Gross to net converter: work out your net salary

How it is calculated

Gross pay is the salary written in your contract and in job ads. Net pay before tax is what is left once employee contributions have been deducted: basic pension, Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension, CSG and CRDS social levies, the employee share of health cover, and for cadres the APEC and provident scheme. The tool applies these rates, band by band, with the modele-social engine that URSSAF uses for its own simulator.

From net to gross there is no direct formula: contributions depend on the very gross figure we are looking for. The engine therefore inverts the calculation numerically, trying gross amounts until it finds your net to within a few cents, then recalculates every detail from the gross figure found. That is why the net shown may differ from the net you typed by a few cents.

Periods are converted by the code, not by the engine: an hourly rate is multiplied by the contract's hours (35 h a week × 52 weeks ÷ 12, i.e. 151.67 h a month), a yearly figure is divided by the number of months paid. With thirteen or fourteen months, gross annual pay is the monthly amount paid times that number, and the average monthly figure shown is the annual divided by twelve: that is the number to compare between offers.

What the result includes

So that two people get the same figure from the same gross pay, the site always calculates from the same baseline situation. Each line can be changed in the calculator's options where it matters.

• General social security scheme (régime général), rates as of 26 October 2026 (rules from modele-social, the engine behind URSSAF's simulator).
• Permanent full-time contract (CDI), 35 hours a week, i.e. 151.67 h a month, paid over 12 months.
• Non-cadre by default (cadre status is one button away), collective agreement set to the general rules (“droit commun”).
• Company health cover (mutuelle) of €40 a month, of which €20 is deducted from pay, URSSAF's default setting; zero is possible in the options.
• Outside Alsace-Moselle (option available), without meal vouchers or benefits in kind.
• Before income tax: tax withheld at source depends on your household and comes on top (see the “net after tax” tool).
• Minimum wage (SMIC) since 1 June 2026: €12.31 gross per hour (service-public.gouv.fr).
• Net after tax only if you enter your income tax rate at source (advanced options): it is applied to taxable net pay, as on your payslip.

Limits

A correct calculation for a typical situation is not your payslip. Here is what the tool does not know, so that you read the result as a reliable order of magnitude, not a promise.

• Collective agreement: sector minimums, seniority bonuses, compulsory thirteenth month and specific provident schemes are not taken into account (general rules only).
• Bonuses, variable pay, overtime, benefits in kind: left out, except in the tools that ask for them.
• Health cover and provident scheme: your actual contribution may be different; change it in the options.
• Alsace-Moselle: the option adds the local scheme's health contribution, without its other specifics.
• Public sector not covered: civil servants' pay scales and contributions follow other rules.
• Simplified tax: no tax reductions or credits, no exceptional income; the engine's “tax” module is flagged as experimental by URSSAF.
• Hours per week: they change the hourly gross and the monthly equivalent, but the contract is still calculated as full time; for a genuine part-time job, the dedicated tool applies its own rules.

Examples from gross to net

The amounts below are calculated by the site's engine, to the nearest euro, for twelve months paid and the typical situation described above.

Contributions and employer cost: non-cadre, company with fewer than 5 employees, general reduction deducted.

Reading the result

Net monthly before tax is the figure to compare with your bank transfer before income tax is withheld. Taxable net, slightly higher, is the basis for income tax: it includes the non-deductible share of CSG and the employer's share of health cover. Employer cost shows what your salary represents for the company, employer contributions included: it is the figure your employer has in mind when negotiating.

For €3,000 gross a month, the default example, employee contributions take 21.6% of gross pay and the employer spends €1.70 for every euro of net pay you receive.

Negotiate in gross annual terms

Recruiters talk in gross annual terms: it is the only figure that depends neither on the number of months paid, nor on health cover, nor on your tax. Before an interview, convert the gross annual offer into a net monthly figure to know what you will really take home, then set your three figures (floor, target, stretch) in gross annual terms. The gross and net guide explains the traps when reading an offer, and the salary expectations generator writes your answer.

For a specific amount, each “X gross to net” page details the calculation alongside the INSEE occupations paid around that net figure, and each “X net to gross” page gives the gross pay to ask for; the tool offers you the link when your amount matches a page. And to see what a pay rise would really change in your net pay, use the pay rise simulator.