Take home pay

[Chemistjoey]

Any PharmD's care to share your monthly or weekly take home pay after taxes and healthcare? Please include your work setting.

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[SpirivaSunrise]

Why do you want to know?

 

[Pharmist1720]

Any PharmD's care to share your monthly or weekly take home pay after taxes and healthcare? Please include your work setting.

From my full time staff pharmacist job at a hospital around $2700 per pay check.
Also work part time 4-5 times per month, each day I do relief it's about $400-450 per day.

 

[N974]

It will depend on your state, marital status and your 401k contributions etc, but for average people it normally works out to be about 60-70% for jobs that pay between 100k and 200k.
Most actual Federal Taxes are about 12-18% so say 15% federal, 5% for state, plus 6% for SS, 1.5% for medicare, 7% for 401k (that would be the net if you contributed 10% since it is tax deferred), maybe a percent for a health care savings account etc. Total that and it comes to 35% total.

Difference between a no state tax state and a taxed state isn't as much as you might think because your state taxes you pay get deducted from your federal income tax. For simple math say you make 100k gross and pay 15% federal after deductions. That obviously means 15k dollars. Now if you live in California and pay 10% state tax, your federal taxable income is now $90,000, and since your last $10,000 is taxed at your HIGHEST tax rate of 28% (for example), that is $2800 in FEDERAL tax that you do not owe. Which means you are paying $22,200 total tax state and federal instead of the $25,000 combined you might think.

These are way oversimplified numbers, and the numbers are closer, but I think it demonstrates the point. For example if you have 100k federal taxable that means you made much more if you own a home and contribute to a 401k or IRA, have kids etc.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Difference between a no state tax state and a taxed state isn't as much as you might think because your state taxes you pay get deducted from your federal income tax. For simple math say you make 100k gross and pay 15% federal after deductions. That obviously means 15k dollars. Now if you live in California and pay 10% state tax, your federal taxable income is now $90,000, and since your last $10,000 is taxed at your HIGHEST tax rate of 28% (for example), that is $2800 in FEDERAL tax that you do not owe. Which means you are paying $22,200 total tax state and federal instead of the $25,000 combined you might think.

You are forgetting that you can only either deduct state tax or sales tax from the federal tax, but not both. So for states with no income tax, people get to deduct sales tax on top of of not paying state tax.

 

[Momus]

Difference between a no state tax state and a taxed state isn't as much as you might think because your state taxes you pay get deducted from your federal income tax. For simple math say you make 100k gross and pay 15% federal after deductions. That obviously means 15k dollars. Now if you live in California and pay 10% state tax, your federal taxable income is now $90,000, and since your last $10,000 is taxed at your HIGHEST tax rate of 28% (for example), that is $2800 in FEDERAL tax that you do not owe. Which means you are paying $22,200 total tax state and federal instead of the $25,000 combined you might think.

These are way oversimplified numbers, and the numbers are closer, but I think it demonstrates the point. For example if you have 100k federal taxable that means you made much more if you own a home and contribute to a 401k or IRA, have kids etc.

So, you like paying $10,000 the CA state to get 2800 back from the fed. This is the new stoopid lol. In say, Texas, you'd pay 0 and get to keep $7200. Which one you rather have?

 

[Sparda29]

Full time hospital staff pharmacist job - I take home like $2650 out of the $3900 I get every paycheck assuming I don't work any overtime.

Per-diem hospital staff pharmacist job - I get between $295-370 per shift after taxes (depending on what time of day the shift is).

Per-diem independent - $35/hr cash.

 

[N974]

So, you like paying $10,000 the CA state to get 2800 back from the fed. This is the new stoopid lol. In say, Texas, you'd pay 0 and get to keep $7200. Which one you rather have?

Considering I don't live in California and was only using it as an example I don't "like" anything about California's tax rates. I was only using 10% as an example to simplify the math and answer the original person's question depending on what state he/she lives in.

Now as far as Texas goes, I would pay any tax rate not to live in that cultural and literal desert. Considering the total tax burden between Texas and California is only 3% (8% in Texas vs 11% in California), but the salaries are 10% higher in California, I would pick California every day of the week and twice on Sunday given the geography and the outdoor activities that it allows.

Within 3 hours of the Bay area for example you have: Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, Redwood National Park, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz, Mt. Shasta along with Lake Shasta.

Within 3 hours of Austin, arguably Texas' best city you have Lake Travis and Dallas and desert. Taking all of this into account I would filter the "stoopid" comments.

 

[N974]

You are forgetting that you can only either deduct state tax or sales tax from the federal tax, but not both. So for states with no income tax, people get to deduct sales tax on top of of not paying state tax.

Good point....

