Athlete Take-Home Pay Calculator
See what NBA, MLB, and NFL players actually keep after taxes — pick a league, team, salary, and where the player claims residency. The result folds in federal tax, FICA, the home state and city, and the jock tax owed to every state where road games are played.
Example: a $10,000,000 salary keeps about $5.8M (58%) for a no-tax-state team like the Miami Heat, versus about $4.8M (48%) for a California team like the Lakers — a roughly $1.0M swing from state taxes alone, before agent fees.
- Dallas Cowboys (TX)~59%
- Miami Heat (FL)~58%
- LA Lakers (CA)~48%
- Knicks, living in NYC~46%
Estimates for a $10M salary, single filer, no agent fee. Federal + FICA alone take about 39%; the rest is state, city, and jock tax. Computed by the calculator below.
Same salary, different team
Take-home rate on this salary if the player were on each team (living in the team\'s home area)
Compare two teams, side by side
Uses the salary, filing status, residency, and agent fee above, with each player living in their team’s home area.
Why the same contract is worth so much less in some places
Two players can sign identical contracts and keep very different amounts. Federal income tax (up to 37%) and FICA are the same everywhere, but state and local taxes swing the result by millions. A resident of Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, or Nevada owes no state tax on home games or offseason income; a resident of California (13.3%), New York (10.9% plus New York City), New Jersey (10.75%), or Oregon (9.9%) owes on everything. On top of that, the jock tax means every player also files in most road states and pays tax on the slice of salary earned there.
How it\'s calculated
Take-home = salary − federal income tax − FICA − state & jock tax − city/local tax − agent fee.
Federal & FICA. Federal uses the 2026 brackets and standard deduction; FICA is Social Security (6.2% up to the 2026 wage base) plus Medicare (1.45%, plus the 0.9% additional Medicare tax on high earners). For a multi-million salary the federal effective rate lands near 36–37%.
State & jock tax. Salary is split by duty days into a home share and an away share — about 50% away for the NBA and MLB (roughly half the games are on the road) and about 30% for the NFL (most duty days are home-based practices and camp). The home share is taxed at the team’s state and, where one exists, city rate; the away share is taxed at the league’s average away rate, weighted across all teams’ states and cities. Your state of residence then taxes your whole salary but credits the taxes you paid to other states — so a resident of a taxed state effectively pays their home rate on everything, while a resident of a no-tax state pays only the source (home-game + away) taxes.
Where you live. Toggling residency to a no-income-tax state removes your resident-state tax but keeps the nonresident tax your home state charges on home games — which is why establishing residency in Florida or Texas saves money but doesn’t eliminate a California or New York team’s home-game tax.
Rates behind the numbers
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| No state income tax | FL, TX, TN, WA, NV (also AK, SD, WY, NH) — best for take-home |
| Highest state rates | CA 13.3% · NY 10.9% · NJ 10.75% · DC 10.75% · OR 9.9% · MN 9.85% · MA ~9% (millionaire surtax) |
| City / local wage tax | Philadelphia 3.44% (nonres) · Cleveland 2.5% · Cincinnati 1.8% · Detroit 1.2% (nonres) · Kansas City & St. Louis 1% · Indianapolis (Marion Co.) ~2% · NYC 3.078–3.876% (residents only) |
| Notable quirks | Washington, D.C. cannot tax nonresidents (no jock tax on games there) · the Giants and Jets play — and are taxed — in New Jersey · Pittsburgh’s 3% nonresident athlete fee was struck down by the courts |
Sources: Tax Foundation, “2026 State Individual Income Tax Rates & Brackets”; city revenue departments (Philadelphia, Cleveland/RITA, Detroit, Cincinnati, Kansas City); Kiplinger and H&R Block jock-tax explainers. This tool shares NumberBench’s state paycheck engine.
Estimate only, not tax advice. Excludes each team\'s exact schedule, signing-bonus sourcing, endorsement and investment income, NBA escrow (~10% withheld), union dues, retirement contributions, and itemized deductions. State figures use each state\'s graduated rate; Toronto is approximated with the Ontario provincial rate. Verify with a qualified sports-tax professional.
Common mistakes
- Comparing gross contracts across teams — a $30M deal in California and Texas are not the same take-home.
- Assuming residency in a no-tax state avoids all state tax — home-game (jock) tax still applies where you play.
- Forgetting city taxes — Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Detroit add a wage tax on top of the state.
- Reading these as exact — real filings hinge on the schedule, bonuses, and residency facts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the jock tax?
The “jock tax” is the income tax states and some cities charge athletes on the money they earn while playing there. Because a pro schedule visits many states, players file in most of them, apportioning salary by “duty days” spent in each. Your home state then taxes your worldwide income but credits taxes paid to other states, so where you play and where you live both matter.
Why do players on Florida, Texas, and Tennessee teams keep more?
Those states (plus Washington, Nevada, and a few others) have no state income tax, so a resident player owes nothing to the home state on home games or offseason income — only the away (jock) tax on road games in taxed states. A California or New York player, by contrast, owes 10–13%+ on their entire salary.
Does living in Florida help if I play for a California team?
Somewhat. As a Florida resident you avoid California tax on your away games and offseason income, but California still taxes the roughly half of your duty days spent playing home games in California. So residency lowers the bill but doesn’t erase your home state’s tax on home games — toggle “Where do you live?” above to see the difference.
Do athletes really pay tax in every road city?
In most taxed states, yes — and several cities pile on their own wage tax on top of the state (Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and St. Louis, for example). A notable exception: Washington, D.C. is barred from taxing nonresidents, so visiting players owe nothing on games there.
What about Toronto (Raptors, Blue Jays)?
Canadian home games are taxed by Canada, and a U.S. player generally offsets the Canadian federal portion with the U.S. foreign tax credit. This calculator approximates Toronto using the Ontario provincial rate as a state-equivalent; treat those results as rougher than the U.S. teams.
Is this exact?
No — it’s a well-modeled estimate. It uses 2026 federal brackets, FICA, and each state’s graduated income tax, and apportions the jock tax with a duty-day split (about half the season away for the NBA and MLB, less for the NFL because practices are home-based). It does not know your team’s exact schedule, and it excludes signing-bonus sourcing rules, endorsement income, NBA escrow, union dues, and itemized deductions. It is not tax advice.
Are signing bonuses taxed the same way?
Often not. A true signing bonus that is guaranteed, not tied to playing, and paid separately can be sourced to your state of residence and escape the jock tax entirely — one reason athletes establish residency in no-tax states. This tool treats your whole salary uniformly, so it can overstate state tax for contracts with large bonuses.