Calculation Methodology & Data Sources
This page explains exactly how our calculators produce their numbers, so you can verify them or adjust for your own situation.
Pay period conversions
All conversions go through an annual amount. By default we assume a full-time schedule of 40 hours a week, 5 days a week and 52 paid weeks a year (2,080 hours). Where a calculator lets you change these, the formulas use your values.
- Annual = hourly × hours per week × paid weeks per year
- Weekly = annual ÷ paid weeks per year; daily = weekly ÷ days per week
- Biweekly = annual ÷ 26; semimonthly = annual ÷ 24; monthly = annual ÷ 12
Overtime
Overtime tables apply the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum of 1.5× the regular rate for hours above 40 in a workweek. Some states (for example California) also require daily overtime; those rules are not included unless a page says so. Salary threshold references use the federal level of $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and the highly compensated employee level of $107,432.
United States: federal income tax (2026)
- Standard deduction: $16,100 (single), $32,200 (married filing jointly).
- Taxable income = gross wages − standard deduction, then the 2026 progressive brackets are applied.
- Not included: itemized deductions, tax credits (such as the Child Tax Credit or EITC), above-the-line deductions (including the new deductions for qualified tips and overtime), pre-tax retirement or health contributions, and non-wage income.
FICA
- Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500.
- Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). We show the tax you owe for the year; employers start withholding it once your wages pass $200,000 regardless of filing status, so withholding can differ from the final amount.
- Married filing jointly estimates assume all wages are earned by one spouse.
State and local taxes
Unless a page is specific to a state, results exclude state and local income taxes. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming do not tax wage income.
Sources
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 tax rate tables and standard deduction)
- IRS IR-2025-103, 2026 inflation adjustments
- SSA 2026 Social Security wage base
- IRS Topic 560, Additional Medicare Tax
- U.S. DOL, Minimum Wage
- U.S. DOL, Overtime Pay
- U.S. DOL, Salary levels for the EAP exemption
- Tax Foundation, 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets
Updates
We review federal figures each year after the IRS publishes inflation adjustments (usually October or November) and update page titles to the new tax year.