Take-home pay calculator
From gross to net pay in six countries: how much goes to the taxman, how much to social security and how much lands in your account.
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How do you get from gross to net pay?
The pattern is the same in every country: social contributions, which fund pensions, healthcare and unemployment benefits, are deducted from gross pay, together with a progressive income tax that the employer withholds every month. What changes is how big each part is and how it grows with salary.
The lower chart shows the split for any salary. Taxes are progressive: each income bracket pays a higher rate, so the tax band widens as pay rises. Many social contributions, on the other hand, have a cap: above a certain salary they stop growing and their relative weight falls.
Effective rate and marginal rate
The effective rate is the share of gross pay you pay in total. The marginal rate is what you would pay on each extra unit you earn. A very common mistake is to think that a pay rise can leave you worse off by “moving into a higher bracket”: it cannot, because the higher rate only applies to the part of your salary above the bracket threshold.
What each country includes
- Spain: IRPF withholding with the general scale and social security contributions (6.5%).
- Germany: Lohnsteuer in tax class I, solidarity surcharge, optional church tax and the four social insurances.
- France: average employee contributions (including CSG and CRDS) and income tax withheld at source for a single person.
- Italy: INPS, IRPEF with employment deductions and the tax wedge cut, plus an estimate of regional and municipal surcharges.
- United Kingdom: Income Tax and National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including the personal allowance taper above £100,000.
- United States: federal income tax with the standard deduction, Social Security and Medicare (FICA). State income tax is not included; it ranges from 0% to about 13% depending on the state.
This is an estimate for a single employee with no other income. Real figures depend on your region, contract, family situation and personal deductions. It is not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between gross and net salary?
Gross pay is the figure in your contract before tax; net pay is what reaches your bank account. In between come social security contributions and income tax withheld at source. On top of that, the employer pays its own contributions above the gross salary, so the total cost of an employee is considerably higher than their gross pay.
Can a pay rise lower my take-home pay?
No. Income tax is progressive in brackets: the higher rate only applies to the part of your salary above the bracket threshold, not to all of it. A raise always increases your net pay, even if a larger share of the increase goes to tax. The marginal rate shown by the calculator tells you how much of each extra unit of pay you keep.
Does the number of pay periods change what I earn?
Over the year you earn exactly the same: whether your salary is paid in 12 monthly instalments, 13 or 26 biweekly ones, it is just the same annual gross split differently. Each payslip is smaller with more pay periods, but the tax and the annual net do not change. To compare job offers, always look at the annual gross figure.
Why might my real take-home pay differ from the estimate?
Because actual withholding depends on your personal situation: children, disability, marital status, region or state, collective agreements, benefits in kind and other deductions. The calculator estimates the case of a single person with no children and no other income, which is useful to get an idea and compare countries.