FICA Taxes Explained
FICA is the second-biggest bite out of most paychecks — 7.65% of your wages, before income tax even starts. It has two parts with two very different rules: Social Security, which stops at a wage cap, and Medicare, which never stops.
What FICA is and where the money goes
FICA — the Federal Insurance Contributions Act — is the payroll tax that funds Social Security (retirement, disability, and survivor benefits) and Medicare (hospital and medical coverage). Unlike income tax, it's a flat rate on wages, withheld from every paycheck automatically. And unlike income tax, it's a shared tax: your employer pays a matching share on top of what comes out of your check. The combined rate is 15.3% — 7.65% from you, 7.65% from your employer — the largest employment tax most workers pay.
Social Security: 6.2%, capped at $184,500
You pay 6.2% on wages up to the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500, and your employer matches it. Earn more than that and Social Security withholding stops for the rest of the year — the maximum any employee pays in 2026 is $184,500 × 6.2% = $11,439. The cap exists because Social Security benefits are also capped: the tax only covers the earnings the benefit formula counts. Each year the Social Security Administration adjusts the wage base (it was $176,100 in 2025), so the cap creeps upward over time.
Medicare: 1.45%, no cap
Medicare works differently: 1.45% comes out of every dollar of wages, with no wage base and no maximum — also matched by your employer. A $75,000 salary pays $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50; a $500,000 salary pays five times that. There's no ceiling because Medicare benefits aren't tied to your earnings the way Social Security benefits are.
The additional 0.9% Medicare tax
High earners pay one more layer: an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 (single or head of household), $250,000 (married filing jointly), or $125,000 (married filing separately). Two quirks worth knowing: employers don't match it, and they're required to start withholding it once your pay from that employer passes $200,000 in the calendar year — even if your actual filing status means you won't owe it. Any excess gets sorted out on your tax return.
The formula
where the threshold is $200,000 single / $250,000 joint for the additional Medicare tax.
Worked examples: $100,000 and $250,000
Every figure below was computed with the site's own FICA math for 2026:
$250,000 salary (single): Social Security = $11,439 (capped at the $184,500 wage base). Medicare = $250,000 × 1.45% = $3,625. Additional Medicare = ($250,000 − $200,000) × 0.9% = $450. Total FICA: $15,514. Your employer matches $11,439 + $3,625 = $15,064 — the extra $450 is yours alone.
See how the employee rate drops as income rises? At $100,000 you pay 7.65%; at $250,000 you pay $15,514 ÷ $250,000 = 6.2%. That's the wage base at work — the opposite of progressive income tax.
The late-year paycheck bump
Here's the part high earners notice: once your year-to-date wages cross $184,500, the 6.2% stops and your checks get bigger. Take a $220,000 salary paid monthly — $18,333.33 per check, with $1,136.67 of Social Security per check while the cap still applies:
Month 11: only $1,166.67 of wages is still under the $184,500 cap → Social Security = $72.33.
Month 12: fully above the cap → $0 Social Security.
Medicare keeps coming out every month (no cap). Net effect: your December check is about $1,137 bigger than your January check, for no reason other than the calendar.
If a late-year check suddenly looks smaller instead, that's usually the additional 0.9% Medicare kicking in above $200,000 — a different line moving the opposite direction.
What your FICA dollars buy you
FICA isn't a fee that vanishes — it's contributions toward two specific programs. Social Security pays retirement benefits based on your lifetime earnings record (your 35 highest-earning years), plus disability and survivor benefits for you and your family. The more you earn and contribute over your career — up to the wage base each year — the larger the eventual benefit. Medicare's hospital insurance, funded by the 1.45%, generally covers you from age 65 regardless of how much you paid in. That's the trade the system offers: flat, unavoidable payroll taxes now in exchange for defined benefits later. Whether that trade is a good deal for you personally depends on your earnings history and how long you collect — but it's why FICA is structured as a separate, earmarked tax rather than folded into income tax.
FICA on your W-2
Every January, your W-2 reports FICA in four boxes worth knowing: Box 3 (Social Security wages) and Box 5 (Medicare wages) show what each tax was figured on — they can differ from Box 1 (income-tax wages) because pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions reduce income-tax wages but not FICA wages. Box 4 shows the Social Security tax actually withheld (capped at $11,439 for 2026) and Box 6 shows Medicare tax withheld. If you worked two jobs and the Box 4 total across both W-2s exceeds $11,439, that's your signal to claim the excess credit on your return.
Two jobs? Watch the wage base
Each employer applies the $184,500 wage base separately — they don't know what the other one paid you. Two $100,000 jobs will each withhold the full 6.2%, for $12,400 total, which is $961 over the $11,439 maximum. You get the excess back as a credit when you file your return, but you've lent the IRS the difference all year. (This is separate from the W-4's multiple-jobs problem, which is about income tax under-withholding.)
Self-employed: you pay both halves
If you're self-employed, there's no employer to match you — you pay both halves yourself as self-employment tax: 15.3% total (12.4% Social Security to the wage base, 2.9% Medicare), plus the 0.9% additional Medicare above the thresholds. The consolation the tax code offers: the "employer" half is deductible when you figure your income tax.
Try it on your own pay
Run your salary through our paycheck calculator to see the FICA lines inside your full take-home breakdown — Social Security, Medicare, and the additional Medicare tax where they apply — alongside federal and state income tax for 2026.
Estimates, not advice
All figures on this page are for tax year 2026: the $184,500 Social Security wage base, 6.2% / 1.45% / 0.9% rates, and the $200,000 / $250,000 / $125,000 additional Medicare thresholds. Real payrolls reflect your employer's pay schedule, pre-tax deductions, and filing status. FICA rules have exceptions for certain workers (some state and local employees, certain religious workers, some student employees). These figures are estimates for learning how the math works — not tax advice.