GraduateLedger

Tool

Stipend budget calculator

Start from a school’s stipend, estimate federal tax, and see what is left each month after rent, utilities and transit. Every figure from our data keeps its source label; anything you change is marked “Your input”.

Estimate, not tax advice. Tax year 2026, single filer, standard deduction, no credits, and the stipend treated as ordinary taxable income. Nothing you enter is sent to us. See our methodology and disclaimer.

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How the estimate is built

  1. Federal tax. The stipend minus the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100) is taxed at the 2026 single-filer brackets (10% to $12,400, 12% to $50,400, 22% to $105,700, and so on), from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Credits, other income, student loan interest and tuition benefits are not modeled.
  2. Social Security and Medicare (FICA). Off by default. Many students employed by the school they attend are exempt on assistantship pay; the rules differ by situation, so check your pay stub.
  3. State tax. Off by default and available only for states whose 2026 rules we have read on an official page (currently California, New York and South Carolina). Alaska is shown as having no state income tax (official source). Whether a state taxes a stipend at all is not confirmed in our data except for Pennsylvania and Arkansas, so the choice is yours. Local taxes such as New York City’s are not computed here.
  4. Costs. Rent, utilities, transit and parking come from our cost-of-living data with their source labels. City-median rents are not necessarily what you will pay; university graduate housing is shown separately where we have it. Take-home is spread over 12 months.

What is not included

Groceries, health insurance, phone and internet, student fees, travel, summer or extra pay, and any personal expenses of your own (childcare, a pet, a car payment) are optional boxes you fill in yourself; we do not estimate them, and anything left blank is left out. Summer or extra pay is added to your stipend before tax. Compare schools side by side on our comparison page, or weigh whole offers in the offer matrix. For how stipends are taxed, read the stipend taxability guide.