2026 Payroll Tax Rates, Wage Base, and Withholding Thresholds
Social Security and Medicare rates for 2026, the $184,500 Social Security wage base, the Additional Medicare Tax thresholds, self-employment tax, and the flat withholding rate on bonuses.
Payroll tax is the most predictable part of a US paycheck and the least explained. The rates below are set in statute and change rarely; what changes annually is the Social Security wage base, which the SSA raises with average wage growth.
The figure most workers never see is the employer side. A W-2 employee pays 7.65% in FICA, and the employer pays an identical 7.65% on the same wages. That money is part of what you cost, and it is the reason self-employment tax looks so much higher than a paycheck deduction.
FICA rates, 2026
| Tax | Employee | Employer | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security (OASDI) | 6.20% | 6.20% | Wages up to $184,500 |
| Medicare (HI) | 1.45% | 1.45% | No cap — applies to every dollar |
| Additional Medicare Tax | 0.90% | None | Wages above the filing-status threshold below |
The Social Security wage base for 2026 is $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025. The maximum Social Security tax an employee can pay in 2026 is therefore $11,439. Once your year-to-date wages pass the base, the deduction stops for the rest of the year — which is why some paychecks get noticeably larger in the fall.
Additional Medicare Tax thresholds
| Filing status | Wages above |
|---|---|
| Single | $200,000 |
| Head of household | $200,000 |
| Married filing jointly | $250,000 |
| Married filing separately | $125,000 |
Employers must begin withholding the extra 0.90%once an individual's wages from that employer exceed $200,000, regardless of filing status. For married couples that can mean over- or under-withholding, since the employer cannot see a spouse's income; the difference is reconciled on the return.
Self-employment tax
- Combined rate: 15.30% — 12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare.
- Applied to: 92.35%of net self-employment earnings. The reduction approximates the employer-side FICA deduction a W-2 employee's wages never include.
- Social Security cap: the 12.4% portion stops at $184,500 of combined wages and net self-employment earnings. W-2 wages count first against that base.
- Medicare: the 2.9% portion has no cap, and the Additional Medicare Tax applies above the thresholds above.
- Deduction: one-half of the self-employment tax is deductible as an adjustment to income, available whether or not you itemize.
Worked example: $80,000 of net self-employment earnings × 92.35% = $73,880 subject to the tax. At 15.30%, that is $11,303.64, of which roughly half is deductible against income tax.
Supplemental wage withholding (bonuses)
- 22% flat federal withholding on supplemental wages up to $1,000,000 in a calendar year.
- 37% flat on the portion above that threshold.
If your marginal rate is 24% or higher, the 22% flat method under-withholds and the shortfall appears at filing. If your marginal rate is 12%, it over-withholds and comes back as refund. Supplemental wages are also subject to FICA in the normal way.
Calculators that use this data
Sources
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