Federal Employee Take-Home Pay Calculator
Estimate a federal employee paycheck after the FERS deduction, traditional or Roth TSP, the FEHB premium, and 2026 federal, state, and FICA tax.
Federal Employee Take-Home Pay Calculator
Your federal pay
Federal civilian employees are paid biweekly, 26 pay periods a year, so every figure below is per paycheck with the annual equivalent alongside.
Base plus locality pay. Overtime, awards, and bonuses are not basic pay and don't count for FERS or TSP.
Adds half a percentage point. The extra deduction buys earlier retirement eligibility, not a larger annuity.
Placeholder default for a self-only plan. 2026 premiums vary by plan and enrollment tier, so use the figure from your own LES.
Automatic on enrollment unless you waived it. Uncheck only if you actually waived.
Advanced: state effective-rate override
Leave blank to use the built-in flat estimate for your state.
Enter your annual basic pay.
| Line | Per paycheck | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Gross basic pay | $0.00 | $0 |
| FERS retirement (after-tax) | $0.00 | $0 |
| TSP, your contribution | $0.00 | $0 |
| FEHB premium (pre-tax) | $0.00 | $0 |
| Other pre-tax deductions | $0.00 | $0 |
| Federal income tax | $0.00 | $0 |
| State income tax (est.) | $0.00 | $0 |
| Social Security (OASDI) | $0.00 | $0 |
| Medicare | $0.00 | $0 |
| Other after-tax deductions | $0.00 | $0 |
| Total deductions | $0.00 | $0 |
Agency contributions land in your traditional TSP balance even when your own money is Roth, and they aren't taxable income to you in the year they are contributed. They sit on top of your paycheck, never inside it.
2026 estimate. Federal tax is annual liability spread over 26 pay periods, not Publication 15-T withholding, and state tax uses a flat effective rate you can override. FERS deductions reduce net pay only. Traditional TSP reduces income tax but not FICA. FEHB under premium conversion reduces all three wage bases.
What actually comes out of a federal paycheck
Read a Leave and Earnings Statement top to bottom and the order is always the same. Gross basic pay (your base rate plus locality) sits at the top. Below it come the FERS retirement deduction, your TSP contribution, your share of the FEHB premium, FEGLI and any other insurance, and then the tax lines: federal income tax, state income tax, OASDI, and Medicare. What lands in your account is what survives all of it.
Federal employees are often surprised by how wide the gap is between a GS salary and a biweekly deposit. A big part of that is the FERS deduction, a line the private sector mostly doesn't have. At 4.4 percent of basic pay, FERS-FRAE takes about $152 out of a $90,000 salary every two weeks, and it buys you no tax relief today. It's the one deduction on the statement that shrinks your paycheck without shrinking a single wage base.
The three different "wages" on your paycheck
There's no single "taxable pay" on a federal LES. There are three numbers, and the deduction order is what makes them differ. A $140 biweekly FEHB premium under premium conversion cuts all three. A $300 traditional TSP contribution cuts only two, because elective deferrals stay in Social Security and Medicare wages. A $4.40-per-$100 FERS deduction cuts none of them.
| Deduction | Federal taxable wages | State taxable wages | FICA wages |
|---|---|---|---|
| FERS retirement | No | No | No |
| Traditional TSP | Yes | Yes | No |
| Roth TSP | No | No | No |
| FEHB with premium conversion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FEHB, conversion waived | No | No | No |
| Other Section 125 pre-tax | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FEGLI, dues, other after-tax | No | No | No |
The FERS row is the one most federal pay content gets wrong. Employee retirement deductions are withheld on an after-tax basis, which is why IRS Publication 721 gives a retiree a "cost in the plan" recovered tax-free under the Simplified Method. If those contributions had been excluded from wages on the way in, there would be no basis to recover on the way out. OPM's premium conversion guidance covers the other end of the table: the FEHB employee share is excluded from gross pay before OASDI and Medicare are applied, which is what makes it the best-treated dollar on the whole statement.
Don't leave the TSP match on the table
Contribute 5 percent of basic pay and your agency puts in 5 percent: 1 percent automatic, then dollar for dollar on your first 3 percent and 50 cents on the dollar for the next 2 percent. Contribute 3 percent instead and the match stops at 3 percent, so a GS-12 earning $90,000 gives up about $900 a year in agency money for a $1,800 difference in their own contributions. Push past 5 percent and the match doesn't grow, since matching is capped at 4 percent no matter how much you defer.
There's a timing trap, too. Matching is calculated per pay period, so front-loading your contributions and hitting the $24,500 elective deferral limit in September stops your match for the rest of the year. Spread contributions across all 26 periods to collect the full amount. One more 2026 change: if you earned more than $150,000 in the prior year, your catch-up contributions must be Roth.
How to check this estimate against your own LES
Compare the tool line by line with your statement. Gross basic pay and the FERS deduction should match closely, since both are straight percentages of a number you control. TSP and FEHB should match to the cent if you entered your real figures. Federal income tax will differ, because this tool spreads annual liability over 26 pay periods while payroll runs the Publication 15-T tables against your W-4. State tax will differ wherever your state uses brackets or adds items like CA SDI. Social Security will differ late in the year for high earners, since OASDI stops once wages pass the $184,500 base. The paycheck deduction checker walks that reconciliation line by line.
