H1B Take-Home Salary Calculator 2026

How your H1B take-home pay is calculated

The most important thing to understand about H1B taxes is also the most reassuring: you are taxed exactly like a US citizen.H1B holders are "resident aliens" for tax purposes from day one (you meet the substantial presence test), so you file the ordinary Form 1040, claim the same standard deduction, and pay the same federal rates. There is no special visa tax and no penalty rate — a myth this tool is built to put to rest.

Four deductions stand between your gross salary and what lands in your bank account:

1. Federal income tax.Charged on your salary minus the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married filing jointly) and any pre-tax 401(k). The rates are progressive — 10% to 37% — so only the income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate. Your effective rate is always lower than your top bracket.

2. State (and sometimes city) income tax.This is where location matters enormously. Texas, Washington, Florida and Nevada charge nothing on wages, while California's top brackets plus its 1.3% uncapped SDI, or New York plus NYC's resident tax, take a real bite. The same $120,000 can differ by $8,000 or more a year in take-home purely on state choice — which is why the compare button above matters.

3. Social Security — 6.2%. Charged on wages up to the 2026 cap of $184,500. Above that, Social Security stops, which is why very high earners see their effective payroll-tax rate fall. Unlike students on OPT, H1B workers always pay this.

4. Medicare — 1.45% (plus 0.9%). Charged on all wages with no cap, and an extra 0.9% kicks in above $200,000 (single). Together, Social Security and Medicare make up FICA — 7.65% of most paychecks, matched by your employer.

The 401(k) lever — and what it does not touch

A traditional 401(k) is the most powerful tax tool available to an H1B worker. Every dollar you contribute (up to $24,500 in 2026) comes out before federal and state income tax, so a 6% contribution on $120,000 shields $7,200 from income tax. The catch: it does notreduce FICA — Social Security and Medicare are always charged on your full gross. And the money goes to your retirement account, not your checking account, so your take-home falls by less than the full contribution. Many H1B workers who plan to stay long-term max this out; those planning to return to India weigh it against early-withdrawal rules. Toggle it under "Add detail" to see your number both ways.

Your salary in rupees — and what you can send home

Most H1B calculators stop at the dollar figure. This one shows your take-home in rupeestoo, because for a large share of H1B workers the real question is "how much can I save and send to India?" The INR line uses an editable exchange rate, so you can model today's rate or a conservative one. Pair it with the remittance and India-vs-US tools linked below to turn a take-home number into an actual plan. One honest caveat: a straight currency conversion understates your real buying power — US costs are higher, so the dollars you keep stretch further once converted for spending in India than the raw number implies.