Take-Home Pay (Net Pay)
What actually lands in your bank account each pay period — gross salary minus federal, state, and local income tax, FICA, and any pre-tax deductions like a 401(k) or HSA.
Last updated: September 17, 2026Take-home pay — also called net pay — is what’s actually deposited into your account each pay period, after every mandatory and voluntary deduction comes out of your gross salary. It’s the number that matters for budgeting rent, a mortgage, or a savings goal; gross salary is only the starting point.
Take-home pay = Gross salary − federal tax − state tax − local tax (NYC residents) − FICA − pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA, health insurance, etc.)
Two deductions behave differently from the others in a way that trips people up:
- A Traditional 401(k) contribution lowers your income-tax bill (it’s excluded from taxable income) but is still subject to FICA — it doesn’t reduce Social Security or Medicare withholding.
- An HSA contribution is exempt from both income tax and FICA — the one deduction that reduces every payroll tax at once.
- A Roth 401(k) contribution reduces neither — it comes out of already-taxed pay, which is the whole point of a Roth.
Why the gap is bigger in NYC
Because NYC residents stack federal, NY State, and NYC local tax on top of FICA, take-home pay here typically runs lower than the same gross salary would net in a state with no city-level income tax — often landing around 65-75% of gross once all four layers are combined, depending on income and filing status.
See the exact gap at a specific salary on the Salary After Taxes pages, or start from a take-home target and work backwards to the gross salary you’d need on the Required Salary Calculator.