This page pairs a transparent tax stack with the numbers you can actually control: health premiums, retirement, and state bands. We bake in realistic defaults—then you tune the inputs to match your life.
Why headline salary numbers mislead
A $100,000 W-2 offer is not $100,000 of freely spendable cash. Employers remit 7.65% in FICA on your
behalf for Social Security and Medicare (up to the annual wage base for Social Security). You see
half on your pay stub; the company pays the other half—money you never touch but that still affects
hiring budgets on the employer side.
On the freelance column, Uncle Sam expects both halves from you through self-employment tax, with a
mechanics tweak: you generally deduct one-half of self-employment tax before federal income tax. The
net effect is rarely a straight 7.65% delta—especially when you cross standard deduction, credit
cliffs, and state lines.
State tax is a shape-shifter
Nine states impose no broad-based individual income tax on earned wages, while high-tax coastal hubs
can stack double-digit state plus local burdens on top of federal marginal rates. Our selector is a band
estimator—fine for comparing scenarios, not for filing. If you need pinpoint accuracy, map your filing
status, credits, and itemization to your state's department of revenue rules.
Benefits quietly tilt the scales
Employer-sponsored health coverage often hides $7,000–$9,000 of annual premium on the employer line.
A generous 401(k) match is cash-equivalent comp you would otherwise fund from your freelance revenue.
The calculator isolates cash in bank versus total comp so you can decide whether the trade is worth it
for your risk tolerance, runway, and pipeline.
FAQ
Does this replace a CPA?
No. It is an educational model with rounding and simplifications (e.g., Additional Medicare surtax not modeled).
Why might my real paycheck differ?
Pre-tax deductions, credits, HSAs, RSU withholding, and locality taxes can all move the result.