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Payroll Tax Calculator

U.S. only tools

A salary is only part of what an employee costs. The employer pays its own half of Social Security and Medicare, federal unemployment tax on the first $7,000 of wages, state unemployment tax on the state wage base, any retirement match, and employer-paid benefits.

Payroll Tax Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/payroll-tax-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

$

The rate on your state experience rating notice.

$

Per employee, per year.

The maximum 5.4% credit gives the 0.6% effective rate.

Employer contribution as a percent of wages.

$

Health, dental, life and disability premiums paid by the employer.

$

Software seats, training, equipment and anything else tied to the role.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

True cost of one employee

$73,902.00

On $60,000 of gross wages, employment costs 23.2% more than the salary.

Employer FICA
$4,590.00 Social Security 6.2% up to $184,500 of wages, plus Medicare 1.45% with no cap
FUTA and state unemployment
$312.00
Benefits and retirement match
$9,000.00
Total cost per $1 of wages
$1.23

The full employment cost

ItemPer employeeAll employees
Gross wages$60,000$60,000
Social Security (6.2%)$3,720.00$3,720.00
Medicare (1.45%)$870.00$870.00
FUTA (0.6% on the first $7,000)$42.00$42.00
State unemployment (2.7% on $10,000)$270.00$270.00
Retirement match$1,800.00$1,800.00
Employer-paid benefits$7,200.00$7,200.00
Other employment costs$0.00$0.00
Total employment cost$73,902.00$73,902.00

FUTA and state unemployment are charged per employee on their own wage bases, so the headcount changes the total even when the average wage does not.

Both halves of payroll tax on one employee

TaxEmployee paysEmployer paysCombined
Social Security$3,720.00$3,720.00$7,440.00
Medicare$870.00$870.00$1,740.00
Total FICA$4,590.00$4,590.00$9,180.00

Across both halves 15.3% of this wage goes to FICA. Social Security stops at $184,500 of wages, so above that cap the combined figure falls below 15.3%; the employer remits all of it. Additional Medicare tax has no employer match.

What that means for cash flow

MeasureAmount
Cost per employee, per year$73,902.00
Cost per employee, per month$6,158.50
Total payroll cost, per year$73,902.00
Total payroll cost, per month$6,158.50
Payroll taxes alone$4,902.00
Overhead above wages$13,902.00

Planning usually starts from the monthly figure: this is the amount that has to be available each month before payroll runs.

Each $1,000 of wages costs about $231.70 extra at these settings, and the employee side of FICA is withheld out of the same wages — $9,180.00 per employee in total goes to the federal government. Budget on the fully loaded figure, not the salary.

The rates behind those amounts

FICA on this wage, both halves
15.3% Social Security and Medicare, employee side plus employer side, on these wages
FUTA rate after your credit
0.6% What is left of the gross rate once the credit you entered is taken
Overhead above wages
23.2% Payroll taxes, retirement match and benefits together, as a share of gross wages

Which pay is not subject to Social Security

  • Wages above $184,500 per employee in a year: Social Security stops at that base, so the combined FICA rate falls as pay rises.
  • Employer-paid health, dental and vision premiums, and an employer contribution to an HSA, are not wages for FICA.
  • Employer retirement contributions are not wages either. The employee deferral is, because it comes out of pay that was already wages.
  • Reimbursed business expenses under an accountable plan are not wages; a flat car or phone allowance is.
  • Medicare is the exception: it has no wage base, so it keeps applying to every dollar of wages.

This calculator adds all of it up: the cost of one employee, the cost of the whole team, what the two halves of FICA come to, and the monthly figure to budget for.

About this payroll tax calculator

Employing someone costs more than the salary, and this page adds up the parts that are written down: Social Security and Medicare on both sides, the federal and state unemployment taxes, a retirement match, benefits and any other annual cost attached to the role.

The result is the fully loaded annual cost per employee and across the whole payroll - the number a budget needs before a hire is approved. Rates and wage bases inside it change every year and state unemployment rules change more often, which is why the assumptions are printed as inputs rather than buried in the code.

How this payroll tax calculator works

The employer half of FICA

FICA is charged twice on the same wages. Social Security takes 6.2% from the employee and 6.2% from the employer, up to the annual wage base of $184,500 in 2026; Medicare takes 1.45% from each side with no cap. The employer remits all of it, withholding one half from pay and paying the other half out of the business.

Above the wage base the employer share stops growing, because Social Security applies only to wages under the cap while Medicare continues; the note under the FICA table shows the combined percentage falling as pay rises past that line. Additional Medicare tax of 0.9% applies above $200,000 on a single return and $250,000 joint, the employee pays it alone, and the page has no filing status field, so the employee side is always calculated on the single threshold.

Federal and state unemployment tax

FUTA is charged on the first $7,000 of wages for each employee at a gross rate of 6%. An employer who pays state unemployment tax in full and on time claims a credit of up to 5.4%, which brings the effective rate to 0.6% - $42 per employee per year. The credit is an input, so a credit-reduction state can be modeled by lowering it.

State unemployment tax is set by each state from the experience rating it assigns to an employer: stable employers often sit under 1%, high-turnover employers can exceed 6%, and every state has its own taxable wage base. The page applies the rate to the smaller of the annual wage and the state base, per employee, and prints the rate it used in the row label.

What else sits on top of wages

Retirement matches are usually a percentage of pay, so the page multiplies the match rate by total wages - which means every raise raises the match too. Employer-paid health, dental, life and disability premiums are entered per employee per year, and they are often the largest single addition to a salary.

Software seats, equipment, training and other role-specific spending go in the other employment costs field, which is a total for the whole group and is divided across employees in the table. One-off costs are excluded: recruiter fees, signing bonuses and relocation do not repeat annually, though they matter when hiring is compared with contracting.