Three things the app does that this page can't: per-state withholding tables, a year-to-date FICA input that models the mid-year Social Security cutover, and saved profiles for holding a federal offer next to a private-sector one. Download the Stub44 Salary Calculator app.
Assumptions and limitations
- You enter basic pay, not a grade and step. There are no GS grade, step, or locality tables here. Enter your salary with locality pay included, because locality pay is part of basic pay for FERS deductions and TSP contributions (overtime, awards, and bonuses are not).
- Annual-liability tax model, not Publication 15-T withholding. Federal tax comes from the 2026 brackets and standard deduction, divided by 26. Your LES withholding line is driven by your W-4 and the percentage-method tables, so the two won't match exactly.
- State tax is a simplified effective rate. A single representative flat rate per state, not bracketed state math, with an override field if you know your own rate. Pennsylvania taxes elective deferrals and New Jersey conforms to Section 125 more narrowly, but this tool applies the federal-conforming treatment to all 51 jurisdictions.
- FERS only. CSRS and CSRS Offset are not modeled. Their deduction rates differ and the population is very small.
- 26 pay periods. Some calendar years contain 27 federal pay dates. This tool always uses 26.
- Level Social Security withholding. The wage base is applied to annualized FICA wages and smoothed across the year. In reality OASDI stops mid-year once you cross the base, so your last checks of the year are larger. The Additional Medicare surtax is applied at the filing-status threshold, though payroll starts withholding it at $200,000 regardless of filing status.
- FEGLI, FEDVIP, and long-term care go in the after-tax field. The FEGLI imputed-income rule for coverage above $50,000 is not modeled.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about federal employee take-home pay calculator
How much does FERS take out of my paycheck?
It depends on when you were hired. Employees hired before 2013 (classic FERS) pay 0.8 percent of basic pay. Employees generally hired during 2013 (FERS-RAE) pay 3.1 percent. Employees generally hired in 2014 or later (FERS-FRAE) pay 4.4 percent. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers pay half a point more in each tier: 1.3, 3.6, or 4.9 percent. Basic pay includes locality pay but not overtime, awards, or bonuses.
Is my FERS contribution pre-tax or after-tax?
After-tax. FERS employee retirement deductions do not reduce your Box 1 wages, so they give you no federal income tax break today. That's why IRS Publication 721 gives a retiree a "cost in the plan," a basis you recover tax-free over your annuity: the money was already taxed on the way in. FERS deductions do not reduce your state taxable wages either, and they are fully subject to Social Security and Medicare tax. Plenty of federal pay content calls the FERS deduction pre-tax. It is not.
Does TSP come out before taxes?
Traditional TSP contributions come out before federal and state income tax, but not before Social Security and Medicare. Roth TSP contributions come out after everything, so they reduce your paycheck without reducing any wage base. Either flavor is still FICA taxable, which is why a 5 percent traditional contribution cuts your income tax but leaves your OASDI and Medicare lines unchanged. Our 401(k) paycheck impact calculator shows the same mechanic on the private-sector side.
Is my FEHB premium pre-tax?
Yes, if you are in premium conversion, which is automatic when you enroll unless you actively waived it. Premium conversion is a Section 125 cafeteria plan, so your share of the FEHB premium comes out of gross pay before federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA. Skipping all three taxes makes it the most tax-efficient deduction on a federal paycheck. The trade-off is that lower Social Security wages can slightly reduce your future Social Security benefit.
How much does the government put into my TSP?
Your agency contributes 1 percent of basic pay automatically, whether or not you contribute anything. On top of that it matches dollar for dollar on the first 3 percent you contribute and 50 cents on the dollar on the next 2 percent. Contribute 5 percent and you get 5 percent (1 percent automatic plus a 4 percent match). Agency money always goes into your traditional balance, even if your own contributions are Roth, and it is not taxable income to you in the year it is contributed.
Why does this not match the withholding line on my LES?
This tool estimates your annual federal tax liability from the 2026 brackets and the standard deduction, then spreads it evenly over 26 pay periods. Payroll instead runs the IRS Publication 15-T percentage-method tables against your W-4 entries, so the two figures rarely match to the dollar. Social Security is another source of drift: it stops for the year once your wages pass the $184,500 wage base, so a high earner sees bigger checks late in the year than this smoothed estimate shows. The W-4 withholding planner models the withholding side.
How accurate is the state tax estimate?
State tax here is a simplified effective-rate estimate for a middle-income earner, not bracketed state math. No-income-tax states use 0 percent, and every other state uses a single representative rate for a middle-income earner rather than its statutory bracket schedule. If you know your own effective rate, enter it in the advanced state override field. Two known simplifications: Pennsylvania taxes elective deferrals, so traditional TSP gives no PA relief, and New Jersey conforms to Section 125 more narrowly than the federal rules. This tool applies the federal-conforming treatment to all 51 jurisdictions.
What about CSRS, FEGLI, and FEDVIP?
CSRS and CSRS Offset are out of scope here. Their deduction rates differ (7 percent, or 7.5 percent for special categories) and almost nobody hired after 1983 is covered. FEGLI, FEDVIP, long-term care premiums, and union dues all belong in the "other after-tax" field, since they reduce your net pay without touching any wage base. For per-state withholding tables, a year-to-date FICA input, and saved profiles, download the Stub44 Salary Calculator app.