A first paycheck calculator estimates take-home pay: gross pay (wage times hours) minus Social Security, Medicare, federal income tax and state income tax.
What will my first paycheck be?
$
The pay rate on your offer or job posting, before any tax comes out.
Your usual hours in one week. Pay for hours over 40 can follow different rules, so this calculator pays every hour at your regular wage.
State income tax and minimum wage both depend on it.
Your employer picks this. Ask, or look at the dates on an offer letter.
More options
$
The tips you report for one pay period. Tips are taxable wages, so they count toward gross pay and are taxed like the rest.
The first choice on Form W-4, the form you fill out for your employer. Single also covers married filing separately.
That box is for people with more than one job at the same time, or a working spouse. Leave it unchecked if this is your only job.
Do any jobs skip Social Security and Medicare?
Applies only to a worker under 18 whose parent owns the business as a sole proprietorship or a parents-only partnership. Open the details before you turn it on.
Read the conditions first
The IRS excludes pay for a child under 18 from Social Security and Medicare tax in one specific case: a parent employs the child in their own unincorporated business.
This applies when
The worker is under 18.
The employer is the worker's parent.
The business is a sole proprietorship, or a partnership in which every partner is the worker's parent.
This does not apply when
The business is a corporation, even one the parents own entirely, or an LLC taxed as a corporation.
The business is a partnership with a partner who is not the worker's parent.
The employer is a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or any other relative.
The worker is 18 or older.
The work is housework in a parent's own home. That follows separate rules this calculator does not model.
Income tax withholding still applies. This toggle removes only Social Security and Medicare.
Applies only when the employer is the school, college or university you attend, and the job is part of being a student. Open the details before you turn it on.
Read the conditions first
Federal law excludes pay from Social Security and Medicare tax when a student works for the school, college or university where they are enrolled, and the job is part of being a student.
This applies when
The employer is the school, college or university itself.
The worker is enrolled there and regularly attends classes there.
The work is part of being a student. Being a student comes first, and the job comes second.
This does not apply when
The job is with a different employer, such as a restaurant, a store or a company that works with the school.
The normal schedule is 40 hours a week or more, which counts as full-time. The calculator keeps Social Security and Medicare on and shows a note.
The job matters more than the schooling, as with a full-time employee who takes a class.
Income tax withholding still applies. This toggle removes only Social Security and Medicare.
From $450.00 gross: $34.43 for Social Security and Medicare, $0.00 federal income tax, and $0.00 state income tax.
Pay stub
Every two weeks · Texas
Gross payGross pay is your wage times your hours, before anything comes out. It is the top line of every pay stub. Tips count too.$450.00
FICAFICA: Social Security + Medicare. You pay it on almost every paycheck, even with no income tax.−$34.43
Social SecuritySocial Security: 6.2% of gross pay, up to a yearly cap. It helps pay retirement, disability and survivor benefits. Your employer pays a matching amount on top.−$27.90
MedicareMedicare: 1.45% of gross pay, with no yearly cap. It helps pay for health coverage for people 65 and older and some people with disabilities. Your employer pays a matching amount on top.−$6.53
Federal income tax withheldFederal income tax withheld: your employer sends this to the IRS as a prepayment on your yearly tax. It comes from your W-4 and the IRS tables, and it is often nothing on a small paycheck.$0.00
State income taxState income tax: your state's tax on wages. Some states charge none, and the state you picked is one of them.$0.00
Net pay (take-home)Net pay, also called take-home pay, is gross pay minus every line above. This calculator leaves out other deductions, such as health insurance, a union fee or a uniform.$415.57
No state tax on wagesTexas has no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for the state.
Gross pay$450.00
Taxes$34.43
You keep92.3%
Where could take-home pay go?
50/30/20 is one common way to split take-home pay. Drag a slider to try your own.
The 50/30/20 rule is one common way to think about take-home pay: 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. The sliders show what other splits would look like. It is a framework to explore, not advice.
Splitting $415.57 every two weeks
Needs: $207.79 (50%)
Costs you have to cover, such as bus fare to work, a phone plan or your share of household bills.
Wants: $124.67 (30%)
Things you would like but could skip, such as streaming, eating out or extra clothes.
