Raise Calculator: What the Increase Is Worth After Inflation
The gross increase, the amount after tax, and the part that survives inflation. Sometimes the third number is negative.
Marcus Ellery
Senior editor, tax and payroll
Marcus edits the tax and paycheck desks, and owns the federal figures every calculator on the site reads from.
Background
Marcus edits everything on this site that turns on a federal or state tax figure: brackets, standard deductions, withholding thresholds, FICA caps and the state rate tables behind the paycheck tools.
His working rule is that a number appears on a page only if it also exists in the data layer with a source and an effective date attached, so an article and the calculator beside it can never disagree.
Latest work
Paycheck & Salary 
Taxes What Changed in the 2026 Tax Year, Figure by Figure
The brackets moved. The standard deduction moved. So did the wage base, the IRA limit, and the AMT exemption. Here is all of it in one place.
Paycheck & Salary Job Offer Comparison Calculator: The Salary Is Not the Offer
Salary, bonus, match, insurance and commute, added into one annual figure. Sometimes the higher salary is the worse offer.
Paycheck & Salary The Additional Medicare Tax on High Earners
Regular Medicare has no ceiling. Above a threshold, it has a floor that gets higher instead.
Taxes The Alternative Minimum Tax, and Who Still Pays It
You calculate your taxes twice. If the second number is bigger, that is what you owe.
Taxes Bonus Tax Calculator: What You Actually Keep
The 22% is withholding, not what you owe. The difference between those two things is worth hundreds of dollars and it settles in April.
Paycheck & Salary Overtime Pay Calculator
Time and a half above 40 hours, and where states go further.
Paycheck & Salary Hourly to Salary Calculator
What an hourly rate is worth over a year, and how it compares to the minimum.
Taxes Sales Tax Calculator by State
State rate plus the local one, which is where most of the variation lives.
Taxes Income Tax Calculator: Federal and State
What the brackets actually cost you, band by band.
Paycheck & Salary Paycheck Calculator: What You Actually Take Home
Gross pay is the number in the offer letter. This is the number in the bank.
Paycheck & Salary The Social Security Wage Base for 2026, and the Cap
Social Security tax stops at a ceiling. Medicare does not, and above two thresholds it goes up.
Taxes Capital Gains Tax Rates for 2026, and the Cutoffs
Sell after a year and the gain has its own rate schedule, with a genuine 0% band underneath it.
Taxes The Standard Deduction for 2026, and When to Itemise
$16,100 for single filers, and most people should just take it.
Taxes Sales Tax by State in 2026, Including Local Rates
Five states charge no sales tax. Louisiana charges more than 10% once local rates are added.
Taxes Car Sales Tax Calculator: What the DMV Will Charge
The trade-in credit is worth more than most buyers realise, in most states.
Paycheck & Salary Minimum Wage by State in 2026, and Where It Rose
From $7.25 to $18.40, depending entirely on where you work.
Taxes FICA Tax Explained: Where 7.65% of Your Pay Goes
The 7.65% that disappears from every paycheck, and where it stops.
Taxes Best Tax Software for 2026, Ranked by Price
FreeTaxUSA wins on value by a wide margin: free federal filing with no income cap, including self-employment and rental income. Pay for TurboTax only if you want the guided interview and are willing t
Taxes Federal Tax Brackets for 2026, and How They Work
Seven brackets, from 10% to 37%, and none of them tax all of your income.
Taxes How Bonuses Are Taxed in 2026, and What You Get Back
The 22% taken out of your bonus is withholding, not what you actually owe.
Taxes The 8 States With No Income Tax in 2026
Eight states tax no wage income at all, but they make it up elsewhere.
Reviewed for accuracy
Pages Marcus Ellery checked against the primary source before publication.
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