Resident Take-Home Pay Calculator

Residency salaries are modest, and taxes, retirement contributions and insurance take a noticeable bite. Knowing your real monthly take-home is the first step to a budget that works. This calculator turns your salary into the amount that actually reaches your bank account.

What this calculator does

Enter your annual salary, filing status, state and local income tax rate, 403(b) or 457(b) contribution, monthly health insurance premium and how often you're paid. It shows:

• your monthly take-home,
• your take-home per paycheck,
• your annual take-home, and
• your federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and state tax for the year.

The chart shows where each dollar of salary goes.

The formula in plain English

Retirement contributions (403(b), 457(b)) come out before income tax, but Social Security and Medicare still apply to them.

Health insurance premiums usually come out before all taxes, including Social Security and Medicare.

Taxable income = salary − retirement contributions − health premiums − the 2026 standard deduction.

Federal tax uses the 2026 brackets on taxable income.

Social Security and Medicare = 7.65% of salary minus health premiums.

State tax = your state rate × salary after pre-tax deductions.

Take-home = salary − retirement − health premiums − all taxes.

A worked example

Dr. Park is a PGY-1 earning $72,000. She's single, pays about 5% state tax, contributes 3% to her 403(b) and pays $80 a month for health insurance. She's paid every two weeks.

• Federal income tax: about $6,320.
• Social Security and Medicare: about $5,430.
• State tax: about $3,440.
• 403(b): $2,160, which is her own savings.
• Annual take-home: about $53,700.
• Monthly: about $4,470. Per paycheck: about $2,065.

With rent at $1,600, she has about $2,900 a month for everything else, including student loan payments, which may be low under an income-driven plan during training.

Why it matters at each career stage

If you're: Student

Use this before Match to compare programs in different cities. A higher salary in a high-cost, high-tax city may leave you with less than a lower salary somewhere else.

If you're: Resident / fellow

Base your budget on take-home, not salary. Revisit it each July when your PGY salary rises, and decide in advance how much of each raise goes to savings.

If you're: Employed

Your first attending paycheck will look very different. Plan for higher tax brackets, larger retirement contributions and possibly student loan payments that rise with income.

When your take-home changes

Your take-home will shift a few times during training. Each July, your PGY raise increases your pay, but some of it goes to taxes and any percentage-based retirement contribution. Open enrollment can change health premiums. If you marry, filing jointly may lower or raise your taxes, depending on your spouse's income. And if you start moonlighting, more tax may be withheld, or you may need to pay estimated taxes.

Run the calculator again whenever one of these changes so your budget keeps up with your real paycheck. It's also worth checking your actual pay stub against the estimate once or twice a year to catch payroll errors, like a benefit deduction that should have ended.

Ways to make residency pay go further

Get the full match. Free money for retirement is worth more than almost anything else you could do with it.

Consider a Roth IRA. Residents' tax rates are often the lowest they'll see for decades.

Check your withholding. If you moonlight or have a spouse's income, make sure enough tax is withheld.

Use employer benefits. Meal allowances, housing stipends and educational funds can stretch your budget.

Keep housing reasonable. Rent is the biggest lever on a resident budget.

Next, build a full resident budget, see what moonlighting would add, and check how RAP would set your loan payments.