# How much of your salary do you actually see? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923 "2010-03-26T19:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/1 "2010-03-26T19:17:11Z")
Inspired by the “when are you paid” thread, I did some math to find out how much of my “official salary” I actually got per paycheck/year, and I was very dissapointed with the result. So, after taxes, benefits, 401(k)/403(b), and any other voluntary or non-voluntary deductions (maybe you have to pay for parking at work (like I do…), etc…) how much of your yearly salary, as a percentage, do you see? And for the record, try not to include things that aren’t taken out by your employer or the government. I say count 401(k) and 403(b), since they are usually offered through work and can have employer contributions, but if you then put another $100 or $200 a month into an IRA or savings account, don’t include that…or at least make a note of it, I guess. Personally, I have the standard benefits (health, dental, life, disability, 403(b),) as well as having to pay for a parking permit. I take home about 72% of what my official yearly salary was advertised/offered as. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/2 "2010-03-26T20:21:54Z")
My gross salary less (i) Federal, state, unemployment, medicare, and social security tax, (ii) medical, dental, vision, FSA, and (iii) 401(k) leaves me with a net of 62.5%. Just deducting (i) and (ii), I take home 72.5%. I also contribute to an employee stock purchase plan from my net. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/3 "2010-03-26T20:24:20Z")
For every job I’ve had, my take home pay (gross - taxes, SS, medicare, insurance, 401K) has come to about 2/3 of the gross pay ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/4 "2010-03-26T20:27:34Z")
About 60% ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/5 "2010-03-26T20:36:08Z")
I take home 53%, but I am paying extra withholding because my husband works for his LLC and there is no withholding taken from his pay (and all of our health insurance and retirement saving comes out of my paycheck). If I figure the deductions as a fraction of both of our paychecks, it comes out to 68%. (We live in a state with no income tax.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/6 "2010-03-26T20:36:32Z")
I see exactly 72.3%. ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/7 "2010-03-26T20:38:25Z")
For my last full-time job (my only, since graduating uni) I used to get about 2/3 of it, after taxes, compulsory pension contributions and student loan repayments. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/8 "2010-03-26T20:38:45Z")
I see about 56% of my check after taxes and such. ---
**Author:** ![kladdkaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c5a1d2/32.png) [@kladdkaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kladdkaka)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/9 "2010-03-26T20:38:47Z")
Wow, I thought a big chunky of my salary was going away to taxes but that’s nothing compared to you all… (From Sweden) We have a standard 33% tax rate – I guess it would be higher if my salary was a lot higher but I’m not making that much. I never see anything itemized like I did when I worked in the US so I have no idea what percentage is going to healthcare, etc. I also get about 12% added back on because I don’t work regular hours so it’s a kind of replacement holiday pay. So that means I see about 74%. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/10 "2010-03-26T20:39:30Z")
65% ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/11 "2010-03-26T21:09:07Z")
> [@kladdkaka](#): > > Wow, I thought a big chunky of my salary was going away to taxes but that’s nothing compared to you all… > > (From Sweden) We have a standard 33% tax rate – I guess it would be higher if my salary was a lot higher but I’m not making that much. I never see anything itemized like I did when I worked in the US so I have no idea what percentage is going to healthcare, etc. I also get about 12% added back on because I don’t work regular hours so it’s a kind of replacement holiday pay. > > So that means I see about 74%. Though your employer pays payroll taxes of roughly 31% (arbetsgivaravgift) that among other things go to your pension (10% of it). The rest goes to finance health insurance, parental leave, disability insurance etc. So if you count the amount of money your employer actually pays for you to what you get after taxes the difference is much larger. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/12 "2010-03-26T21:30:26Z")
Just looked it up online, YTD based upon my last paycheck (converted to percentages): Taxes [ul] [li]Fed Withholdng 7.678%[/li][li]Fed MED/EE 1.372%[/li][li]Fed OASDI/EE 5.867%[/li][li]State 2.337%[/li][li]City 0.906%[/li][/ul] **Total taxes:** 18.161% Other: [ul] [li]Health insurance 4.026%[/li][li]Dental 0.772%[/li][li]Transit Pass 1.065%[/li][li]Pension 3.993%[/li][/ul] **Total other:** 9.857% **Total taken out:** 28.018% **Total kept:** 71.982% ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/13 "2010-03-26T21:32:12Z")
Looking at my year-end paycheck stub from last year, I netted 59%, with 28.5% withheld for various taxes. The rest were for health benefits and 401k. Because of non-earned income, I always end up with more money going to taxes come April 15. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/14 "2010-03-26T22:08:34Z")
I net 66.32% of my gross, after taxes and 401k deductions. Not sure what the break out is, though, and not willing to look for it. One reason we might be higher than average is the absence of state and local income tax here. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/15 "2010-03-26T22:50:07Z")
~87% for everything - in Australia. Gee, I’m paying _so_ much more tax and other withholdings than I did in the States. Oh, wait, I’m not…my take home pay when I lived in the States was ~ 82%, including all taxes and health insurance, and etc. And that was Florida, a state with no state income tax. So in this land of public health care - I pay less. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/16 "2010-03-26T22:52:23Z")
I take home 52% of my gross, but a moderate chunk of that is me, maxing out my 401(k). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/17 "2010-03-27T03:42:18Z")
For each fortnightly pay: - 29.3% is deducted for tax; - 17.9% is deducted for contributions (employee & employer) to my superannuation fund. I’m currently paying at the maximum contribution rate; - 52.8% is paid into my bank account. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/18 "2010-03-27T03:46:21Z")
I take home 71.9% I don’t have any 401k or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/19 "2010-03-27T05:21:58Z")
I run a small business so my raw income minus what it costs to run the business minus what I need for my own tax, pension, health insurance, life insurance runs to about 50% left over. BUT some of that 50% I need to invest in the business to make it more attractive to customers… So somewhere between 40 and 50% depending on the month and one month a year (just after I pay my tax for the previous year and have just closed the books for the year) it’s ALL MINE!!! I count that as a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923/20 "2010-03-27T06:23:32Z")
Slightly less then 50%, but but that is after health insurance and putting about 25% into a 401k and employee stock purchase, [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-your-salary-do-you-actually-see/533923.md?page=2)