New Jersey paycheck calculator

The official method, step by step

• Pay is annualized, then reduced by the Form W-4 amount for your filing status ($8,600, or $12,900 if married filing jointly) unless the Step 2 box is checked.
• Federal income tax comes from the IRS 2026 Annual Percentage Method table for that status, divided back to one paycheck.
• Social security is 6.2% of wages until the year's wages reach $184,500.
• Medicare is 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000 in the year.
• A pre-tax 401(k) lowers federal income tax wages, not social security or Medicare wages.
• New Jersey income tax follows the Division of Taxation's percentage method tables: the NJ-W4 allowances come off first ($19.20 a week each, $1,000 a year), then the rate table applies. Filing status 1 or 3 uses Rate A, status 2, 4 or 5 uses Rate B, and an employee can choose Rate C, D or E on line 3 of the NJ-W4.
• Worker contributions for 2026: unemployment and workforce funds (UI/WF/SWF) 0.425% of wages up to $44,800, disability insurance 0.19% and family leave insurance 0.23% of wages up to $171,100. The yearly figures here don't stop at those limits, so for pay above them they overstate the year's contributions.

What this leaves out

• Private disability or family leave plans, which replace the state DI or FLI line
• NJ-W4 line 5 additional withholding (the pay stub generator handles it)
• Local taxes, such as Newark's payroll tax, which employers pay
• W-4 Step 3 credits and Step 4 entries (the pay stub generator handles them)

Sources: New Jersey Division of Taxation, Tables for Percentage Method of Withholding (wages paid on and after October 1, 2020), Rates A to E; New Jersey Division of Taxation, NJ-WT Income Tax Withholding Instructions (September 2025): which rate table applies, and withholding allowance values; New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, rate information: 2026 taxable wage bases ($44,800 UI and WF/SWF; $171,100 DI and FLI, workers); New Jersey Division of Taxation, M-6025 2026 W-2 reporting guidelines: 2026 maximum worker contributions (UI/WF/SWF $190.40, DI $325.09, FLI $393.53), which are 0.425%, 0.19% and 0.23% of those wage bases; IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods: Worksheet 1A and the Annual Percentage Method Tables; IRS Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E) Employer's Tax Guide: social security and Medicare tax, Additional Medicare Tax.