Take-Home Pay Calculator

The Net Income Calculator (take-home pay calculator) converts a gross salary into the pay you actually keep, for Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada. Enter your salary and pay frequency, choose your country, and it applies that country's income tax brackets, payroll taxes, and retirement contributions, then shows your net pay per year, month, fortnight, and week.

How It Works

1. Enter your salary and select how it is paid: annual, monthly, fortnightly, or weekly. The calculator annualizes it first (monthly times 12, fortnightly times 26, weekly times 52) so every tax rule applies to a full year.
2. Choose your country. Each country opens its own inputs: filing status and 401(k) percentage for the US, superannuation treatment, HECS debt, and Medicare Levy Surcharge for Australia, pension percentage and student loan plan for the UK, and province for Canada.
3. The calculator works through that country's tax brackets and payroll deductions in order, building a line-by-line breakdown of gross pay, each deduction, and take-home pay.
4. It reports the net figure converted back into annual, monthly, fortnightly, and weekly amounts so you can budget in the rhythm you are actually paid.

Formula

The structure is the same in all four countries:

$\text{Net income} = \text{Gross income} - \text{Income tax} - \text{Payroll taxes} - \text{Retirement contributions} - \text{Other deductions}$

Income tax is progressive, calculated bracket by bracket:

$\text{Income tax} = \sum (\text{Income inside each bracket} \times \text{That bracket's rate})$

For the United States, the deduction order is: a 401(k) contribution (capped at USD 23,500) and the standard deduction come off first, federal brackets apply to the remainder, then Social Security at 6.2 percent on wages up to USD 168,600, and Medicare at 1.45 percent plus an extra 0.9 percent above USD 200,000. Australia applies its resident scale and low income tax offset, the 2 percent Medicare levy, and optional HECS repayment rates. The UK applies the personal allowance, income tax bands, National Insurance at 8 percent then 2 percent, pension contributions, and student loan repayments at 9 percent above the plan threshold. Canada combines federal and provincial brackets with CPP contributions and EI premiums.

Input Parameters

| Parameter | Unit | Realistic range | | --- | --- | --- | | Salary | currency per pay period | 500 to 30,000 per month | | Pay frequency | periods per year | annual, monthly, fortnightly, weekly | | 401(k) contribution (US) | percent of salary | 0 to 20, capped at USD 23,500 | | Pension contribution (UK) | percent of salary | 0 to 15 | | Filing status (US) | category | single, married, head of household | | Province (Canada) | province | ON, BC, AB, QC, MB, SK, NS, NB |

The salary must be greater than zero. Defaults are applied where the form allows: a blank US retirement percentage is treated as 6 percent and a blank UK pension percentage as 5 percent, so check those fields before trusting the result.

Worked Example

A single filer in the United States earns USD 85,000 a year and contributes 6 percent to a 401(k).

1. 401(k) contribution: 85,000 x 0.06 = USD 5,100, below the USD 23,500 cap.
2. Taxable income: 85,000 - 5,100 - 14,600 standard deduction = USD 65,300.
3. Federal tax by bracket: 11,600 x 10 percent = 1,160; then (47,150 - 11,600) x 12 percent = 4,266; then (65,300 - 47,150) x 22 percent = 3,993. Total federal tax: 1,160 + 4,266 + 3,993 = USD 9,419.
4. Social Security: 85,000 x 6.2 percent = USD 5,270. Medicare: 85,000 x 1.45 percent = USD 1,232.50.
5. Net income: 85,000 - 9,419 - 5,270 - 1,232.50 - 5,100 = USD 63,978.50 per year, which is USD 5,331.54 per month or about USD 1,230.36 per week.

Interpreting the Result

The breakdown matters more than the headline number. It shows whether a pay rise actually reaches your bank account or is mostly absorbed by a higher bracket, and it separates money that is gone (tax) from money that is still yours (retirement contributions). A larger 401(k) or pension percentage lowers today's take-home pay but is not lost income; it is deferred saving, and the calculator deliberately lists it as its own line so you can see that distinction.

Comparing the per-period figures against your real payslip is the best accuracy check. If the numbers diverge, the cause is usually a deduction this tool does not model for your situation, such as US state income tax, health insurance premiums, or union dues.

Choosing the Right Tool

• Use this Net Income Calculator when you want take-home pay for a salary in Australia, the US, the UK, or Canada, in the pay frequency you actually receive.
• Use the Income Tax Calculator when you only need the tax itself, bracket by bracket, without payroll deductions and pay-period conversions.
• Use the Debt-to-Income Calculator once you know your net pay and want to test whether your monthly debt payments are within a lender's comfort range.
• Use the Net Worth Calculator to step back from monthly pay and total everything you own against everything you owe.

Limitations

Each country's tax system is simplified. The US calculation excludes state and local income taxes, itemized deductions, tax credits, and pre-tax benefits such as health premiums and flexible spending accounts, any of which can move the result by thousands of dollars. The Australian module uses a resident scale with the low income tax offset and a simplified Medicare levy, and does not model offsets beyond LITO, private health details, or salary packaging. The UK module assumes the standard personal allowance, which in reality tapers away above GBP 100,000 of income. The Canadian module covers eight provinces and standard CPP and EI, but not Quebec's separate QPP and QPIP plans in full or provincial surtaxes and credits. Treat every result as a budgeting estimate, not a payroll calculation or tax advice.

Questions

Why is my real take-home pay lower than the estimate?

Because most payslips carry deductions this calculator does not model: state or local tax in the US, health insurance premiums, parking, union dues, and extra voluntary contributions. The estimate covers statutory tax and the retirement percentage you entered.

Does a pay rise ever reduce my take-home pay?

Under these progressive systems, no. A rise can push part of your income into a higher bracket, so you keep less of the extra money, but the brackets only apply to the income inside them. Your net pay still goes up; it just goes up by less than the gross rise.

Should I enter salary before or after employer pension or super contributions?

Enter your gross salary as stated in your contract. For Australia there is a specific option for packages quoted including superannuation, which the calculator strips out at the 11.5 percent rate before taxing. For the US and UK, enter gross pay and set your own contribution percentage separately.

Sources and Methodology

US brackets, standard deductions, the Social Security wage base, and the 401(k) elective deferral limit follow Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published figures for the 2024 tax year. UK bands and the personal allowance follow HM Revenue and Customs rates, Canadian federal brackets and CPP and EI parameters follow the Canada Revenue Agency, and Australian rates, the low income tax offset, and Medicare levy follow the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). All four models are computed exactly as described above, with progressive brackets applied in slices rather than as a flat rate on total income.