Estimate a 2026 Illinois paycheck with 4.95% withholding, IL-W-4 allowances, hourly and salary examples, retirement deductions, and overtime.
Your pay details
Change any field to update the gross estimate.
01 / INPUT
Regular resident wages, 2020+ federal W-4, latest supported 2026 state tables. Not for historical paychecks, bonuses, nonresident allocation, or multistate payroll.
Pay amount
Tax context
Deductions
Enter deductions for one pay period. Other pre-tax reduces income-tax wages but not FICA; use only qualifying deductions. Dollar elections below specify annual or per-paycheck amounts separately.
Federal W-4 elections
Planning inputs only. This does not submit an electronic W-4; your employer uses the form you file with them. Leave blank anything you did not enter on your W-4.
$
Annual dollars
$
Annual dollars
$
Annual dollars
$
Dollars per paycheck
Year-to-date taxable wages
Taxable wages earned before this paycheck from the same employer—not tax already withheld. Blank means 0.
$
Wages before this paycheck
$
Wages before this paycheck
Illinois state withholding
Enter the count on your state certificate. Blank means zero.
Additional age/blind allowances on Line 2.
$
Dollars per paycheck
$
Optional. State income-tax wages for this paycheck; blank uses the calculated amount.
Illinois IL-700-T uses 4.95% after $2,925 per IL-W-4 Line 1 allowance and $1,000 per Line 2 allowance. Resident regular wages only. Use the wage override for a known state-taxable base. Enter county/local taxes, disability, paid leave, and other payroll charges as actual dollar amounts below.Effective current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks)Official employer withholding source
Local and other payroll
Known actual dollar amounts per paycheck, not rates. Blank means 0.
$
Dollars per paycheck
$
Dollars per paycheck
Illinois IL-700-T uses 4.95% after $2,925 per IL-W-4 Line 1 allowance and $1,000 per Line 2 allowance. Effective current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks).
ESTIMATED TAKE-HOME PAY
Complete the inputs
Enter pay, state, and filing status to calculate.
Paycheck breakdownBIWEEKLY
Gross pay · every 2 weeks gross$0.00
Federal income tax · estimate—
State income tax · estimate—
Social Security · estimate—
Medicare, including any additional tax—
Pre-tax deductions—
Post-tax deductions—
Local tax · entered amount—
Other payroll · entered amount—
Estimated net pay—
Choose your tax contextSelect a U.S. state and filing status. Tax lines stay blank until these are selected.
Withholding estimates use current employer tables and the elections entered. Annual totals repeat this paycheck—not future wage-cap changes. Local taxes, disability, and paid leave require actual entered amounts. Historical or special payroll methods are not supported.
Paycheck & Tax Guides
Understand the numbers behind your paycheck.
Practical 2026 explanations with IRS and state sources. Learn what an estimate can—and cannot—tell you.
Illinois uses a flat withholding rate, but the amount is not always 4.95% of the gross check. IL-W-4 allowances and the taxable wage base determine what is multiplied by the rate. This page shows how to reproduce those inputs rather than guess a percentage from the last deposit.
2026 IL-700-T: rate and allowance deductions
Illinois’ official 2026 booklet sets the withholding rate at 4.95% and the main annual exemption allowance at $2,925. Payroll spreads an annual allowance over the number of pay periods. One Line 1 allowance reduces the modeled annual wage base by $2,925, not the tax itself by $2,925.
IL-W-4 Line 1 and Line 2 are separate elections. Use their actual counts and any additional dollar withholding on file with your employer. Federal W-4 dependent credits do not automatically fill the state certificate. If the state line looks too high, first compare the submitted IL-W-4 rather than changing the federal filing status.
A traditional retirement deferral generally reduces modeled Illinois and federal income-tax wages but not FICA wages. A qualifying pre-tax cafeteria health premium has a different effect because the modeled FICA base also falls. A benefit paid after tax should stay out of these pre-tax fields.
When evaluating a raise, compare two estimates using the same IL-W-4 elections and benefit amounts. Otherwise a change in benefits or allowances may look like a change in the state tax rate. Workers with multistate duties or reciprocity certificates should ask payroll which state wage base applies; this page does not implement cross-border allocation.
For workers covered and nonexempt under the federal FLSA, the usual threshold is 40 worked hours in one workweek, paid at least 1.5 times the regular rate. At $25, four qualifying overtime hours add $150 to regular earnings. A two-week total is not enough to decide which week crossed the threshold.
