Pay Raise Calculator 2026: Your Raise After Taxes

Why the after-tax number matters

Most raise calculators stop at the new gross salary. That’s the number in your offer letter, but it isn’t the number that shows up in your bank account. Every extra dollar of pay is taxed at your top rates, not your average rate, so the raise is taxed more heavily than the rest of your paycheck.

This calculator runs the full 2026 payroll calculation twice, once at your current pay and once at the new pay, and shows the difference: extra take-home per paycheck, per month and per year, plus how many cents of each extra dollar you keep.

How a raise is taxed

Four things take a cut of each extra dollar:

Federal income tax at your top bracket. In 2026 the brackets for a single filer are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%; the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,150 for heads of household.
Social Security: 6.2% on wages up to $184,500 in 2026. If the raise takes you past that, the dollars above it are free of Social Security.
Medicare: 1.45% on all wages, plus an extra 0.9% withheld on wages above $200,000.
Your state: its top rate on the extra income, plus payroll taxes such as disability insurance in states that have them. Nine states have no tax on wages.

Worked example

A single filer earning $60,000 in Texas, paid every two weeks, gets a 5% raise to $63,000:

Gross pay per check goes from $2,307.69 to $2,423.08 (+$115.39).
Take-home per check goes from $1,938.07 to $2,030.80: +$92.73.
Over the year that’s +$2,410.98 after tax, about $200.92 a month.
They keep about 80 cents of each extra dollar: 12% goes to federal tax and 7.65% to Social Security and Medicare.

The same raise in California adds $83.61 per check, because the state takes another 6.6% at that income and State Disability Insurance takes 1.3%: about 72 cents per extra dollar.

Salary or hourly

For salaried pay, enter your annual salary and the raise as a percentage or as dollars per year. For hourly pay, enter your rate and usual hours per week; the raise can be a percentage or dollars per hour. Hourly pay is turned into a yearly amount at 52 weeks, so a $1-an-hour raise at 40 hours a week is $2,080 a year before tax.

Bracket myths

A raise that moves you into a higher federal bracket only taxes the dollars above that bracket’s line at the higher rate. You never take home less because of a bracket. What can happen is that a raise reduces an income-tested benefit, such as a subsidy or a credit that phases out with income. Those aren’t part of payroll withholding, so they aren’t shown here.

What this calculator assumes

A standard 2026 W-4 with no dependents, other income or extra withholding, and no pre-tax deductions. If you contribute a percentage of pay to a 401(k), your contribution grows with the raise and your take-home gain is a little smaller than shown.
Withholding, not your final tax. The yearly figure is the extra take-home across all your 2026 checks; your actual tax is settled on your return.
Local income taxes, which some cities and counties charge, aren’t included.

For your full paycheck with deductions and local tax, use the paycheck calculator. If the raise comes as a lump sum instead, see the bonus tax calculator.

Common questions

How much of my raise will I actually take home?

It depends on your top tax rates, because every extra dollar is taxed at those, not at your average rate: federal income tax at your top bracket, 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, and your state's top rate. For a single filer earning $60,000 in Texas, a 5% raise ($3,000) adds about $2,411 a year after tax, or about 80 cents per dollar.

Can a raise put me in a higher tax bracket and lower my take-home pay?

Not through the federal brackets. Only the dollars above a bracket's starting point are taxed at the higher rate; the rest of your pay is taxed exactly as before. A raise can cost you an income-based benefit or credit, which this calculator doesn't model.

How do I calculate a percentage raise?

Multiply your current pay by the percentage and add it: $60,000 × 5% = $3,000, so the new salary is $63,000. For hourly pay, $25 × 1.05 = $26.25 an hour. To find the percentage of a raise you were offered, divide the increase by your old pay: $3,000 ÷ $60,000 = 5%.

What is a good raise in 2026?

There's no official benchmark. A useful test is whether the raise beats inflation over the year: if prices rose 3% and your pay rose 3%, your buying power stayed the same. Compare the after-tax gain this calculator shows with how much your monthly costs went up.

Why is my first paycheck after a raise smaller than expected?

Check whether the raise applies from the start of a pay period, whether your 401(k) contribution is a percentage (it grows with your pay), and whether you crossed a withholding bracket. The extra per check shown here assumes a full pay period at the new rate.

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