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PayByTown

Methodology

This page explains where every number on PayByTown comes from, how we check it, and what our calculators leave out. If something here doesn't match what a page shows, that's a bug: tell us.

1. Take-home pay

What it computes. The tax you will owe for 2026 on your wages, spread evenly over your paychecks: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base), Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% above $200,000 for single filers), state income tax, and employee contributions to state payroll programs such as disability insurance and paid family leave. Traditional 401(k) contributions and pre-tax health premiums are handled the way each state treats them.

Federal rules come from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (as amended by Pub. L. 119-21) and the Social Security Administration's 2026 fact sheet.

State rules and the 2-of-3 check. For each state we record every parameter the calculation uses: brackets, standard deduction, exemptions, credits, phase-outs, which pre-tax deductions the state follows, and payroll program rates and caps. Each value is read from the state's own publication (withholding guide, tax form instructions or statute) and compared with two independent references: PolicyEngine-US, an open-source tax model, and the Tax Foundation's 2026 state income tax table. A value is verified when at least two of the three agree. Where the official source and PolicyEngine differ, we use the official value and record the difference.

We publish a state only when every value is verified. As of October 11, 2026, 28 states pass; the other 23 are listed as "being verified" and get no page. Each state page lists every value with its official source and whether each reference agreed. Head of household status is not offered yet because most states' head-of-household values have only one source so far.

Engine testing. The calculation was compared with PolicyEngine-US for all 50 states and DC at six salaries and two filing statuses (612 cases, plus extra cases with pre-tax deductions): with the same parameters, every result is within $1 a year.

Not included (yet):

2. Local income tax

Local pages cover the six states where cities, counties or school districts tax most wage earners: Pennsylvania (earned income tax and Local Services Tax for every municipality, grouped into one page per school district, plus the Philadelphia Wage Tax), Ohio (city and village income tax with each city's credit for tax paid elsewhere, and school district income tax), Maryland and Indiana (county taxes), Michigan (the 24 taxing cities) and New York (New York City and Yonkers). The numbers come from the same engine as the state calculators, which adds the local tax on top of federal and state tax.

Sources. Each rate is read from the official publisher: Pennsylvania's Act 32 register (DCED) and the City of Philadelphia; the Ohio Department of Taxation's rate tables; the Comptroller of Maryland; the Indiana Department of Revenue; each Michigan city's tax office (Michigan Treasury for Detroit); and the New York Department of Taxation and Finance. Every page links the documents behind its own rates, the period they describe and the date we checked them. See sources.

Verification. A local rate is marked verified only when an independent second publisher shows the same rate: a regional tax collector's rate list in Pennsylvania (York Adams, Capital Tax), RITA or the Cleveland CCA in Ohio, the Department of Legislative Services in Maryland, the State Budget Agency in Indiana, another city's published table in Michigan, or the tax law itself in New York. Where only the official register lists a rate, the page says "single official source" next to it; where a second source disagrees, the page keeps the official register's value and says so. Most Pennsylvania municipalities and all Ohio school districts have a single official source, because no independent list exists for them. Unlike state pages, local pages are published with unverified rates, clearly marked, because the official register is the legal source.

States still being verified. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Indiana have no state take-home calculator yet. Their local pages show the local income tax only, never a take-home figure, and leave out 401(k) and pre-tax inputs. Maryland's county tax depends on Maryland taxable income, which uses the 2026 standard deduction from the state's withholding guide because the figure for returns was not yet published; Maryland pages say so.

Simplifications (each page repeats the ones that apply):

Which places get a page. Pennsylvania: every school district, because its municipalities share a school tax and its page carries their own rate table. Ohio: cities with their own tax office, cities of 20,000 people or more (Census 2024 estimate), and any city whose combination of rate and credit is unique in Ohio; every other taxing city and village is listed, with its rate and credit, on its county page. Maryland, Indiana, Michigan and New York: every taxing county or city.

3. Childcare prices

Childcare prices come from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices: county medians of full-time weekly prices by child age (infant, toddler, preschool, school-age) for childcare centers and family childcare homes.

4. The afford-to-live-here calculator and other tools

The afford-to-live-here calculator combines these inputs, each named next to its number:

Every input can be replaced with your own figure. We don't publish insurance averages: the main source (NAIC premium reports) is copyrighted.

The HELOC, credit card payoff and home affordability calculators apply standard loan math to the numbers you enter; each page explains its formula and assumptions. Rates shown as starting values are examples, not market quotes.

5. How datasets are checked

Each dataset is downloaded from the official file and stored with its source, the period it describes and the date we retrieved it. After processing, we re-check a random sample of records against a second copy of the source (for example, the published PDF edition of the same table). Missing values stay missing; we never estimate or interpolate.

6. Dates

7. Corrections

Found an error? Contact us with the page address. We re-check the source and update the page and its date.

Last updated October 11, 2026.