Understand exactly where your paycheck goes: federal tax, state tax, FICA, deductions, and what lands in your bank account.
Your take-home pay (net pay) is what remains after all taxes and deductions are subtracted from your gross pay. The formula is straightforward, but the components can be complex:
Take-Home Pay = Gross Pay − Federal Tax − State Tax − FICA − Pre-Tax Deductions − Post-Tax Deductions
Each of these components is calculated differently, and understanding how they work gives you the power to optimize your paycheck through strategic use of deductions, retirement contributions, and withholding adjustments.
Gross pay is your total compensation before any deductions. For salaried employees, divide your annual salary by the number of pay periods (24 for semi-monthly, 26 for biweekly). For hourly workers, multiply your hourly rate by hours worked, including any overtime at 1.5x the regular rate.
Example: A $75,000 salary paid biweekly = $75,000 / 26 = $2,884.62 per paycheck (gross).
Pre-tax deductions reduce your taxable income, saving you money on both income tax and (in some cases) FICA. Common pre-tax deductions include:
These deductions lower the income subject to tax in the next steps, which is why maximizing pre-tax contributions is one of the most effective tax-saving strategies available to employees.
Federal income tax withholding is determined by your W-4 form selections and the IRS withholding tables. Your employer uses the information you provided on your W-4 (filing status, number of dependents, additional withholding) to estimate how much federal tax to withhold from each paycheck.
If too much is withheld, you get a refund at tax time. If too little is withheld, you owe the difference. Use the federal bracket guide to understand how your annual income maps to tax owed, then compare that to your year-to-date withholding.
State income tax varies dramatically. Nine states have no income tax at all, while others like California charge up to 13.3%. Your state tax is calculated using your state's brackets applied to your state taxable income (which may differ slightly from federal taxable income).
Use our 50-state tax calculators to see exactly how much state tax applies to your income. States like Oregon (up to 9.9%) and California (up to 13.3%) take a significant bite, while Texas and Florida take nothing.
FICA taxes fund Social Security and Medicare and are calculated on gross wages (before income tax deductions but after some pre-tax deductions). The rates for 2026:
FICA totals 7.65% for most workers. Your employer pays an additional matching 7.65%, so the total FICA burden is 15.3% of your wages (which is why self-employed individuals, who pay both halves, face a significant tax challenge).
Here is how a $75,000 annual salary breaks down for a single filer in Oregon taking the standard deduction, paid biweekly (26 pay periods):
| Item | Annual | Per Paycheck |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Pay | $75,000 | $2,885 |
| Federal Income Tax | ~$8,114 | ~$312 |
| Oregon State Tax | ~$3,682 | ~$142 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | $4,650 | $179 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | $1,088 | $42 |
| Oregon Transit Tax (0.1%) | $75 | $3 |
| Take-Home Pay | $57,391 | $2,207 |
This example excludes pre-tax deductions. Contributing $500/month to a 401(k) would reduce the tax burden and change the take-home calculation. Try the Oregon calculator to run your own numbers.