so it is taxed at your marginal rate, not your average one. See the actual take-home increase, per paycheck and per year.
Worked examples
Computed by the same engine as the calculator above, on 2026 rules reviewed through 2026-08-09. Use the tool for your own figures.
A $5,000 raise on $75,000
A raise is quoted in gross pay and received in net pay, and the two differ by whatever the next dollar is taxed at.
| Gross increase | $5,000 |
| Take-home increase | $3,518 |
| Kept after tax | 70% |
| Per biweekly cheque | $135 |
Single filer in Texas, which levies no wage income tax, so this isolates the federal and FICA effect.
A raise that crosses into a higher bracket
The most persistent myth about tax is that a raise can leave you worse off by pushing you into a higher bracket. It cannot, and the figures show why: only the income ABOVE the threshold meets the higher rate, so most of the raise is still taxed at the old one. The share kept barely moves at all.
| Take-home on $118,000 | $91,843 |
| Take-home on $124,000 | $96,020 |
| Still gained | $4,177 |
| Kept after tax | 70% |
Single filer in Texas, which levies no wage income tax, so this isolates the federal and FICA effect. The gain is real at every income. What does exist, and is a different thing entirely, is a benefit cliff — a credit or subsidy that withdraws at a threshold, which is not a tax bracket.
Common questions
Can a raise leave me with less money?
Not through tax brackets. Brackets are marginal: crossing one changes the rate on the dollars above the threshold, never on the dollars below it, as the second example above shows with real figures. A raise can reduce a means-tested benefit or credit that withdraws at a fixed income, but that is a cliff in a benefit programme rather than anything the tax schedule does.
Why is my raise worth so much less than the number I was quoted?
Because the quoted figure is gross. The raise is taxed at your MARGINAL rate — the rate on your last dollar — which is higher than the effective rate you pay across the whole salary. Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% come out on top of income tax, and a state income tax where one applies.
Does a raise stop being taxed for Social Security at some point?
Yes. Social Security stops applying above $184,500 of wages in 2026, so a raise entirely above that ceiling keeps 6.2% more of itself than the same raise lower down. Medicare has no ceiling and continues on the whole amount.
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