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take-home pay

American  
[teyk-hohm] / ˈteɪkˌhoʊm /

noun

  1. the amount of salary remaining after deductions, as of taxes, have been made.

take-home pay British  

noun

  1. the remainder of one's pay after all income tax and other compulsory deductions have been made

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
take-home pay Cultural  

  1. Pay after deductions for taxes, Social Security, insurance, and other services.

Etymology

Origin of take-home pay

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“While we continue to learn more about this announcement, it’s clearly a reaction to our organizing and demands for higher take-home pay for baristas,” the union said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026

A newly minted dentist earns around $150,000 or more, but student loans eat up a lot of their take-home pay, especially in the early years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Knight’s circumstances seemed especially bleak several years ago, when she defaulted on her student loans, prompting the government to garnish her wages, a major hit to her take-home pay.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

Greer’s interpretation fails to take into account that lower- and middle-class Americans tend to spend a much higher percentage of their take-home pay, particularly on goods, than wealthier households.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

So his take-home pay was getting smaller, and his mother, in turn, was getting surlier.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.