Biweekly Pay Calculator
Twenty-six paydays a year is not twice a month, and the difference shows up as two months with a third paycheck. Work out what each cheque looks like and when those months fall.
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Biweekly is not semimonthly
Biweekly means every fourteen days: 26 paydays a year, always on the same weekday. Semimonthly means twice a month, usually the 15th and the last day: 24 paydays, on dates that wander across the week.
On the same annual salary, a biweekly paycheck is smaller — the year is divided 26 ways rather than 24. An $84,000 salary pays $3,230.77 biweekly and $3,500 semimonthly. Same annual pay, different cheque, and the gap comes back in the two months that contain three biweekly paydays.
Neither schedule is better. What matters is knowing which one you are on, because budgeting monthly against a biweekly cheque is where the confusion usually starts.
The three-paycheck months
Twenty-six paydays fall unevenly across twelve months: ten months get two and two get three. Which two depends entirely on the date of your first payday of the year, which is why this calculator walks the actual calendar from the date you enter rather than quoting a rule.
The practical use is budgeting. If your regular expenses are covered by two paychecks a month, the third one in those months is effectively unallocated — a natural moment to make an extra debt payment or top up savings. Planning for it in advance is worth more than noticing it afterwards.
The 27-payday year
Roughly once a decade the calendar produces 27 biweekly paydays in a year, because 26 fortnights fall a day or two short of a full year and the remainder eventually accumulates into an extra one.
Employers handle this differently. Some divide the salary by 27, making every paycheck slightly smaller. Others pay 27 normal cheques, so the year pays slightly more than the stated salary. The pay-periods field here accepts 27 so you can see what your employer's choice does to each cheque.
How the net figure is built
Gross is the annual figure divided by the number of pay periods. Pre-tax deductions come off first, because they reduce the base that income tax withholding is computed on. Withholding is applied to what remains, and after-tax deductions come off last.
net = (gross − pre-tax) × (1 − withholding rate) − after-tax
The withholding rate is a flat figure you supply. Real withholding follows the percentage-method tables in Publication 15-T and depends on your Form W-4, so for an accurate number use the take-home pay calculator, which applies the published 2026 figures.
A worked example
An $84,000 salary, 26 periods, $320 of pre-tax deductions, $45 after tax, and an 18% estimated withholding rate.
Gross per paycheck is $3,230.77. Pre-tax deductions leave $2,910.77, withholding takes $523.94, and after-tax deductions take $45, leaving about $2,341.83. Across the year that is $60,887 net from $84,000 gross.
The same salary paid semimonthly would gross $3,500 a cheque — $269 more each time, across two fewer paydays.
What this does not cover
- Real withholding. The rate is your estimate. Federal withholding depends on your W-4, filing status, and the wage-bracket tables.
- Social Security's wage base. High earners stop paying the 6.2% partway through the year, so late-year paychecks are larger than early ones.
- Payday shifts. A payday landing on a bank holiday is usually moved, which can change which month a paycheck falls in.
- Mid-year changes. A raise, a deduction change, or a bonus period all break the assumption of 26 identical cheques.
See our methodology for how these tools are built and tested.
Frequently asked questions
How many paychecks are there in a year on a biweekly schedule?
Twenty-six in almost every year, and twenty-seven roughly once a decade when the calendar produces an extra one.
Semimonthly is always exactly twenty-four, because it is defined by dates rather than by a fourteen-day cycle.
Which months have three paychecks in 2026?
It depends on your first payday of the year, not on the calendar alone. Enter that date and the calculator walks every fourteenth day from it and reports the months with three.
Two people at different employers can have different three-paycheck months in the same year for exactly this reason.
Do I earn more on a biweekly schedule?
No. The annual salary is the same; it is divided differently. Twenty-six smaller cheques and twenty-four larger ones come to the same total.
What biweekly gives you is two months a year where an extra cheque arrives, which is a budgeting advantage rather than extra money.
Why does my net pay change during the year?
Most often because Social Security stops once your wages reach the annual base, which makes later paychecks larger. Benefit changes, a raise, or hitting a retirement contribution limit do the same.
This calculator assumes 26 identical periods, so it will not show that pattern.
Should I budget monthly or per paycheck?
Per paycheck is easier on a biweekly schedule, because monthly budgeting against 26 cheques means two months a year do not fit the pattern.
A common approach is to cover fixed monthly costs from the first two cheques of each month and treat the third, when it comes, as a planned surplus.
Related calculators
This calculator is provided for general educational and estimation purposes only and is not financial or tax advice. The withholding figure is a flat rate you supply, not a tax calculation; actual withholding follows the IRS tables and your Form W-4.