 

[pezdispenser]

Retail. A base 2 week paycheck would be about $2,800 for me. No state income tax, $35 health and dental, 8% 401(k). But I usually pick up overtime here and there so total take home pay for the year will be about $83k and maxed out 401(k) $17,500.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Considering the total tax burden between Texas and California is only 3% (8% in Texas vs 11% in California), but the salaries are 10% higher in California...

I'm not getting where you got the total tax burden difference of only 3%. Cali resident effectively pay 7.2% state (28% deduction off 10% state tax) + 8.75% sales tax. Texas pays 0% state tax + 6.12% sales tax (28% off 8.5%).

Also while California wages are higher, so is the cost of living. CNN's cost of living calculatot says if you make $120k in Austin, you have to make $210k in San Francisco to have the same living. Holy cow!

PS, San Antonio and Houston are both less than 3 hrs away from Austin. I love Austin, but the traffic is bad now that it has grown so much. Houston, China town baby!

 

[WVUPharm2007]

$3600 every two weels after 401k, med/dent/vision, & taxes...will go up to $3800 next paycheck when I no longer have to pay the social security taxes...mwahaha....

 

[confettiflyer]

Also while California wages are higher, so is the cost of living. CNN's cost of living calculatot says if you make $120k in Austin, you have to make $210k in San Francisco to have the same living. Holy cow!

Only rich .com people and engineers can afford to live in SF now...pharmacists just really don't make a lot of money, period. The only pharmacists I know that live in SF proper are < 30 yo + single and live what amounts to a "college w/ money" lifestyle (renting a room, no car, going out every other night).

But if $120k is the going rate for pharmacists in Austin then I'm just under the "break even" on this calculator (after mentally adjusting the figures of Sac, OC, and LA with my own California-based voodoo economics).

 

[BMBiology]

$3600 every two weels after 401k, med/dent/vision, & taxes...will go up to $3800 next paycheck when I no longer have to pay the social security taxes...mwahaha....

Wait, how do you avoid paying ss tax?

 

[BMBiology]

In California about 35% will go to taxes and you get to keep 65%. This does not include putting money in your 401 k.

 

[xiphoid2010]

But if $120k is the going rate for pharmacists in Austin then I'm just under the "break even" on this calculator (after mentally adjusting the figures of Sac, OC, and LA with my own California-based voodoo economics).

Good news, LA's cost of living isn't as crazy as San Francisco, the calculator give $167k as equivalent pay, much more feasible.

 

[BMBiology]

Yeah but how much fun are you going to have living in Texas compared to SF?

The fun factor is worth $100 k a year!

 

[xiphoid2010]

Wait, how do you avoid paying ss tax?

ss tax is capped at like first $110k, so once you past that you pay no more for the rest of the year, but you still have to pay medicare tax.

 

[BMBiology]

ss tax is capped at like first $110k, so once you past that you pay no more for the rest of the year, but you still have to pay medicare tax.

Oh he was talking a out this year

 

[xiphoid2010]

Yeah but how much fun are you going to have living in Texas compared to SF?

The fun factor is worth $100 k a year!

Austin isn't fun, what!? Oh the stories i can tell about the nights spent up and down the 5th and 6th street, hohoho! But Texans do different things for fun, some of it is kinda fringe, like hunting rattle snakes or cow tipping... Hmmm....

 

[PharmerC]

Wait, how do you avoid paying ss tax?

Only pay on $113,700 of your income

 

[MackandBlues]

Austin isn't fun, what!? Oh the stories i can tell about the nights spent up and down the 5th and 6th street, hohoho! But Texans do different things for fun, some of it is kinda fringe, like hunting rattle snakes or cow tipping... Hmmm....

Texas is tons of fun! We have 6 of the 20 largest cities in the US by population. CA only has 4.... So there are plenty of things to do here.

 

[pezdispenser]

Considering the total tax burden between Texas and California is only 3% (8% in Texas vs 11% in California)

I'm not getting where you got the total tax burden difference of only 3%. Cali resident effectively pay 7.2% state (28% deduction off 10% state tax) + 8.75% sales tax. Texas pays 0% state tax + 6.12% sales tax (28% off 8.5%).

Also interested in how N974 came up with that. It's not like we pay sales tax on our entire income either. I would think most people's income goes towards expenses that do not incur sales tax like housing (rent or mortgage) and tuition/student loans. When I use the IRS table to determine my sales tax deduction, it gives around $1,000 each year, so divide by 6% (Florida) and it is saying I spend about $16,666 on items that incur sales tax.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Also interested in how N974 came up with that. It's not like we pay sales tax on our entire income either. I would think most people's income goes towards expenses that do not incur sales tax like housing (rent or mortgage) and tuition/student loans. When I use the IRS table to determine my sales tax deduction, it gives around $1,000 each year, so divide by 6% (Florida) and it is saying I spend about $16,666 on items that incur sales tax.

