Tax year 2026 · an estimate
Take-home pay
Federal income tax, employee payroll tax, and state income tax on a wage. The result is a comparison figure, not a filing and not advice.
$48,420 · Single · California
- Federal standard deduction
- $16,100
- Federal taxable income
- $32,320
- Federal income tax
- $3,630
- Social Security
- $3,002
- Medicare
- $702
- Additional Medicare Tax
- $0
- State income tax
- $955
- Estimated take-home
- $40,131
About 17.1% of the wage is used by these taxes. This is an estimate, not a tax return.
California's bracket widths in this estimate are the 2025 inflation-adjusted widths. The January 2026 compilation did not yet have 2026 widths. The rates include the 1% mental health services tax above $1 million. The exemption credit can phase out at high incomes; this estimate does not phase it out.
What the estimate assumes
- The tax year is 2026.
- The amount is wage income and it is the only income.
- The filer takes the federal standard deduction and does not itemize.
- Federal tax uses the filing status you select. The return has no dependents.
- Head of household and married filing separately use the real federal schedules for those statuses. State tax for those two statuses uses the state's single-filer schedule.
- No pre-tax retirement, health insurance, or other paycheck deductions are taken out.
- Employee Social Security, Medicare, and Additional Medicare Tax are included.
- State income tax follows the published brackets, standard deduction, and personal exemption for a filer with no dependents.
- Local income taxes are not included.
- State disability and paid-family-leave payroll taxes are not included.
- The result is an estimate for comparison, not a tax return and not tax advice.
Federal brackets: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and IR-2025-102. Payroll tax: IRS Topic No. 751 and the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500. State schedules: the Tax Foundation compilation of state statutes and forms published February 17, 2026, with Minnesota checked against the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Read the full method.
National median, single filer, California · $80,000, single filer, Texas
Questions this page answers
What does the take-home estimate include?
It estimates 2026 federal income tax from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, employee Social Security and Medicare, Additional Medicare Tax, and state income tax from published 2026 brackets. It uses the standard deduction and assumes no dependents. It is not a tax return.
Does the calculator include local income tax?
No. City and county income taxes are not included. State disability and paid-family-leave payroll taxes are not included either.