Employer payroll tax calculator

How to calculate employer payroll taxes

For each employee, add employer Social Security + employer Medicare + FUTA + SUTA. Apply each wage base separately; a cap is per employee, so a combined payroll total is not a substitute for the employee's annual wages.

• Social Security: 6.2% × wages up to the 2026 $184,500 wage base.
• Medicare: 1.45% × covered wages, with no wage cap. The employee's Additional Medicare Tax has no matching employer share.
• FUTA: generally 0.6% × the first $7,000 when eligible for the full state unemployment credit. California uses the dataset's 2.1% planning rate, including a projected 1.5% credit reduction; the 2026 reduction is not final until November 10.
• SUTA: the assigned employer rate × wages up to the state's unemployment wage base. Published ranges remain ranges; a missing verified default requires your employer notice.

Example: an $85,000 employee in Texas

With the published 2.70% new-employer SUTA rate on the first $9,000: Social Security $5,270.00 + Medicare $1,232.50 + FUTA $42.00 + SUTA $243.00 = $6,787.50 per year, or 7.99% of wages. This is the four-line tax subtotal, before salary, benefits, insurance and any other applicable charges.

Payroll tax is one part of employer cost

Budgeting a hire also requires wages, benefits, insurance and administration. Open the full employer cost calculator with this wage and state scenario to include those items. For the underlying explanation, read the employer payroll tax guide or the burden-rate guide.

If you are selecting how to run payroll, compare payroll software and PEO costs. The comparison is informational; no affiliate link is active.

Sources and assumptions

• IRS Publication 15
• Department of Labor FUTA credit reductions
• State unemployment source
• Dataset and corrections log · model 2026

Use annual covered wages for one employee in one state. This tool does not split multistate wages, calculate employee take-home pay, determine FUTA exemptions or settle quarterly deposits.