💰 W-2 Salary Budget Calculator

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How to use this calculator

A quick overview of each section — click to collapse

1
Enter Your Income
Type your annual gross salary, pick your filing status, and select the state you live in. Add any pre-tax 401(k) or HSA contributions — these lower your taxable income.
Left panel → Income
2
Set Your Allocations
Add spending categories (investments, rent, loans, etc.). Toggle between a fixed dollar amount or a % of take-home, and switch between monthly and annual input.
Left panel → Post-Tax Allocations
3
Read Your Results
The right panel shows your monthly take-home, a full federal and state tax bracket breakdown, FICA, and a donut chart of where every dollar goes.
Right panel
4
Explore Salaries
Use the Salary Explorer tab to drag a slider and watch all numbers update in real time — great for evaluating different offer amounts.
Salary Explorer tab
5
Compare Scenarios
Hit Save as Snapshot after configuring each scenario (different salaries, states, or deductions). Then open the Compare tab to see them side by side.
Compare tab
Income
$

* Pre-tax contributions reduce your taxable income before federal & state taxes are calculated.

Post-Tax Allocations
Snapshots

Save this configuration to compare it against other salary scenarios side by side.

Monthly Take-Home
$0
$0 / year after all deductions
Where Your Salary Goes
Federal Tax Brackets 0%
State Tax 0%
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)
Annual Salary
$85,000
Loading…
$20,000 $500,000

Uses the same filing status and state you selected on the Calculator tab. Pre-tax deductions and allocations are carried over.

Breakdown at Selected Salary
Effective Tax Rates
Monthly Budget Snapshot