take-home pay

noun

: income remaining from salary or wages after deductions (as for income-tax withholding)

Examples of take-home pay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cook described living off pinto beans and cornbread to make her money stretch, her take-home pay of $882 as a single mom barely covering her car note and rent. Preston Fore, Fortune, 10 July 2025 Linda Jensen, founder of Heart Financial Group & Increase Business Profits, notes that provisions like eliminating federal income taxes on tips and overtime could increase take-home pay for younger workers, allowing more flexibility to contribute to Roth IRAs, HSAs, or other long-term vehicles. Alejandra Rojas, Forbes.com, 5 July 2025 That’s because if workers’ take-home pay increases because of a tax cut, employers wouldn’t need to provide tipped workers a higher base-line wage. Abdallah Fayyad, Vox, 21 May 2025 For example, my company continuously calculates take-home pay, taxes, health care premiums, retirement contributions, and other withholdings for our customers and their employees, regardless of the duration between pay cycles. Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for take-home pay

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of take-home pay was in 1942

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Cite this Entry

“Take-home pay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take-home%20pay. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

take-home pay

noun
ˌtāk-ˌhōm-
: the part of one's salary or wages remaining after deductions (as of income tax payments or union dues)

More from Merriam-Webster on take-home pay

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