A flat Illinois rate does not make overtime tax-free. The overtime increases taxable wages for both state and federal withholding unless a specific exclusion applies. The federal qualified-overtime deduction has separate eligibility rules; do not subtract the whole overtime check from the Illinois wage base.
Illinois worked examples
Both examples are hypothetical and calculated with this site's withholding engine for a single filer.
Hourly pay with one IL-W-4 Line 1 allowance
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Biweekly (26 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$25.00 per hour × 80 hours = $2,000.00
Filer
Single, 2020+ W-4, Step 2 off, Steps 3 and 4 zero, year-to-date wages zero
State elections
Defaults except as listed below
Overridden elections
State allowances: 1
Per-paycheck breakdown for Hourly pay with one IL-W-4 Line 1 allowance
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$2,000.00
Federal income tax withheld
$156.15
IL state income tax withheld
$93.43
Social Security
$124.00
Medicare
$29.00
Retirement contribution
$0.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$1,597.42
Excluded: local tax ($0.00) and other payroll deductions ($0.00) are assumed zero unless shown above. No benefits are included unless listed. This is a partial net under assumptions, not an actual deposit.
Gross is $2,000. One $2,925 annual allowance yields $93.43 of state withholding; a zero-allowance check would instead withhold $99.00. Line 2 allowances and extra withholding are zero.
Salary and a traditional retirement deduction
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Biweekly (26 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$83,200.00 annual salary ÷ 26 pay periods = $3,200.00
Filer
Single, 2020+ W-4, Step 2 off, Steps 3 and 4 zero, year-to-date wages zero
State elections
Defaults except as listed below
Overridden elections
State allowances: 1
Per-paycheck breakdown for Salary and a traditional retirement deduction
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$3,200.00
Federal income tax withheld
$329.18
IL state income tax withheld
$144.91
Social Security
$198.40
Medicare
$46.40
Retirement contribution
$160.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$2,321.11
Excluded: local tax ($0.00) and other payroll deductions ($0.00) are assumed zero unless shown above. No benefits are included unless listed. This is a partial net under assumptions, not an actual deposit.
Gross is $3,200 with a $160 traditional contribution. The annual state allowance remains $2,925; the contribution is a separate wage deduction, not another allowance.
Frequently asked questions
Should I multiply my entire Illinois gross check by 4.95%?
Only if the state taxable wage base equals gross and no allowance deductions apply. IL-W-4 allowances and qualifying deductions can make the withholding base smaller.
Is an IL-W-4 allowance a dollar-for-dollar tax credit?
No. The principal allowance reduces the annual withholding wage base. The tax saving is the reduction multiplied by the rate, spread across pay periods.
Why can two Illinois employees with equal salaries have different net checks?
Different federal elections, IL-W-4 allowances, benefits, retirement contributions, and post-tax deductions can all change net pay even though the state rate is the same.
Default mode follows IRS Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A for a 2020-or-later W-4 and each supported state’s current employer formula. W-4 credits and annual adjustments affect federal withholding; state elections follow the state certificate independently.
Social Security withholds 6.2% on this check’s remaining wages under the $184,500 employer wage cap. Medicare withholds 1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages crossing the employer’s $200,000 threshold, regardless of filing status. Enter taxable wages before this paycheck in the YTD controls. Traditional retirement deferrals remain subject to FICA; qualifying cafeteria-plan health premiums are assumed FICA-exempt.
Annual projections repeat this check. The separate annual tax estimate mode retains a limited legacy liability model and uses filing-status Medicare liability thresholds; it does not represent paycheck withholding. Overtime is not automatically exempt from withholding or FICA. Use W-4 Step 4(b) for an elected overtime-related withholding deduction.
TAX YEAR 2026
Sources & assumptions
Federal filing statusNot selected
State selectedIllinois
Rule set and update2026 · current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks)
Regular resident wage withholding only. Not for 2019-or-earlier W-4 forms, historical pay dates, supplemental/bonus methods, multistate allocation, reciprocity, pensions, or special employer methods. State wage overrides and entered local/other payroll dollars are used as supplied, not independently verified. Each state section identifies its table and effective period. DC withholding is not verified and is unavailable rather than silently using annual brackets. Legacy annual mode omits many state adjustments and later amendments. This is a planning estimate, not tax advice or a guarantee of your employer’s exact result.