Net to Gross Paycheck Calculator

The net-to-gross (reverse) paycheck calculation answers: "I need to take home $X per paycheck — what gross salary do I need to earn?" This is the inverse of the standard gross-to-net calculation and is especially useful for salary negotiations, offer comparisons, and financial goal-setting.

Because tax calculations are nonlinear (brackets mean the marginal rate changes with income), there is no simple formula to reverse from net to gross. This calculator uses a binary search algorithm — iterating on candidate gross values until the resulting net pay equals your target within ±$0.01. The process converges in under 60 iterations.

The net-to-gross mode is also useful for calculating a gross raise needed to achieve a specific net raise. If you want $200/month more take-home and you're in the 22% federal bracket plus 5% state tax, you need approximately $200 / (1 - 0.22 - 0.05 - 0.0765) = approximately $296/month gross increase — this calculator gives you the exact figure.