FICA in 2026: Social Security, Medicare and the Additional Medicare Tax
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. In a paycheck it shows up as two lines, Social Security and Medicare. This guide works out both for the 2026 tax year, shows where the Social Security limit and the Additional Medicare Tax start to matter, and explains why the share of a salary taken by FICA falls once pay is high enough. The rates and limits come from IRS Publication 15 for 2026 and two IRS topic pages, and every figure is produced by the same engine as the paycheck calculator.
Federal income tax is a separate calculation, covered in the federal brackets guide. FICA does not use the standard deduction, so it is charged on the whole of a wage up to the limits below.
Social Security
The employee share of Social Security tax is 6.2% of wages. The employer pays a matching 6.2%, so the total is 12.4%, but only the employee share comes out of a paycheck and only that share is in the calculator. Social Security tax applies to wages up to a yearly limit called the wage base. For 2026 the wage base is $184,500.
The result is a ceiling on the tax. The most any employee pays in Social Security tax for 2026 is 6.2% of $184,500, which is $11,439.00. A salary of $250,000 pays the same $11,439.00 as a salary of $184,500. Pay above the wage base is not charged Social Security tax at all, but it is still charged Medicare.
Medicare
The employee share of Medicare tax is 1.45% of all wages, with no limit. The employer pays a matching 1.45%, making 2.9% in total. On $100,000 the employee share is $1,450.00, and on $500,000 it is $7,250.00.
The Additional Medicare Tax
Wages above a threshold are also charged an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9%. There is no employer share of this tax. The IRS gives two different thresholds, and it helps to keep them apart.
The first is for the employer. An employer must begin withholding the Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which wages paid to an employee exceed $200,000 in a calendar year, without regard to filing status. The second is for the tax itself. The tax is owed on wages above $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, $200,000 for single filers and heads of household, and a different figure for married filing separately. A couple whose combined wages are over $250,000 owes the tax even if neither spouse earned $200,000, and a one-earner couple on $220,000 has tax withheld that is settled on the tax return.
The calculator uses the tax thresholds for the filing status you choose and treats a married couple as one earner. For a single filer on $250,000 the Additional Medicare Tax is 0.9% of the $50,000 above $200,000, which is $450.00. For a married couple filing jointly on that same $250,000, it is $0.00. On $300,000 the joint figure is $450.00 and the single figure is $900.00.
Five salaries side by side
| Single filer | $50,000 | $100,000 | $184,500 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $3,100.00 | $6,200.00 | $11,439.00 | $11,439.00 | $11,439.00 |
| Medicare | $725.00 | $1,450.00 | $2,675.25 | $3,625.00 | $7,250.00 |
| Additional Medicare Tax | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $450.00 | $2,700.00 |
| FICA total | $3,825.00 | $7,650.00 | $14,114.25 | $15,514.00 | $21,389.00 |
| Share of salary | 7.6% | 7.6% | 7.6% | 6.2% | 4.3% |
At $50,000 FICA is 7.65% of the salary, the combined rate of 6.2% plus 1.45%. It stays at 7.65% right up to the wage base. After that it falls. At $250,000 it is 6.21% even though the Additional Medicare Tax has started, and at $500,000 it is 4.28%. FICA is therefore a flat share of pay for most employees and a falling share for the highest paid.
A worked example at $250,000
Take a single filer with a salary of $250,000 for the whole of 2026. Social Security tax is 6.2% of the first $184,500, which is $11,439.00. The remaining $65,500 pays no Social Security tax. Medicare tax is 1.45% of the full $250,000, which is $3,625.00. The Additional Medicare Tax is 0.9% of the $50,000 above $200,000, which is $450.00. Added together, FICA is $15,514.00.
Now compare a married couple filing jointly where one spouse earns that $250,000 and the other has no wages. The first two lines are the same, because Social Security and Medicare do not depend on filing status. The Additional Medicare Tax is $0.00, because $250,000 does not go over the $250,000 joint threshold. FICA is $15,064.00, which is $450.00 less than for the single filer. Filing status changes only this third line.
None of these amounts is reduced by the standard deduction. Federal income tax on the same $250,000 is worked out separately, and it is $51,304.00 for the single filer. Together with FICA, that leaves $183,182.00 of take-home pay in a state with no income tax on wages.
The last dollars below and above the limit
Just under the wage base, each extra $1,000 of salary costs 7.65%, which is $76.50. Just above it, the same $1,000 costs only the 1.45% Medicare share, which is $14.50. Above $200,000 for a single filer, each extra $1,000 costs 2.35% in Medicare, which is $23.50.
State payroll programs with the same limit
A few states charge employees for their own paid leave or long-term care programs through payroll. Washington is one that the calculator includes. For 2026 the Paid Family and Medical Leave premium is 1.13% of gross wages up to the Social Security wage base, and employees pay 71.43% of it. The WA Cares Fund premium is 0.58% of gross wages with no cap, paid entirely by the employee. The Paid Family and Medical Leave premium therefore stops at $184,500 of wages, as Social Security does, and the WA Cares premium does not.
| Washington, single filer | $100,000 | $250,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Family and Medical Leave premium (employee share) | $807.16 | $1,489.21 |
| WA Cares Fund premium | $580.00 | $1,450.00 |
| Total Washington premiums | $1,387.16 | $2,939.21 |
Who this does not cover
The figures are for employees. Self-employed people pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare through self-employment tax, which is calculated differently and is not in this calculator. A few types of household or election work have their own dollar thresholds, which Publication 15 lists. Pre-tax payroll deductions are not modeled.
To see the result for your own salary and state, open the paycheck calculator. To see how federal income tax is worked out from the brackets, read the federal brackets guide.
Work out your own take-home paySources
- IRS: Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide
- IRS: Topic no. 751, Social security and Medicare withholding rates
- IRS: Topic no. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
- Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave: estimate your payments
- Every rate used, with its source and check date: Sources and rates
This calculator gives general information from the rates on the Sources page. It is not a substitute for your pay stub, your Form W-4, the IRS or your state tax agency, and it does not look at your personal circumstances. Rates as at November 2, 2026.