What the loaded cost is for

The total is the fully loaded cost of the role: wages plus the employer half of FICA, both unemployment taxes, the retirement match, benefits and other employment costs. Overhead above wages is stated as a percentage, and the note turns it into the extra cost of each $1,000 of salary so the number can be used in a hiring conversation without a calculator.

Read it as a budget line, not a payslip. Nothing here is net of income tax, and the employee side of FICA is withheld from the same wages rather than added on top, so take-home pay is a separate calculation. Budget on the loaded figure, because the salary alone understates the monthly commitment by the whole of the overhead. An estimate, not a return, and not tax advice.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

One employee on $60,000

Gross annual wages per employee: $60,000.00 · Number of employees: 1 people · State unemployment rate: 2.7% · State unemployment wage base: $10,000.00 · FUTA credit: 5.4% · Retirement match: 3% · Employer-paid benefits: $7,200.00 · Other employment costs: $0.00

True cost of one employee

$73,902.00

On $60,000 of gross wages, employment costs 23.2% more than the salary.

Employer FICA: $4,590.00 · FUTA and state unemployment: $312.00 · Benefits and retirement match: $9,000.00 · Total cost per $1 of wages: $1.23

Payroll tax alone adds about 7.7% to the wage; benefits and match push the loaded cost past 23%.

Five employees on $45,000

Gross annual wages per employee: $45,000.00 · Number of employees: 5 people · State unemployment rate: 3.4% · State unemployment wage base: $12,000.00 · FUTA credit: 5.4% · Retirement match: 4% · Employer-paid benefits: $6,000.00 · Other employment costs: $3,000.00

True cost of one employee

$57,292.50

On $45,000 of gross wages, employment costs 27.3% more than the salary — $286,463 in total.

Employer FICA: $17,212.50 · FUTA and state unemployment: $2,250.00 · Benefits and retirement match: $39,000.00 · Total cost per $1 of wages: $1.27

Per-employee unemployment taxes are charged on each wage base separately, so headcount scales the total.

High wage earner and the Social Security cap

Gross annual wages per employee: $250,000.00 · Number of employees: 1 people · State unemployment rate: 2.7% · State unemployment wage base: $10,000.00 · FUTA credit: 5.4% · Retirement match: 0% · Employer-paid benefits: $7,200.00 · Other employment costs: $0.00

True cost of one employee

$272,576.00

On $250,000 of gross wages, employment costs 9% more than the salary.

Employer FICA: $15,064.00 · FUTA and state unemployment: $312.00 · Benefits and retirement match: $7,200.00 · Total cost per $1 of wages: $1.09

Above $184,500 the 6.2% Social Security tax stops, so the effective payroll tax rate falls even as Medicare continues.

Ten employees on $60,000 with a high turnover rate

Gross annual wages per employee: $60,000.00 · Number of employees: 10 people · State unemployment rate: 6% · State unemployment wage base: $15,000.00 · FUTA credit: 5.4% · Retirement match: 3% · Employer-paid benefits: $7,200.00 · Other employment costs: $5,000.00

True cost of one employee

$75,032.00

On $60,000 of gross wages, employment costs 25.1% more than the salary — $750,320 in total.

Employer FICA: $45,900.00 · FUTA and state unemployment: $9,420.00 · Benefits and retirement match: $90,000.00 · Total cost per $1 of wages: $1.25

An experience-rated state rate and a wider wage base multiply across headcount, which is where unemployment tax turns from a rounding error into a real line.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an employee cost on top of their salary?

Payroll taxes add roughly 7.65% to 8% for most employees, plus whatever the employer pays for unemployment insurance, retirement match and benefits. In the US, a loaded cost 15% to 30% above salary is normal, and higher for generous benefit packages.

Who pays payroll taxes, the employer or the employee?

Both. Social Security and Medicare are split evenly, 6.2% and 1.45% each, for 15.3% in total. FUTA and state unemployment are employer-only. The employer withholds the employee half and remits the whole amount.

What is the FUTA tax rate for 2026?

The gross rate is 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages, with a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment tax paid on time, giving an effective rate of 0.6% — $42 per employee per year if the full credit applies.

What is the Social Security wage base?

The maximum wage on which Social Security tax is charged: $184,500 for 2026. Medicare has no wage cap, and wages above $200,000 also attract the 0.9% Additional Medicare tax.

Do contractors cost the same as employees?

No. A properly classified independent contractor receives no FICA match, no FUTA, no state unemployment tax and no benefits, so the loaded cost is close to the invoice amount. Misclassifying an employee to avoid those costs is a common and expensive violation.

Are employer FICA and unemployment taxes tax deductible?

Yes. The employer share of payroll taxes, benefit costs and the retirement match are ordinary business expenses and generally deductible against business income, subject to the usual rules and limits.

How often must payroll tax be deposited?

Deposit frequency depends on the employer’s reported tax liability: monthly for smaller liabilities and semiweekly for larger ones, with next-day deposits required for very large amounts. Form 941 reports the tax quarterly and Form 940 reports FUTA annually.

Assumptions and sources

  • Social Security at 6.2% for employer and employee on wages up to $184,500 for 2026, Medicare at 1.45% each with no cap, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare tax: IRS Publication 15 (2026) and the IRS withholding-rates tax topic.
  • FUTA at 6% on the first $7,000 of wages with a credit of up to 5.4%, giving the 0.6% effective rate: IRS Publication 15 (2026).
  • State unemployment rates and wage bases, retirement match, benefit costs and other employment costs are user inputs; no credits, exemptions or deposit schedules are modelled.

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. An estimate, not a return, and not tax advice. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

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