Paycheck education

Paycheck & Salary Guides

Clear explanations of take-home pay, payroll taxes, salary conversion, pay frequency and state paycheck deductions.

Learn the math behind your paycheck

Guides built around real paycheck questions

Use these guides to understand the concepts, then use the calculators to estimate your own numbers.

Learn how to calculate take-home pay from gross salary, federal withholding, FICA taxes, state taxes and pre-tax deductions.

Understand gross pay vs net pay, what comes out of a paycheck and how to estimate the amount you actually take home.

Compare biweekly vs semi-monthly pay, paycheck frequency, pay periods per year and how each schedule affects the size of each paycheck.

See how many paychecks you get per year with weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly payroll schedules.

Learn what FICA tax is, how Social Security and Medicare withholding work and why payroll tax appears on your paycheck.

See what affects a $75,000 salary after taxes, including federal withholding, FICA, state taxes, pay frequency and deductions.

Learn how to calculate overtime pay, time-and-a-half, weekly overtime earnings and the difference between regular and overtime rates.

Convert hourly pay to annual salary with the hourly-to-salary formula, weekly hours, workweeks and common wage examples.

Learn what taxes come out of a Texas paycheck, including federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and common payroll deductions.

Understand common California paycheck deductions, including federal withholding, California income tax, SDI, Social Security and Medicare.

Compare New York State and New York City paycheck taxes and learn why NYC residents can have additional city withholding.