Off topic, when you use the IRS table (instead of keeping all receipts), don't forget to add additional specific items allowed: sales from buying/leasing a car, boat, plane, buying/remodeling/adding to your home. So buying a $20K car will net you another $1200 in deduction over there.

 

[confettiflyer]

Good news, LA's cost of living isn't as crazy as San Francisco, the calculator give $167k as equivalent pay, much more feasible.

Yeah...pretty much. But QOL isn't just dollars and cents...if you like hunting and i dunno, other texas things then live in texas. If you like body boarding and skiing, then move to so-cal. If you like asian techies, move to silicon valley, etc...

 

[N974]

I think I used Forbes, but any "state rank by tax burden" study will give you an idea. Here is one: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/03/02/state-local-tax-burden/1937757/
None compare the exact same thing, and a great deal depends on where you are in life, young and single or retired, self-employed, wealthy or poot etc. For example Texas has the 3rd highest real estate tax in the country, now the overall tax burden is one of the lowest around 45th or so in the country. CA is about number 5. Even between those two extremes the difference is only about 3-4% max....still real dollars, but not nearly as bad as some would believe. If you have kids about to go to community college CA could very well be cheaper, I believe they have the lowest Com College rates in the country (used to be free).

Also, keep in mind that your FEDERAL taxes will be lower in CA because of the bigger write off for the high state income tax. I'm not sure if those charts take that into account or not.

If you look at Lake Tahoe for example (half Nevada and half in California) the real estate taxes multipliers are much higher on the Nevada side than the Ca side, but it depends on the value of your home obviously. But obviously on the Nevada side there is no income tax.

I live in IL an my car costs about $90 a year to register and my boat $30 for 3 years. In SC my Dad had to pay $800 PER YEAR for his boat and a couple hundred for his car. He was retired and made about 40k a year and his boat was worth 25k. So just the boat tax/registration alone was about 2% alone in tax on his income. Again, if all depends on where you are in life and what you have.

Austin is a great town, and yes Houston is the "largest" city in the country...but I have spent a great deal of time there and it is absolute hell if you ask me. Killer heat and humidity, sprawl, industry everywhere, and pure smell. The place just smells and the gulf is gross in that area. Dallas is nice if you like to eat or shop, and based on the ahem....size of the population there, that is indeed what they like to do.

 

[Sparda29]

Yeah...pretty much. But QOL isn't just dollars and cents...if you like hunting and i dunno, other texas things then live in texas. If you like body boarding and skiing, then move to so-cal. If you like asian techies, move to silicon valley, etc...

NYC would be perfect if its gun laws were looser. I just wanna be able to open carry. Really don't care about concealed carry, IMO open carry is a crime deterrent + defense whereas concealed carry is something that can only be used after the crime is in progress.

 

[Momus]

Much of CA high cost of living is due to housing and 9.3% tax. Housing is at least twice as expensive here than anywhere else. In North California, you have to join a start up/IPO to buy a crappy house ~$1M. Everyone in tech industry has so much money to drive up house price.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I think I used Forbes, but any "state rank by tax burden" study will give you an idea. Here is one: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/03/02/state-local-tax-burden/1937757/
None compare the exact same thing, and a great deal depends on where you are in life, young and single or retired, self-employed, wealthy or poot etc. For example Texas has the 3rd highest real estate tax in the country, now the overall tax burden is one of the lowest around 45th or so in the country. CA is about number 5. Even between those two extremes the difference is only about 3-4% max....still real dollars, but not nearly as bad as some would believe.

Ah, I see where you are coming from. The thing with that is that figure are the average tax burden based of the people. E.g an average california Joe making the state average $52K/yr will be taxed at 4-6% state tax, narrowing the difference between cali and texas. But pharmacist income is at the top 5%, so most of the income will be taxed in the 9+% bracket in cali vs. 0% in texas.

Texas does have higher property tax to make up for the lack of income tax. I pay 2.6% for a top school district, but housing here is also much cheaper. My house probably will cost a million in cali, so the lower 1.6% property tax will still result in a property tax bill >2x bigger than here.

 

[xiphoid2010]

If you like body boarding and skiing, then move to so-cal. If you like asian techies, move to silicon valley, etc...

Austin's got a booming tech sector. UT is pretty awesome too, love going back to the campus area to visit.

 

[N974]

Much of CA high cost of living is due to housing and 9.3% tax. Housing is at least twice as expensive here than anywhere else. In North California, you have to join a start up/IPO to buy a crappy house ~$1M. Everyone in tech industry has so much money to drive up house price.

Bingo....that is where the REAL costs come in. Many people just look at the taxes, and that really is small peanuts to the housing and energy costs. For example a $450k condo in San Diego pays the same DOLLAR amount in real estate taxes as I pay on my $157,000 mansion here in IL. Now if the housing costs are stable, and appreciate the same percentage wise, but paying the same DOLLAR amount on the $450k place in Cali, the housing COST doesn't bother me so bad, that is part of my net worth. If I had a $450k house here my RE taxes would be $17k a year.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Wait, how do you avoid paying ss tax?

that's right, children...you actually stop paying as taxes at 113k...how effing stupid is that?

