What Is FICA Tax? Social Security and Medicare Explained

Even people with very low incomes see FICA on their pay stubs, often to their surprise. It is not the same as income tax, and it doesn't care about your standard deduction or filing status. It's a flat tax on wages that pays for two big programs. Here's what it is, how much you pay and why it works the way it does.

What FICA stands for

FICA is short for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The law created payroll taxes that fund Social Security, which pays retirement, disability and survivor benefits, and Medicare, which provides health coverage mainly for people 65 and older. On a pay stub you'll usually see them as "Social Security" or "OASDI," and "Medicare."

The 2026 rates and limits

• Social Security: 6.2% of wages, up to a yearly wage base of $184,500. The most an employee can pay in 2026 is $11,439.
• Medicare: 1.45% of all wages, with no cap.
• Additional Medicare Tax: an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly). Only the employee pays this one.

Your employer pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45%, so the total payroll tax connected to your job is 15.3% of wages. You only see your half on the stub. That employer half is a real cost of employing you, which is one reason salary negotiations often focus on total compensation.

Worked examples

$40,000 salary. Social Security is $2,480 and Medicare is $580, so FICA totals $3,060 a year, or about $117.69 per biweekly check.

$60,000 salary. Social Security is $3,720 and Medicare is $870, for a total of $4,590. On a biweekly check of $2,307.69, that's $143.08 plus $33.46.

$200,000 salary. Social Security stops at the wage base, so it's $11,439 rather than $12,400. Medicare keeps going on every dollar: $2,900. Because wages are right at $200,000, the extra 0.9% starts only on dollars above that. A person earning $250,000 would pay the Additional Medicare Tax on $50,000, which is $450.

This pattern means FICA is "regressive" at the top: once you pass the wage base, the share of income going to Social Security shrinks.

Why FICA applies even when income tax doesn't

Income tax gives you a standard deduction ($16,100 for singles in 2026) before it starts. FICA has no deduction like that, so it applies from the first dollar. That's why a part-time worker with zero federal income tax can still see FICA taken out.

What you get in return

Social Security benefits are based on a work record. Generally you earn credits through your wages, and 40 credits, which is roughly ten years of work, are needed to qualify for retirement benefits. Medicare Part A, which covers hospital care, is available at 65 to those who've paid in for enough quarters. Your benefit amount depends on your earnings history, so wage records matter. Checking your record on the Social Security Administration website is a good yearly habit.

FICA and your other deductions

Pre-tax items affect FICA differently from income tax. A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers income tax but not FICA, so you still pay FICA on that money. Health insurance premiums taken through a cafeteria plan usually reduce both. This is shown in the example in gross pay vs net pay.

What if I have two jobs?

Each employer withholds Social Security separately up to the wage base, without knowing about the other job. If your combined wages exceed $184,500, you may have overpaid. The excess is credited when you file your tax return. Medicare and the Additional Medicare Tax work in a similar way, with the extra settled on your return.

Self-employed workers

If you work for yourself you pay both halves, 15.3%, calculated on 92.35% of your net profit. Half of it is deductible. See the self-employed tax calculator for an estimate.

Who is exempt?

Few people avoid FICA entirely. Some students employed by their own school, certain religious groups, some nonresident workers and some government employees have special rules. If you think your pay is wrongly subject to FICA, ask payroll first.

Common questions

Is FICA the same as income tax? No. Income tax depends on taxable income and brackets. FICA is a flat percentage of wages. For the difference, see federal income tax withholding.

Can I reduce FICA? Not much, apart from using cafeteria-plan benefits. That's different from income tax, which you can lower with deductions.

Where can I see it? In the tax section of your pay stub. How to read a pay stub shows each line. The US paycheck calculator adds FICA to your estimate automatically.

Written by Muhammad Tabish. Rates and thresholds for 2026, reviewed October 2026 against SSA and IRS sources listed on our sources page. General information, not tax advice.