What payroll taxes does an employer pay on top of an employee's wages?

Three: the FICA match (6.2% Social Security up to the wage base, plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap — the same rates the employee pays, matched dollar for dollar), FUTA (federal unemployment tax, 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages, almost always reduced to a net 0.6% by a state credit), and SUTA/SUI (state unemployment tax, individually assigned to each employer based on claims history).

What is the 2026 FUTA tax rate?

6.0% statutory rate on the first $7,000 of each employee's annual wages, but employers who pay their state unemployment taxes on time receive up to a 5.4% credit, reducing the effective rate to 0.6% — a maximum of $42 per employee per year. The $7,000 wage base hasn't changed since 1983.

Why can't this calculator look up my exact SUTA rate?

SUTA rates are individually experience-rated: your state assigns your business a specific rate based on your own history of unemployment claims, not a single rate that applies to every employer in the state. Two businesses in the same state and industry can have very different rates. Your state's official rate notice is the only accurate source for your business.

Does the employer match the 0.9% Additional Medicare surtax?

No. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 is withheld from the employee only — employers never match it. The employer's Medicare match stays at 1.45% regardless of how high the employee's wages go.

What is a FUTA credit-reduction state?

A state with an outstanding federal unemployment insurance loan balance loses part of employers' standard 5.4% FUTA credit, raising their effective FUTA rate above the usual 0.6%. For 2025 the credit-reduction jurisdictions were California (1.2 points, an effective rate of 1.8%) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (4.5 points, 5.1%). The Department of Labor publishes the final list each November, and it can change year to year as states repay their loans.

Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

Real employer cost per employee: FICA match, FUTA, and SUTA — not employee withholding.

Your detailsInput Parameters

Employee

Annual Wages (per employee)

Gross annual wages for one employee. Total cost across your whole team is shown below using the employee count.

Number of Employees at This Wage

State Unemployment

Your State Unemployment (SUTA/SUI) Rate

This is individually assigned to your business by your state based on your unemployment-claims history -- there's no single rate per state to look up. 2.7% is a common new-employer starting rate; check your state UI agency's rate notice for your actual figure.

Your State's SUTA Taxable Wage Base

Ranges from $7,000 (CA, FL, TX) to $78,200 (WA) for 2026. Check your state UI agency -- this is not the same as the federal FUTA wage base below.

Federal Unemployment (FUTA)

In a FUTA Credit-Reduction State (California)?

In a FUTA Credit-Reduction State (California)? (Toggle)

A state that still owes the federal government an unemployment-loan balance gets a reduced FUTA credit. For 2025 the reduction was 1.2 points for California (effective FUTA rate 1.8%, or $126 per employee) and 4.5 points for the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tick this to use the California 2025 rate of 1.8%. The Department of Labor does not publish the 2026 list until November 2026 and the reduction can be higher, so treat the result as an estimate.

Employer Payroll Tax (per employee)$4821.00

8.04% on top of the $60,000 wage -- this is cost to you as the employer, separate from and in addition to what you withhold from the employee's paycheck.

Total Across 1 Employee$4821.00

Employer FICA Match (7.65%)$4590.00

6.2% Social Security ($3720.00, up to the $184,500 2026 wage base) plus 1.45% Medicare ($870.00, no cap). This matches what the employee pays -- the employer never matches the additional 0.9% Medicare surtax employees owe above $200,000.

FUTA (Federal Unemployment)$42.00

0.6% net rate (after the standard 5.4% state credit) on the first $7,000 of wages -- max $42/employee/year.

SUTA / State Unemployment$189.00

At the 2.7% rate you entered on the first $7,000 of wages. This is the one figure only your state can confirm -- it's assigned to your specific business.

Analysis

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Formula verified September 2026against IRS Publication 15 (employer FICA match) & IRS Topic 759 (FUTA: 6.0% on first $7,000, 5.4% credit); Washington ESD (2026 wage base). SUTA rate is your own.

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Employer Payroll Tax: What You Actually Owe on Top of Wages

When you hire someone, their wage is not your full cost. On top of it, you owe three separate payroll taxes as the employer — money the employee never sees and that doesn't come out of their paycheck:

FICA match — you pay the same 7.65% (6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare) the employee pays, dollar for dollar, on top of their wage.
FUTA — a federal unemployment tax, 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, almost always reduced to a net 0.6% by a state credit.
SUTA/SUI — your state's unemployment insurance tax, individually assigned to your business based on your unemployment-claims history.

This calculator estimates the employer side only — what hiring someone costs you in payroll tax, separate from what you withhold from their check. If you want the employee's take-home pay instead, use the Paycheck Calculator — that's a genuinely different question with a different answer.

How Employer Payroll Tax Is Calculated

FICA Match = min(wages, $184,500) × 6.2% + wages × 1.45%
FUTA = min(wages, $7,000) × 0.6% (or your credit-reduction rate)
SUTA = min(wages, your state's wage base) × your assigned rate

Worked example (this calculator's own defaults): a $60,000/year employee, 2.7% SUTA rate (a common new-employer starting rate) on the federal $7,000 wage-base floor, not in a FUTA credit-reduction state.

Tax	Amount
FICA match (7.65%)	$4,590 (6.2% × $60,000 = $3,720, plus 1.45% × $60,000 = $870)
FUTA (net 0.6%)	$42 (0.6% × the $7,000 wage-base cap — the max possible per employee)
SUTA (2.7% on $7,000)	$189
Total employer payroll tax	$4,821 — a 8.04% effective rate on top of the $60,000 wage

FUTA and SUTA both cap out fast. Notice FUTA and SUTA together only add $231 in this example, despite the $60,000 wage — both are capped at low wage bases ($7,000 federal, and often similarly low at the state level). FICA is the real ongoing cost: it applies to every dollar up to the much higher $184,500 Social Security wage base, then 1.45% with no cap at all.

Why SUTA Is a Field You Fill In, Not a Number We Look Up

Unlike FICA and FUTA — which are fixed federal rates everyone can look up — your SUTA/SUI rate is assigned to your specific business based on your unemployment-claims history. Two companies in the same state, same industry, can have meaningfully different rates: a business with few layoffs might pay under 1%, while one with frequent claims can pay well over 10%.

New employers without a claims history yet typically start around 2.7% (the default above), though several states assign a different starting rate by industry — construction, for example, often starts higher. Your state sends you an official rate notice each year; that figure, not this calculator's default, is the one to use for real budgeting.

Wage bases vary just as widely — from $7,000 in California, Florida, and Texas up to $78,200 in Washington for 2026. Always use your state's wage base for the SUTA field, not the federal $7,000 FUTA figure, which is a separate number used only for the federal calculation above.

FUTA credit reduction is the one federal-side exception that varies by state: employers in a state with an outstanding federal unemployment loan balance lose part of the standard 5.4% credit. For 2025, California (a 1.2-point reduction, so an effective FUTA rate of 1.8%) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (4.5 points, 5.1%) were the credit-reduction jurisdictions. The Department of Labor does not finalize the list for 2026 until November 2026, so check it before relying on this for year-end tax planning.