Retirement

401(k) Paycheck Impact Calculator

The number that stops people contributing is the wrong one. A pre-tax contribution reduces your taxable income, so take-home falls by less than the amount you save — and if your employer matches, more lands in the account than leaves your paycheck.

Tested against worked examplesHow we verify

Gross pay per paycheck

Contribution rate

Your marginal tax rate

Federal plus state, on the last dollar you earn.

Employer matches

50 means 50 cents per dollar you contribute.

Up to this much of pay

Pay frequency

Contribution type

Your take-home falls by

$234

Less than the $300.00 you contribute, because the contribution is pre-tax.

Contribution per paycheck: $300
Tax saved per paycheck: $66
Employer match per paycheck: $90
Total into the account: $390
Your annual contribution: $7,800
Annual employer match: $2,340

Take-home you give up$23460%

Tax you avoid$6617%

Employer match$9023%

Compare scenariosTry three values of one input

Vary

401(k) Paycheck Impact Calculator results for three values of Gross pay per paycheck
Gross pay per paycheck
Your take-home falls by	$211	$234+$23	$257+$47
Contribution per paycheck	$270	$300+$30	$330+$60
Tax saved per paycheck	$59	$66+$7	$73+$13
Employer match per paycheck	$81	$90+$9	$99+$18
Total into the account	$351	$390+$39	$429+$78
Your annual contribution	$7,020	$7,800+$780	$8,580+$1,560

Every other input stays at the value you set above — currently $3,000 for gross pay per paycheck. Differences are measured against the first column.

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How this calculator works

The contribution is your rate applied to gross pay per paycheck. For traditional deferrals, tax saved is the contribution × your marginal rate, and take-home falls by the difference; Roth deferrals save nothing up front, so take-home falls by the full contribution. The match is the lesser of your rate and the employer's limit, multiplied by the match percentage.

A single marginal rate stands in for federal and state brackets. FICA is not reduced by 401(k) deferrals — that is real, and it is why the take-home reduction here is a floor rather than an exact payroll figure. Contribution limits are not enforced; check the current IRS figures before setting a high rate.

What this assumes

Traditional pre-tax contributions, which reduce income tax but not FICA — payroll tax is charged on gross wages.
A flat state rate as entered; progressive states vary by bracket and some have no income tax at all.
The employer match, if any, is on top of the contribution and is not reflected in the take-home figure.

What changes this number

Your marginal rate: Decides how much of the contribution is funded by tax you no longer pay. At 22%, $100 contributed costs about $78 of take-home.
Roth versus traditional: A Roth contribution costs the full amount today, because there is no deduction. The comparison is a different calculator.
Contribution size: The relationship is close to linear, which makes small annual increases nearly invisible in a paycheck.

A worked example

Take the 10% of $3,000 biweekly scenario. These figures are produced by the calculator above, not written alongside it, so they always match what the tool returns.

What you enter

Gross pay per paycheck: $3,000
Contribution rate: 10%
Your marginal tax rate: 22%
Employer matches: 50%
Up to this much of pay: 6%

What it returns

Your take-home falls by: $234
Contribution per paycheck: $300
Tax saved per paycheck: $66
Employer match per paycheck: $90
Total into the account: $390

Try an example

10% of $3,000 biweekly Just capturing the match High earner maxing out

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 401(k) contribution really cost me?

Less than face value. A $300 pre-tax contribution at a 22% marginal rate reduces take-home by $234, because $66 of it would have gone to tax anyway. The higher your bracket, the less it costs — which is why high earners feel pre-tax contributions least.

What is an employer match worth?

A 50% match up to 6% of pay is an instant 50% return on that slice, before the market does anything. No investment reliably offers that. Contributing less than the match threshold leaves money on the table that the employer had already budgeted for you.

Traditional or Roth?

Traditional if your rate today is higher than in retirement; Roth if the reverse. Early in a career, with a low rate and decades of tax-free growth ahead, Roth usually wins. Mid-career at a peak salary, traditional usually does. Splitting between both hedges the guess.

Does the employer match count toward my contribution limit?

Not toward your elective deferral limit — $24,500 for 2026 — which applies to your own contributions. The match counts toward the much higher combined limit of $72,000 that covers everything going into the account from every source.

Is the match affected by choosing Roth?

No. The employer contributes the same amount either way. Since SECURE 2.0, plans may deposit the match as Roth if you elect it, in which case it is taxable income in the year received.

This calculator helps answer

What will I actually take home?

Turn a salary offer into the number that reaches your account, then check what a raise, a contribution change or self-employment does to it.