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, so 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.