Enter the second income and the costs that come with it — see the honest net, per year and per working hour.
Federal bracket + state + 7.65% FICA is handled separately below.
Gas, parking, clothes, convenience meals. The commute calculator prices the driving.
The second income really nets
—
Taxes (marginal + FICA)
—
Childcare + work costs
—
Net per working hour
—
—
This year's cash only — career continuity, retirement match, and benefits have real value this math can't capture. Not advice on anyone's life, just honest arithmetic.
Copy this code into your page. Free to use with the credit link.
advertisement
Why the marginal rate is the whole story
net = gross × (1 − marginal% − 7.65%) − childcare − work costs
The first household income absorbs the standard deduction and the low brackets; the second income starts where the first one stopped. That's not a policy quirk to resent so much as a math fact to plan around — it's the same reason overtime feels over-taxed, at household scale.
A worked example
$45,000 gross at a 27% household marginal rate: taxes take ~$15,600, childcare $16,800, work costs $4,200 — netting about $8,400 a year, or $4 per working hour. Numbers like that are why this conversation happens at so many kitchen tables. Flip one variable — childcare aging out, a remote role killing the commute line — and the same job nets $25k+. The math isn't an answer; it's a map of which variable to attack.
Before deciding, price the alternatives
Part-time or remote versions of the same career often dominate both extremes: half the childcare, most of the continuity. And whatever the choice, run the pure job-side numbers too — the commute calculator for the driving, and the match calculator for what walking away from an employer match actually forfeits.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a second income net so much less than the salary?
It stacks on top of the first income, so every dollar is taxed at the household's highest marginal rate from dollar one — and it usually triggers costs that didn't exist before: childcare, a second commute, more convenience spending. $45,000 gross can genuinely net under $15,000.
Is it ever 'not worth' the second job?
Purely on cash, sometimes — especially with two kids in full-time care. But the calculator only prices this year: staying employed protects future earnings, retirement contributions, career continuity, and independence, which are worth real money the math can't show.
How should we count childcare — against her salary or his?
Economists' answer: against the household, not either person — it's a cost of both parents working, usually compared against the lower income only because that's the one that might stop. This calculator does that comparison because it's the decision people actually face.
What softens the math?
Dependent-care FSAs (pre-tax childcare dollars), the child and dependent care credit, employer childcare benefits, remote days that cut commute and care hours, and the fact that childcare is temporary — a 4-year cost against a 40-year career.