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Vacation Payout Calculator

Estimate your unused PTO payout after federal supplemental withholding, FICA, and state income tax. Free, no sign-up.

Updated May 2026
Gross payout
$2,800
80 h × $35/h
Tax withheld
$970.2
34.7% of gross
Take-home
$1,829.8
After all withholdings

Withholding breakdown

Federal income tax (supplemental flat)$616
Social Security (6.2%)$173.6
Medicare (1.45%)$40.6
State (5%)$140
Heads up: most US employers default to the IRS supplemental wage method (22% federal flat) for PTO payouts, which can over-withhold if you’re below the 22% bracket — you get the difference back at tax time. State rules vary: California, Massachusetts, and a few others require payout of unused vacation when you leave; many states leave it to company policy.
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What it does

Estimate the take-home value of your accrued PTO when you leave a job. Models the IRS supplemental withholding method (22% federal flat) plus FICA (Social Security + Medicare) and a configurable state income tax rate. Toggle off the supplemental flag to see the regular-wage withholding case.

State rules vary — California, Massachusetts, and a handful of others require payout of unused vacation when employment ends. Many states leave it to company policy.

Embed this tool on your siteShow snippet

Paste this snippet into any page. Loads on-demand (lazy), no tracking scripts, and sized to most dashboards. Replace the height to fit your layout.

<iframe src="https://freetoolarena.com/embed/vacation-payout-calculator" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="Vacation Payout Calculator" style="border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px;"></iframe>
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How to use it

  1. Enter accrued PTO hours and your hourly wage.
  2. Set state income tax (0% in TX/FL/WA/NV/TN/NH/AK/SD/WY).
  3. Read gross, withholding, and take-home.

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