Massachusetts Paycheck Calculator: 2026 Take-Home Pay

How to use the massachusetts paycheck calculator

1. Enter gross pay for one check and pick the pay frequency.
2. Enter the exemptions from your Form M-4, then say whether you file as head of household and how many blind exemptions you claim.
3. Add 401(k) and health premiums per check, then any federal W-4 entries.
4. Read net pay, including the Paid Family and Medical Leave line.

A flat 5% with a 9% band above $1,107,750

Massachusetts withholds one rate on almost every paycheck: 5% of annualized wages after exemptions. The Circular M tables for 2026 add a second rate of 9% (the 5% plus the 4% surtax) on annual wages above $1,107,750, the inflation-adjusted threshold printed in the Department of Revenue document. A $2,800 biweekly check with a $140 401(k) deferral and one exemption gives $120.69 of Massachusetts tax and $12.88 of Paid Family and Medical Leave premium in this Massachusetts paycheck calculator, for take-home pay of $2,066.65. For other states, see the general paycheck calculator.

Exemptions on Form M-4

Massachusetts uses its own certificate, Form M-4, not the federal W-4. One exemption is worth $4,400 of annual wages. With more than one, each is worth $1,000 and a fixed $3,400 is added once, so three exemptions remove $6,400. The wage-bracket tables count a claimed spouse as 4 exemptions. Head of household filers withhold $120 a year less, split across the pay periods, and each blind exemption cuts withholding by $110 a year. An employee claiming at least one exemption with annual wages under about $8,000 has nothing withheld.

FICA counts as a deduction, up to $2,000

The Massachusetts method lets Social Security and Medicare withheld from the employee reduce taxable wages, up to $2,000 in total for the year. This calculator follows the printed wage-bracket tables, which spread the $2,000 evenly, so each check deducts at most $2,000 divided by the number of pay periods: $76.92 on a biweekly check, $38.46 weekly, $83.33 semimonthly and $166.67 monthly. The percentage-method text on page 12 of Circular M can also be read as deducting actual FICA until a running total reaches $2,000; the calculator does not track a running total. Lower paychecks deduct their actual FICA instead. This is why the Massachusetts paycheck calculator shows the Massachusetts line is a little lower than 5% of pay.

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Employers with 25 or more covered individuals may deduct up to 0.46% of wages from the employee: up to 40% of the medical leave contribution plus all of the family leave contribution. The premium stops on wages above the Social Security wage base, $184,500 in 2026. Some employers pay a larger share than the minimum, so check a pay stub if your deduction differs. Whether section 125 health premiums count as PFML wages is not settled here; as a stated assumption, the estimate applies 0.46% to gross pay after those premiums.

Worked example: a $1.5 million salary

An employee is paid $125,000 a month with no deductions and no exemptions. The FICA deduction is capped at $166.67, so taxable wages are $124,833.33 a month, or $1,498,000 a year. The 5% rate applies to the first $1,107,750, which is $55,387.50, and 9% applies to the remaining $390,250, which is $35,122.50. The annual tax of $90,510.00 is $7,542.50 a month. The Massachusetts paycheck calculator shows $7,542.50.

Method and sources

State rule: Massachusetts Department of Revenue, "Circular M, Income Tax Withholding Tables at 5.0% Effective January 1, 2026" (Rev. 12/25): the percentage method on page 12 (5% rate, 9% above $1,107,750, exemption factors, head of household and blindness credits, the $2,000 limit on the FICA deduction) and the weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly wage-bracket tables, whose printed amounts this calculator matches in 4,482 of 4,488 sampled cells. The other 6 cells sit in two rows that straddle the $333 and $667 floor (semimonthly $320 to $340 and monthly $640 to $680), where the printed tables use the row midpoint below the floor and the calculator does not. Paid Family and Medical Leave: the 2026 PFML mandatory workplace poster from the Department of Family and Medical Leave (up to 0.46% may be deducted from wages) and 458 CMR 2.05 (up to 40% of the medical leave contribution and 100% of the family leave contribution; no contribution on wages above the Social Security base). Massachusetts withholding in this calculator is figured on wages after traditional 401(k) deferrals, an assumption that follows the federal exclusion; no specific Massachusetts page is cited for it. Federal income tax follows IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A, annual percentage method. Social Security is 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base and Medicare is 1.45% plus 0.9% over $200,000 of wages.

What this does not cover

Exempt certificates (a full-time student earning under $8,000 a year, or a Military Spouses Residency Relief Act exemption) are not modelled, nor are bonus withholding rules, which use a separate supplemental method. Massachusetts has no city or county income tax. This is a withholding estimate for one paycheck, not a payroll quote or tax advice. Your employer's payroll system and your final tax return decide the real figures.

Worked examples