25
Most Americans just don't matter to the economy like they once did
(www.marketwatch.com)
Posts from the RSS Feed of HackerNews.
The feed sometimes contains ads and posts that have been removed by the mod team at HN.
The net pay is 54% in this example, not the tax. The tax situation really depends on the earner and what state they live in. Someone single living in a relatively high income tax state might have an overall rate of 18% or more, just for the tax part.
Other deductions from gross income include Social Security & FICA. And if there is company 'provided' health insurance there is likely additional cost to the employee as well.
Many people also put pre-tax money in retirement or health care savings programs. These are deductions from gross income, but are staying in the account of the earner.
I ran the numbers for my jurisdiction. For just tax, it comes out to 21%. If you add employment insurance, the socialized healthcare premium, and government pension (these are all mandatory) it goes up to 27%.
If you invest 20% of your take-home in retirement, that brings you to a 44% deduction, but I gently question whether you should do that if you're struggling to put food on the table.