Social Security and Medicare Tax Calculator (2026)

How the Social Security & Medicare Tax Calculator Works

This Social Security and Medicare tax calculator shows how much FICA tax is withheld from your wages each year. Enter your annual W-2 wages, choose your filing status, and instantly see the 6.2% Social Security tax (up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500), the 1.45% Medicare tax and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax that applies to high earners. It also displays what your employer contributes on your behalf and a rough comparison of what a self-employed person would owe on the same profit.

What FICA tax pays for

FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The taxes collected under it fund two programs most Americans rely on eventually: Social Security, which pays retirement, disability and survivor benefits, and Medicare, which covers health care for people 65 and older and some younger people with disabilities. You see the amounts on every pay stub labeled OASDI or Social Security and Medicare. Unlike income tax, these taxes are flat: everyone pays the same percentage regardless of filing status, until a cap or threshold is reached.

For a deeper overview, read our article what is FICA tax, which explains where the money goes and why it appears even when you owe no income tax.

2026 FICA rates and limits

The Social Security tax rate is 6.2% for the employee and 6.2% for the employer, applied to wages up to an annual cap called the wage base. For 2026 that wage base is $184,500, so the most an employee can pay in Social Security tax is $11,439. Wages above the cap are not subject to the Social Security portion. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% for the employee and 1.45% for the employer with no wage cap at all.

Higher earners owe an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly. This extra tax is paid only by the employee; there is no employer match. Employers begin withholding it once wages pass $200,000 regardless of filing status, so married couples can end up over- or under-withheld and settle it on Form 8959 when they file.

Worked example: $85,000 salary

An employee earning $85,000 pays Social Security tax of $5,270 (6.2% of $85,000, because the income is below the wage base) and Medicare tax of $1,232.50 (1.45%). Total employee FICA is $6,502.50, which is 7.65% of wages. Their employer pays the same $6,502.50 on top, so the true cost of that job to the employer is higher than the salary alone.

Now consider a single filer earning $250,000. Social Security stops at the wage base, so it is $11,439.00. Medicare is $3,625.00, and the Additional Medicare Tax applies to the $50,000 above $200,000, adding $450.00. Total FICA is $15,514.00, an effective rate of 6.21%. High earners pay a lower FICA percentage than middle earners on their full income because the Social Security portion is capped.

How FICA interacts with your paycheck

FICA is calculated on gross wages before most pre-tax deductions. A traditional 401(k) deferral reduces your federal income tax but not your Social Security or Medicare, so contributing does not cut this bill. Health insurance premiums paid through a Section 125 cafeteria plan and some transit benefits do reduce FICA wages. This is why two employees with the same salary can have slightly different FICA amounts.

To see all your taxes together, use the paycheck calculator, which combines FICA with federal income tax and state tax to estimate your net pay. If you get paid overtime or bonuses, FICA applies to those wages too; the overtime calculator shows how extra hours look after tax.

Why the Social Security tax has a cap

Social Security is designed so that benefits are tied to earnings history, and the program only counts wages up to the wage base when calculating your future benefit. Because benefits are capped in the same way, contributions are capped too. That structure makes the Social Security portion regressive at very high incomes, which is a regular topic in policy debates, and it is why proposals to raise or remove the cap come up often. Whatever happens in Congress, the rules that apply to your paycheck are the ones in force for the tax year, so use the current wage base published by the Social Security Administration and the IRS.

Your own record matters too. The SSA credits you with work credits based on covered earnings, and you generally need 40 credits, about ten years of work, to qualify for retirement benefits. Creating a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov lets you check your earnings record for errors, which is well worth doing every few years.

The employer side: what a salary really costs

When a company advertises a salary, its true cost is higher because it also pays the employer half of FICA, federal and state unemployment taxes, workers compensation insurance and often benefits. For a worker earning $85,000, the employer's Social Security and Medicare match alone adds several thousand dollars per year. This is one reason many businesses use contractors, and one reason misclassifying an employee as a contractor is taken seriously by the IRS. If you are negotiating pay, remember that employers think in total compensation, and use tools like the hourly to salary calculator to translate between numbers.

How to check your pay stub for FICA errors

Pull out a recent pay stub and multiply your gross wages by 0.062 and by 0.0145. The results should match the Social Security and Medicare lines, allowing for pre-tax benefits that reduce FICA wages. Year-to-date Social Security should never exceed the annual maximum of $11,439 for 2026. If you switched jobs mid-year and both employers withheld Social Security, you can recover the excess by claiming a credit on your tax return. If the lines look wrong, ask your payroll department first, then contact the IRS if the problem is not resolved. Keeping year-end pay stubs also makes filing easier.

What if you are self-employed

Freelancers and independent contractors pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare, a combined 15.3% on net earnings from self-employment (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare), calculated on 92.35% of net profit. They then deduct half of the tax when computing income tax. The final row of the calculator gives a rough side-by-side comparison, but the precise figure comes from Schedule SE. For a full estimate, use our self-employment tax calculator.

Common mistakes about payroll taxes

• Thinking FICA stops when income tax stops. You can owe zero income tax and still pay 7.65% in payroll taxes on every paycheck.
• Forgetting the wage base changes. The cap rises most years with average wage growth, so last year's figure is out of date.
• Assuming a 401(k) reduces Social Security tax. It does not; only certain pre-tax benefits do.
• Ignoring the additional Medicare tax. High-earning couples in particular should check Form 8959.
• Expecting a refund of overpaid Social Security tax. If you had two employers and each withheld up to the cap, the excess is claimed as a credit when you file.

Key takeaways

• Employees pay 6.2% Social Security (up to $184,500 in 2026) and 1.45% Medicare on wages.
• An extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly).
• Employers match the standard rates; the extra 0.9% is employee-only.
• Traditional 401(k) contributions do not lower FICA.
• Self-employed workers owe both halves, about 15.3% of net profit.

Social Security and Medicare Tax results at a glance

These are the calculator's results at different values of annual W-2 wages, with every other input left at the example values above (the bold row is the example). Use them to see how quickly the result changes before entering your own numbers.

FICA at common salaries (2026)

The Additional Medicare column uses the $200,000 withholding threshold. Married couples filing jointly owe it only on combined wages above $250,000, which is settled on the tax return.

FICA for two earners in one household

Each worker pays Social Security up to the wage base on their own wages, so a married couple can pay up to twice the maximum. Additional Medicare Tax works differently: employers withhold it on each person's wages above $200,000, but the couple's actual liability is based on combined wages above $250,000. A couple earning $150,000 each has no Additional Medicare withheld but owes 0.9% on $50,000 when filing. One earning $260,000 alone with a non-working spouse has 0.9% withheld on $60,000 but owes it only on $10,000, and gets the difference back.