FICA & Payroll Tax Calculator
Calculate 2026 FICA — Social Security and Medicare, employee and employer share — plus the equivalent 15.3% self-employment tax for 1099 workers.
Total social contributions
$9,222
Social Security (OASDI) — employee share$3,720
Medicare — employee share$870
Social Security (OASDI) — employer share (employer)$3,720
Medicare — employer share (employer)$870
Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) — net rate after max state credit (employer)$42
Employee-side contributions$4,590
Employer-side contributions$4,632
Income tax (for reference)$5,020
FICA and Self-Employment Tax: The Full 2026 Breakdown
FICA — Social Security and Medicare — works differently depending on whether you're paid on a W-2 or a 1099, and the 2026 wage base and rates matter for anyone comparing the two. This calculator breaks down both sides so you can see exactly what's withheld, matched, or self-funded at your income level.
The 2026 FICA and self-employment tax figures
- W-2 employee: 6.2% Social Security (up to the $184,500 wage base) plus 1.45% Medicare, withheld from pay; the employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45% separately
- Additional Medicare Tax: an extra 0.9% withheld once wages pass $200,000 for a single filer — there's no employer match on this portion
- 1099 self-employed: 15.3% self-employment tax on net earnings up to the same $184,500 wage base, dropping to 2.9% Medicare-only above it, standing in for both the employee and employer FICA shares combined
- Employer FUTA: a separate 0.6% federal unemployment tax on the first $7,000 of W-2 wages — this has no self-employed equivalent, since 1099 workers aren't eligible for the unemployment insurance FUTA funds
