Bonus & Raise Tax Calculator
Getting a bonus or a raise? See exactly how much you keep after taxes — and why your paycheck goes up less than the number on the offer letter.
You actually keep
$4,018
of your $5,000 bonus · 19.7% goes to tax
| Bonus amount | $5,000 |
| Federal income tax | −$600 |
| Social Security | −$310 |
| Medicare | −$73 |
| You keep | $4,018 |
Heads up: employers usually withhold about $1,483 from a bonus up front using the IRS flat 22% method — often more than you actually owe. You settle the difference when you file, so your real take-home is the $4,018 above.
Why a raise feels smaller than it looks
A raise is taxed at your marginal rate — the rate on your next dollar — plus Social Security and Medicare, plus state tax. That’s why a $5,000 raise can add only $3,000–$3,600 to your yearly take-home. A bonus feels even steeper because employers withhold a flat 22% up front, though you settle up at tax time. The math is the same lesson your paycheck already taught you: what you earn and what you keep are two different numbers.
Free · nothing for sale
Tired of working every day and feeling like you’re going nowhere?
You’re not lazy and you’re not bad with money. A paycheck is rent on your hours — and there’s a hard limit on how many hours you have.
You can negotiate the rate. You can rent out more hours — that’s what overtime is. But there are 168 hours in a week and you sleep about 56 of them, so the ceiling doesn’t move no matter how good you get.
The other way people earn is by building something once that keeps working after they walk away from it — the same way a rental property does, except online and without the down payment. That’s worth understanding before you decide it isn’t for you.
Show me how that worksNo income screenshots. Nothing to buy. Six minutes.