 

[xiphoid2010]

that's right, children...you actually stop paying as taxes at 113k...how effing stupid is that?

It's because while it is a flat tax, the payout ratio is nonlinear. The payout ratio is high for the initial amount then trails off the more you make. Eg, someone who makes $30k a year retires will get $1k/mo, while someone making $120k/yr will only get $2200/mo even though he paid in almost 4x more. That's about it, someone making $10mil a year's check is gonna be rouhly the same as a pharmacist's.

Basically, paying into social security is a good deal for the lower income earners. They get what they paid in out and then some. The worst is if you are near or above the cap, as you probably won't live long enough to get your money back.

 

[confettiflyer]

NYC would be perfect if its gun laws were looser. I just wanna be able to open carry. Really don't care about concealed carry, IMO open carry is a crime deterrent + defense whereas concealed carry is something that can only be used after the crime is in progress.

I thought all the criminals got priced out of NYC, haha.

 

[Sparda29]

I thought all the criminals got priced out of NYC, haha.

Nah there's still some shady areas. Plus I'd be the coolest dude at the club if I had a desert eagle on my hip.

 

[confettiflyer]

Ah, I see where you are coming from. The thing with that is that figure are the average tax burden based of the people. E.g an average california Joe making the state average $52K/yr will be taxed at 4-6% state tax, narrowing the difference between cali and texas. But pharmacist income is at the top 5%, so most of the income will be taxed in the 9+% bracket in cali vs. 0% in texas.

Texas does have higher property tax to make up for the lack of income tax. I pay 2.6% for a top school district, but housing here is also much cheaper. My house probably will cost a million in cali, so the lower 1.6% property tax will still result in a property tax bill >2x bigger than here.

Yup this was me in pharmacy school. I was making peanuts as a tech and intern and when I moved to PA from CA, all my costs went WAY up.

1) I paid more in income taxes due to the PA flat tax
2) Philly itself had a tax on wages, also flat.
3) I tried taking Spanish at a local community college in philly for fun but was shocked at how ridiculous the prices were (I was used to $60 3-unit CC courses in CA)
4) my utility bill was like through the roof....

And on my n=1 note, I'm making about $20 more per hour working in CA vs. my original job offer in PA....that's $41k/yr gross extra and I'm pretty sure I don't spend that much more on everything, in fact housing - I pay the same amount in rent in CA that I did in PA.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Yup this was me in pharmacy school. I was making peanuts as a tech and intern and when I moved to PA from CA, all my costs went WAY up.

1) I paid more in income taxes due to the PA flat tax
2) Philly itself had a tax on wages, also flat.
3) I tried taking Spanish at a local community college in philly for fun but was shocked at how ridiculous the prices were (I was used to $60 3-unit CC courses in CA)
4) my utility bill was like through the roof....

And on my n=1 note, I'm making about $20 more per hour working in CA vs. my original job offer in PA....that's $41k/yr gross extra and I'm pretty sure I don't spend that much more on everything, in fact housing - I pay the same amount in rent in CA that I did in PA.

Don't live in the city. Montgomery County exists for a reason.

 

[akaykay]

Does it really make much of a difference on my paycheck to file as married if my spouse is a full-time student with no income. I haven't really noticed much difference in my paycheck and I'm thinking the little extra money I recently earned is because I've maxed my social security income at my first job.

 

[confettiflyer]

Don't live in the city. Montgomery County exists for a reason.

No car and had to live near school/work...and I worked late night/overnights as a student, didn't want to deal with regional rail.

Then I got a car and moved to NJ and got to pay zero extra state tax since I got credit for philly wage tax.

What made me happy was the cheese counter at Wegmans. Heaven.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Does it really make much of a difference on my paycheck to file as married if my spouse is a full-time student with no income. I haven't really noticed much difference in my paycheck and I'm thinking the little extra money I recently earned is because I've maxed my social security income at my first job.

My wife and i pay $1500/yr more in taxes due to marriage penalty.

 

[akaykay]

My wife and i pay $1500/yr more in taxes due to marriage penalty.

What if your spouse is in school? I would think you would save money

 

[confettiflyer]

What if your spouse is in school? I would think you would save money

Your deductions increase but your income stays stagnant. The marriage penalty maximally exists when both spouses make the equivalent amount of money....that then turns into a marriage bonus if one spouse works and the other doesn't.

 

[njac]

$3600 every two weels after 401k, med/dent/vision, & taxes...will go up to $3800 next paycheck when I no longer have to pay the social security taxes...mwahaha....

How are you just now getting to social security going away? I haven't paid social security since September...