Savings: $83.11 (20%)
Money set aside for later, such as an emergency fund, a goal you are saving toward or extra debt payments.
Total: 100% The three parts always add up to the full take-home amount.
When you move one slider, the other two adjust so the total stays at 100%.
A paycheck is calculated by taking gross pay and subtracting four taxes, and what is left is take-home pay. For the example job, $15 times 15 hours times 52 weeks, divided by 26 paychecks a year, is $450.00.
Gross pay is the hourly wage times hours per week times 52 weeks, divided by the paychecks in a year, plus any tips. We assume a 52-week year.
Social Security is 6.2% of gross pay and Medicare is 1.45%, per IRS Topic No. 751. Together that is 7.65%.
Federal income tax withholding follows the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method: multiply this paycheck by the paychecks in a year, subtract $8,600 for a single filer, look up the result in the IRS table, divide back by the paychecks in a year, and round to the nearest dollar.
State income tax is the part we estimate. It is nothing in states with no wage tax, the state's flat rate after its allowance in flat-rate states, and an estimated rate you can change everywhere else.
Take-home pay is gross pay minus Social Security, Medicare, federal income tax and state income tax.
The year line then compares the federal tax withheld over a full year with an estimate of the tax actually owed, so you can see why a refund is possible.
The same example job in three states: $15 an hour for 15 hours a week, paid every two weeks, single filer, standard W-4. Illinois uses a flat 4.95% after a $2,925 yearly allowance, and Georgia's withholding method skips $15,000 a year, so this part-time paycheck pays no Georgia income tax. State amounts are estimates.
State
Gross pay
Social Security + Medicare
Federal income tax
State income tax (estimate)
Take-home pay
Texas (no state wage tax)
$450.00
$34.43
$0.00
$0.00
$415.57
Illinois (flat rate)
$450.00
$34.43
$0.00
$16.71
$398.86
Georgia (flat rate)
$450.00
$34.43
$0.00
$0.00
$415.57
Withholding, FICA and Your State
Withholding isn't your final tax. Many teens get it back.
Withholding isn't your final tax. It is a prepayment, not the bill, and many teens get some or all of it back. Your employer treats each paycheck as if you earn that amount all year, takes federal income tax out on that basis and sends it to the IRS. The real bill is worked out later from what you actually earned, and the year line in the Rapunzl calculator makes that comparison for a dependent with only this job. Take $15 an hour for 30 hours a week in Texas. Each paycheck has $28.00 withheld. Worked all year, that adds up to $728.00 against an estimated $730.00 of tax, which is about even. Work the same schedule for 10 summer weeks instead and $140.00 is withheld, but $4,500.00 of earnings falls under the $4,950.00 standard deduction (for a dependent, the larger of $1,350 or earned income plus $450, up to the regular $16,100). The estimated tax is $0.00, so the estimated refund is $140.00. Getting it back takes a filed tax return, and Social Security and Medicare are a separate tax that this comparison doesn't touch. Whether a particular teen must file depends on income and other facts, so a parent, a tax preparer or the IRS is the place to check.
What are FICA, Social Security and Medicare on a pay stub?
On a pay stub, FICA is the pair of payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the law behind both: Social Security at 6.2% of pay, up to a yearly cap of $184,500, and Medicare at 1.45% with no cap. Your employer pays a matching amount on top, so you never see that half. On a $450.00 paycheck, Rapunzl's calculator shows $27.90 for Social Security and $6.53 for Medicare, even though no income tax comes out. FICA is its own tax, so it works differently from income tax: it starts with your first dollar of pay, while income tax depends on your whole year. Two narrow exceptions cover some family and school jobs, and the toggles above explain each one.
Why does my state change my paycheck?
Your state changes your paycheck because states tax wages in three different ways, and Rapunzl's calculator handles each one differently. 9 states, including Texas, tax no wages. 15 states use one flat rate, which we apply after the amount the state's withholding method leaves out. On the same $450.00 job, Illinois withholds $16.71 and Georgia withholds $0.00, because Georgia's method skips $15,000 a year. Every other state taxes in brackets, so we start from its lowest bracket rate as an estimated rate you can change. These are estimates, not any state's withholding table, and city or county taxes and state payroll programs aren't included. Minimum wage varies too. The calculator uses the higher of the federal $7.25 and the state rate, which is $16.90 in California.
