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Tools/Visa-holder finance/H-1B and OPT Take-Home Pay✓ CHECKED AGAINST WORKED EXAMPLES · SEP 29, 2026

What will I take home each paycheck on an H-1B, F-1 OPT or as a nonresident?

See your 2026 take-home pay per paycheck after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, and state tax, and how your status changes the amount for the same salary.

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Your status for tax
Standard deduction, and Social Security and Medicare tax.
How often you are paid
TAKE-HOME PER PAYCHECK
$3,804
On $145,000 a year paid every two weeks, a work-visa holder who is a U.S. resident for tax would take home about $3,804 a paycheck ($98,902 a year, 68% of pay). Each paycheck: $848 of federal income tax, $421 of Social Security and Medicare tax, and $267 of state tax, after $167 to the 401(k) and $69 for health insurance.
A year
$98,902
Federal tax a check
$848
FICA a check
$421
Share of pay kept
68%
UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT
LIBRARY CHAPTERYour Tax Status Is Not Your VisaWhy the IRS sorts visa holders into resident and nonresident aliens by its own tests, the green card and substantial presence tests, and what each status changes about the income taxed, the form filed and the deductions allowed.LIBRARY CHAPTERSocial Security and Medicare: Who Pays and When It StartsWho owes FICA on a visa, why F-1 and J-1 nonresident students are exempt and the exact point the exemption ends, how to recover tax withheld by mistake, and what US credits and totalization agreements are worth if you leave.QUICK ANSWERWhat is the substantial presence test?The substantial presence test is the IRS day count that decides whether someone who is not a US citizen or green-card holder is taxed as a US resident. You meet it with at least 31 days in the US this year and at least 183 days when you add all of this year's days, a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before's.
Terms:FICA exemption for F-1 and J-1 studentsEffectively connected income (ECI)

Where one paycheck goes

$6kGross pay−$167401(k)−$69Health insurance−$848Federal income tax−$421Social Security andMedicare−$267State tax$4kTake-home

Of a $5,577 paycheck, $848 goes to federal income tax on $122,761 of taxable income for the year after the $16,100 standard deduction, $421 to Social Security and Medicare, and $267 to state tax, leaving $3,804. The 401(k) money ($167) is yours, just not in this paycheck.

The same pay under each status

StatusTake-home a checkA yearFederal taxFICA
Work visa, resident for tax (yours)$3,804$98,902$22,061$10,956
Work visa, first year$3,655$95,038$25,925$10,956
F-1 OPT$4,077$105,993$25,925$0
F-1 OPT, from India$4,225$109,857$22,061$0

For $145,000, yearly take-home runs from $95,038 to $109,857 across these statuses. Not paying Social Security and Medicare tax is worth $10,956 a year at this pay; the standard deduction is worth $3,864 of federal tax.

How the same job pays as your status changes

  1. F-1 OPT
    $4,077 a paycheck
    No Social Security or Medicare tax and no standard deduction, in the first five calendar years of F-1 status.
  2. H-1B, first year
    $3,655 a paycheck
    Social Security and Medicare tax starts; still no standard deduction until you meet the substantial presence test.
  3. H-1B, resident
    $3,804 a paycheck
    The standard deduction applies, and Social Security and Medicare tax continues.

At $145,000, take-home is $4,077 a paycheck on OPT, $3,655 in the first year on an H-1B, and $3,804 once you are a tax resident and the standard deduction applies.

What moves the needle

Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.

How it's computed

FORMULA
Income-tax wages = salary − 401(k) − health premium
Federal taxable income = income-tax wages − standard deduction ($16,100 single; none for a nonresident alien, except an eligible student from India)
Federal tax = 2026 single brackets applied to federal taxable income
Social Security and Medicare tax = 6.2% up to $184,500 + 1.45% + 0.9% above $200,000, on salary − health premium (none for an exempt F-1 student)
State tax = state rate × income-tax wages; take-home = salary − 401(k) − health − federal − FICA − state, divided by the pay periods
  • This estimates the year's tax spread evenly over 26 paychecks. It is not what a particular payroll withholds: a nonresident alien fills in Form W-4 differently, and withholding can be more or less than the tax you finally owe.
  • A nonresident alien cannot take the standard deduction; students and business apprentices eligible for Article 21(2) of the U.S.–India treaty can (IRS Publication 519). Itemized deductions a nonresident may claim, such as state income tax, are not modelled.
  • F-1, J-1 and M-1 students in status for fewer than five calendar years are generally nonresident aliens, exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax on work their status allows, including practical training. The exemption ends if you change to a status that is not exempt, such as H-1B, or become a resident alien (IRS).
  • A 401(k) contribution lowers income-tax wages but not the wages for Social Security and Medicare tax; a health premium taken before tax lowers both. The $24,500 2026 limit applies to the 401(k).
  • Whether you are a resident for tax depends on the substantial presence test and is not decided here. The state rate is a flat example (5.0%); local taxes, credits, bonuses and pay above the Social Security base within a year are not modelled.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
Pay: $145,000 less $4,350 for the 401(k) and $1,789 for health insurance leaves $138,861 of income-tax wages, $122,761 after the $16,100 standard deduction. Federal tax on that is $22,061. Social Security and Medicare tax is $10,956, state tax at 5.0% is $6,943. Take-home is $98,902 a year, $3,804 for each of 26 paychecks.
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Questions about this result

Generally no. F-1, J-1 and M-1 students who have been in the U.S. fewer than five calendar years are usually nonresident aliens, and they are exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax on wages for work their status allows, including practical training. On $145,000, that is worth $10,956 a year compared with a resident. The exemption ends if you change to a status that is not exempt, such as H-1B, or become a resident alien.
Yes. Nothing exempts an H-1B holder: Social Security tax is 6.2% on pay up to the $184,500 base in 2026, Medicare tax is 1.45% on all pay, and an extra 0.9% applies above $200,000.
No, with one exception: students and business apprentices from India who are eligible under Article 21(2) of the U.S.–India treaty can. At $145,000 the standard deduction is worth $3,864 of federal tax. Resident aliens take it like anyone else.
When you meet the substantial presence test, which counts your days in the U.S. over three years, or make another election. Many H-1B workers are nonresidents for their first tax year and residents after that; use the substantial presence test calculator on this site, and confirm with a tax professional, because it changes both your deduction and your return.
Employers withhold based on your Form W-4, your benefits, and the tax rules for your state and city. This page estimates the year’s tax and divides it evenly, so it will not match a payslip exactly, especially if you are a nonresident alien filling in the W-4 differently or you get a bonus.
Only as a flat rate you enter, applied to pay after your 401(k) and health deductions. States differ in brackets, deductions and local taxes, so treat it as an estimate.
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