US Salary Calculator - Salary After Tax (2024)

Tax Year: 2024 – 2025

If you live in California and earn a gross annual salary of $69,368, or $5,781 per month, your monthly take-home pay will be $4,537. This results in an effective tax rate of 22%, as estimated by our US salary calculator.

The following chart outlines your earnings relative to the national average salary and minimum wage in the US. These are annual, before-tax figures, calculated assuming full-time employment.

One benchmark for determining a "good" salary is your area's median salary. In the United States, the median annual salary is $48,069 before taxes, so if you make more than that, you're already among the top half of earners nation-wide. However, you need to factor in the median earnings and cost of living in your state.

The average annual salary in the United States is $69,368, which is around $4,537 a month after taxes and contributions, depending on where you live. However, extremely high earners tend to bias averages. Likewise, average salaries vary state-by-state, such as California's salaries averaging $83,876 a year compared to Florida's at $63,336.

Why was the median salary $48,069 while the average is $69,368? Sky-high incomes lifted the average salary up by over $21,000! That is why median figures tend to represent more closely what most people make.

The federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25, which is $15,080 annually, assuming full-time employment and a 40-hour work week. However, each state sets its own minimum hourly wage so long as it exceeds the federal standard, such as California, which enforces a $16.00 minimum wage.

Most employers deduct approximate payroll and income taxes from employee paychecks. Payroll taxes include contributions to Social Security and Medicare, while income tax is withheld according to the W-4 form supplied by the employee. For the 2023 tax year, you must file a return if you're single and earning more than $14,600, or married and jointly filing more than $29,200.

In other words, the Internal Revenue System (IRS), which is the tax authority in the United States, has a pretty good idea about what you owe in taxes. But, come tax day, you still have to file a return, factoring in personal circ*mstances and claiming deductions. Then, the IRS decides if they've withheld too much of your income in tax, earning a refund, or too little, requiring additional payments.

In our US salary calculator, we account for the following major tax expenses:

• Federal Income Tax is collected by the federal government and must be paid no matter where you live in the United States. As a progressive tax, individuals with higher incomes can expect to pay higher tax rates. Tax rates are organized in seven brackets ranging from 10% to 37%.
• State Tax is collected by state governments and is paid in addition to federal tax. There's no universal method for state tax — each state chooses its own rates. As such, state tax can be calculated according to a progressive rate, flat rate, or simply not collected at all.
• Social Security Tax is paid through payroll taxes to support retirement benefits, benefits for widows and widowers, and disability benefits.
• Medicare Tax is paid through payroll taxes to provide health insurance to people who are 64 years or older, anyone with disabilities, or anyone with terminal diseases.