Using the Paycheck Calculator in Class
Give each student a different wage, hours and state, then compare pay stubs. The worked table shows the same job in 3 states, which makes a good first question: why did the take-home pay change? Students can also turn on the school exception and read why it stops at 40 hours a week. For a full lesson, pair the calculator with our Taxes & Income module. Our blog post on whether teenagers pay taxes walks through a real first paycheck, and the Budgeting & Spending module picks up where take-home pay ends.
Multiply your hourly wage by your hours to get gross pay, then subtract Social Security, Medicare, federal income tax and state income tax to get net pay. For example, $15 an hour for 15 hours a week, paid every two weeks in Texas, is $450.00 gross. Social Security takes $27.90 and Medicare takes $6.53. Federal income tax withholding is $0.00 and Texas has no state income tax, so net pay is $415.57. The calculator assumes a 52-week year, and your employer's payroll system has the final say.
Each line of the estimate has a matching line on a real stub. Gross pay sits at the top, then the deductions: Social Security and Medicare (often grouped as FICA or OASDI and Med), federal income tax and state income tax, and net pay is what is left at the bottom. On the example, gross pay is $450.00, Social Security is $27.90, Medicare is $6.53, federal income tax is $0.00, state income tax is $0.00 and net pay is $415.57. A real stub can also show lines this estimate leaves out, such as retirement or insurance deductions and year-to-date totals. Social Security and Medicare rates come from IRS Topic No. 751.
It depends on the state and the W-4, but on a $300.00 paycheck in Texas, a single filer with a standard W-4 loses $22.95 to Social Security and Medicare, $0.00 to federal income tax and $0.00 to state income tax, so take-home pay is $277.05. The same paycheck in Illinois also has an estimated $9.28 of state income tax, which brings take-home pay to $267.77. These use 2026 IRS rates and Publication 15-T tables, last checked October 12, 2026.
Multiply the hourly wage by the hours you work in a week, then by 52 weeks for a year, then divide by the number of paychecks in a year: 52 for weekly pay, 26 for every two weeks, 24 for twice a month and 12 for monthly. For example, $20 an hour for 40 hours a week, paid every two weeks, is $1,600.00 gross, or $41,600 a year. To go the other way, divide a yearly figure by 52 weeks and your weekly hours: $30,000 a year is about $14.42 an hour at 40 hours a week, and a $1,400 paycheck every two weeks is $36,400 a year.
There is no single right split, but a common starting point is the 50/30/20 framework, which splits take-home pay into 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and debt payments. It comes from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi's book All Your Worth. On the example paycheck, $415.57 of take-home pay splits into $207.79 for needs, $124.67 for wants and $83.11 for savings. A teen living at home may have few needs to cover, so the calculator's sliders let you try other splits. It is a framework to explore, not a rule of law.
Sometimes. Withholding is a prepayment on your yearly income tax, so when more was withheld than the tax you owe, the difference comes back as a refund after a tax return is filed. Teens often see this because withholding assumes you work the whole year, and a part-year job earns less than that. In the calculator's estimate for a dependent with only this job, $15 an hour for 30 hours a week over 10 summer weeks has $140.00 withheld and $0.00 of tax owed, an estimated refund of $140.00. Social Security and Medicare are a separate tax and are not part of that refund. Whether a specific teen needs to file is a question for the IRS or a tax preparer.
Teaching paychecks and taxes this year?
Set up a free demo account to see the Rapunzl lessons and simulator behind this calculator.
Your child gets $10,000 in practice money to invest at real market prices, plus lessons on budgeting, credit and paying for college. They can work through all of it at home.
The estimated state rates for states with tax brackets come from the Tax Foundation's 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets, a secondary source, and they are a starting point only. The list of states with no wage tax comes from the same table. Flat rates and withholding allowances come from each state's revenue department.
This calculator is for learning. It is not tax, legal or financial advice, and your employer's payroll decides what is withheld.
