New York Paycheck Calculator

How New York paychecks work

New York State brackets — 2026, single filer

NY standard deduction: $8,000 single / $16,050 married filing jointly. The 2026 rates include the state’s middle-class rate cuts (the lowest brackets fell to 3.9–5.15%).

Worked example

Beyond the state brackets — NYC, PFL and recapture

• Residents of the five boroughs pay the NYC resident tax (3.078%–3.876%) on all income — the top city rate starts at just $50,000 (single).
• Commuters don’t: live in New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester or Connecticut and work in Manhattan — no NYC income tax (Yonkers has its own smaller surcharge).
• The “convenience of the employer” rule is NY’s famous trap: work remotely from another state for a NY-based employer by choice, and NY still claims state tax on those wages — a key reason remote workers’ moves to Florida need real planning.
• The PFL premium — small, capped, and on every paystub: New York funds Paid Family Leave entirely from employee payroll deductions. For 2026 the rate is 0.432% of gross wages, capped at $411.91 per year — the cap being 0.432% of the annualized New York State Average Weekly Wage ($1,833.63/week, or $95,348.76/year). Earn less than that and you pay the straight percentage; earn more and your deduction stops at $411.91 no matter how high your salary goes. It is withheld post-tax, so it does not reduce your taxable income. Both the rate and the cap are reset each year by the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board.
• High earners — tax benefit recapture: once your New York adjusted gross income passes $107,650, the state starts taking back the benefit of having your first dollars taxed in the lower brackets. It phases in over $50,000 of income at a time, and by the end of each phase your whole taxable income is effectively taxed at a single rate rather than a graduated one. The calculator includes it, so the state tax line already reflects it: a single filer owes $6,180 at $120,000, $8,291 at $150,000, $11,328 at $200,000 and $20,002 at $300,000 — respectively $140, $481, $568 and $2,615 more than the brackets alone would charge. Two things surprise people. It keys off AGI, not wages — so a large enough 401(k) deferral can drop you back under the line entirely (at $115,000 of salary, deferring $10,000 removes the recapture completely). And it steps up again at each bracket boundary, which is why the jump between $200,000 and $300,000 is so much steeper than the one below it.

New York wage rules that shape your paycheck

The tax layers above decide how much of each check you keep. New York’s Labor Law decides the rest: the minimum you can be paid, how often, what an employer may take out, and how much paid time off you are owed.

1. Two minimum wages, depending on where you work

New York sets its minimum wage by region. From January 1, 2026 it is $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 everywhere else, according to the Department of Labor. Starting in 2027 the rate is tied to inflation, rising each year with a three-year average of the Northeast consumer price index. Tipped hospitality workers have a lower cash wage plus a tip credit, and home care aides have their own schedule.

2. Paydays depend on the kind of work you do

Labor Law § 191 sorts workers into categories. A manual worker — the statute’s “mechanic, workingman or laborer” — must be paid weekly, no later than seven calendar days after the end of the week in which the wages were earned, unless the Commissioner has authorized a large employer to pay semi-monthly. Clerical and other workers must be paid at least semi-monthly, on regular paydays designated in advance. Commission salespeople must be paid at least monthly, by the last day of the month after the one in which the commissions were earned, under a signed written agreement that explains how commissions are calculated. No employee can be required to accept a different pay schedule as a condition of the job.

3. Final pay: by the next regular payday

When a job ends for any reason, § 191(3) requires the employer to pay the remaining wages no later than the regular payday for the pay period in which the termination occurred, and to mail the check if you ask. That is far looser than California’s same-day rule, but it is a firm deadline set by the pay calendar you already know.

4. What an employer may deduct

Section 193 is one of the strictest deduction rules in the country. An employer may take only deductions that are required by law (taxes, the PFL premium, court-ordered garnishments) or that you have authorized in writing for your own benefit from an enumerated list — insurance premiums, pension and health benefits, union dues, transit passes, charitable contributions and similar payments. Recovering an accidental overpayment or a pay advance is allowed only under Department of Labor rules on notice, timing and amount. Cash-register shortages and breakage are not on the list, and the employer cannot get around the rule by having you pay it back in a separate transaction.

5. Paid sick leave, and 20 hours of prenatal leave

Under § 196-b every New York employee accrues sick leave at at least one hour for every 30 hours worked. How much of it is paid depends on the size of the employer:

Paid sick time is paid at your regular rate (never below the minimum wage). Unused hours carry over to the next year, though the employer may still cap use at 40 or 56 hours a year, and nothing is paid out when you leave. Since January 1, 2025 the law also gives every employee 20 hours of paid prenatal leave in any 52-week period, on top of sick leave. Because sick days are paid at the normal rate, they do not change the take-home figures above.

How this estimate is calculated

• Federal income tax: 2026 IRS brackets with the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married filing jointly), no credits or itemizing.
• FICA: Social Security 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (plus 0.9% additional above $200k single / $250k married).
• Pre-tax deductions (401(k), traditional retirement) reduce federal and state taxable income but not FICA wages.
• Results estimate your annual tax liability spread across paychecks — real per-check withholding depends on your W-4 and settles at tax time.