2026 FICA Tax Calculator

FICA is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. For most covered wages, it consists of Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from an employee, plus matching employer amounts.

For wages paid from January 1 through December 31, 2026, the employee Social Security rate is 6.2% on covered wages up to $184,500. The employee Medicare rate is 1.45% with no wage-base limit. Employers generally match those amounts. Employers also withhold an additional 0.9% Medicare tax after paying an employee more than $200,000 during the calendar year; that additional amount has no employer match.

The employee portion reduces take-home pay. The employer portion is paid separately by the employer, so it helps explain the total payroll cost of a job but should not be deducted again from the employee's check.

Self-employment tax follows related but different rules and adjustments. This payroll calculator is designed for employee and employer wage-tax estimates, not a self-employed tax return.

A pay statement may show separate current and year-to-date amounts for Social Security wages and Medicare wages. Enter the current-period covered wages in the first field, then enter only the earlier 2026 year-to-date wages in the two prior-wage fields so the current paycheck is not counted twice.

This calculator accepts one current-paycheck wage amount and assumes it is subject to both Social Security and Medicare. If the pay statement shows different current Social Security and Medicare wage amounts, use the employer's payroll calculation instead rather than forcing either amount into the shared field.

On Form W-2, Box 3 reports Social Security wages and Box 5 reports Medicare wages and tips for the full calendar year. Box 4 is employee Social Security tax withheld, capped at $11,439 for 2026. Box 6 is employee Medicare tax withheld, including any Additional Medicare Tax; neither box includes employer tax. Those tax boxes are not wage inputs for this calculator. Box 7 separately reports Social Security tips and may also matter when checking the annual Social Security wage-base total. For a current paycheck, use the employer's current payroll records or pay statement.

Assume prior 2026 Social Security and Medicare wages are both $183,500 and the current FICA-taxable paycheck is $17,000. Only $1,000 remains below the $184,500 Social Security wage base, so employee Social Security tax is $62.00. Regular Medicare tax is $246.50 on the full paycheck.

Ending Medicare wages are $200,500, so $500 of the paycheck is above the employer's $200,000 Additional Medicare withholding threshold. Additional Medicare withholding is $4.50. Estimated employee FICA is therefore $313.00; estimated employer FICA is $308.50 because the employer does not match Additional Medicare Tax.