What is FICA?
FICA is the name on many pay stubs for Social Security and Medicare tax together, after the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Social Security pays retirement, disability and survivor benefits; Medicare pays for health care from age 65. Both are taken from every paycheck, in every state, alongside federal income tax. A pay stub may show them as one FICA line, or as two: OASDI (the formal name for Social Security) and Medicare.
What are the Social Security and Medicare rates for 2026?
| You pay | On | |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% | pay up to $184,500 |
| Medicare | 1.45% | all pay |
| Extra Medicare tax | 0.9% | pay over $200,000 ($250,000 on a joint return) |
Unlike income tax, there is no standard deduction: the tax starts from your first dollar of pay. On $60,000 a year, Social Security is $3,720.00 and Medicare is $870.00, a total of $4,590.00, or $176.54 from each paycheck paid every two weeks.
What is the Social Security wage base?
Social Security tax stops once your pay for the year reaches the wage base, $184,500 in 2026. The most anyone pays from one job is 6.2% of that: $11,439.00. The base rises most years with average wages.
That changes your paychecks late in the year. On $300,000 paid every two weeks, you reach the wage base in paycheck 16. Your last 10 paychecks of the year have no Social Security taken out, so each is about $715.38 bigger. The calculator spreads the year evenly instead, so it shows an average paycheck.
How does the extra Medicare tax work?
The extra 0.9% applies to pay over $200,000 for a single filer or head of household, and over $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly, on their pay together. On $250,000, a single filer pays $450.00 of it, on top of $3,625.00 of ordinary Medicare and the full $11,439.00 of Social Security.
Employers cannot see your filing status for this, so each one withholds the extra tax on any pay it gives you over $200,000. If you are married and earn $220,000 while your spouse earns nothing, your employer withholds $180.00, but on a joint return you owe $0.00, and you get the difference back when you file. It can work the other way too: two spouses each earning $150,000 have no extra tax withheld, yet owe it on their pay above $250,000 together.
Does my employer pay Social Security and Medicare too?
Yes. Your employer pays another 6.2% for Social Security, up to the same wage base, and another 1.45% for Medicare. That does not come out of your paycheck, but it is part of what you cost to employ. There is no employer share of the extra 0.9%. Self-employed people pay both halves themselves, which this site does not cover.
What lowers Social Security and Medicare tax?
Health insurance premiums and HSA contributions taken out through your employer’s plan (a cafeteria plan) come off before Social Security and Medicare. $200 of health insurance every two weeks is $5,200 a year, which saves $397.80 of FICA, as well as income tax. A traditional 401(k) does not: it lowers income tax only. The pre-tax deductions guide has the details.
What if I have two jobs?
Each employer takes Social Security on what it pays you, up to the wage base, without knowing about the other job. If your jobs together pay more than $184,500, too much is taken, and the extra comes back as a credit on your federal tax return. Medicare has no cap, so nothing comes back there.
To see Social Security and Medicare on your own pay, with federal and state tax, use the paycheck calculator.