South Korea Monthly Salary Calculator

Key Features and Benefits

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  Annual-to-Monthly Conversion — Enter your annual gross salary and select the payment structure — 12 monthly payments, 13 payments with a year-end bonus, or 14 payments with semiannual bonuses. The calculator divides appropriately and shows you the gross monthly amount before any deductions. This step alone clarifies a point of confusion for many workers whose contracts state an annual figure but whose experience of money is entirely monthly.
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  4대보험 Rate Application — Each of the four social insurance contributions is calculated using the current official rates and displayed individually. The national pension calculation respects the monthly income cap — if your gross monthly salary exceeds the cap, the pension contribution maxes out while health insurance and employment insurance continue to scale with income. The calculator handles this asymmetry correctly, which matters for higher earners who might otherwise overestimate their pension deduction.
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  Tax Withholding Estimate — Using the 간이세액표 (simplified tax withholding table) published by the National Tax Service, the calculator estimates the income tax and local income tax withheld from each paycheck. The withholding amount depends on your gross monthly pay and the number of dependents you have claimed. Changing the dependent count updates the tax estimate immediately, letting you see how family size affects monthly cash flow.
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  Bonus and Allowance Inclusion — Korean compensation packages often include non-base components — performance bonuses, meal allowances (식대), transportation subsidies (교통비), and overtime pay. Some of these are tax-exempt up to certain limits. For example, meal allowances are tax-free up to 200,000 won per month under current tax law. The calculator lets you enter these components separately and applies the correct tax treatment to each, giving you a more accurate net figure than a simple gross-minus-deductions approach.
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  Net vs Gross Comparison Chart — A visual breakdown shows the proportion of your gross salary consumed by each deduction category — income tax, local tax, pension, health insurance, long-term care, and employment insurance. Seeing that mandatory deductions claim 17 to 23 percent of gross pay puts the gap between offer-letter compensation and real spending power into sharp perspective.
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  Multi-Scenario Modeling — Compare up to three salary scenarios side by side — useful when evaluating job offers or negotiating a raise. Enter different gross amounts and see the net difference. A raise from 48 million to 54 million won annually does not yield 6 million more in take-home pay. Higher income pushes part of the additional earnings into a higher tax bracket and increases percentage-based insurance contributions. The calculator shows you the actual net gain, which might be closer to 4 million won.

How to Calculate Your Monthly Salary

1. 1

   Start With Your Annual Gross

   Pull the total annual compensation figure from your employment contract or offer letter. This number should include base salary and any fixed, guaranteed bonuses. Variable performance bonuses are harder to predict — if your company pays them consistently, include an estimated amount. If they vary widely, run the calculation with and without the bonus to see the range of outcomes. Be careful to use gross compensation, not a net figure your recruiter might have mentioned casually. The gross number is the legal basis for all tax and insurance calculations.

2. 2

   Select the Payment Structure

   Korean employers use several common structures. The simplest is 12 equal monthly payments. Many companies use a 13-month structure where you receive a regular monthly salary plus one additional month's pay as a year-end bonus. Some firms pay 14 months — adding holiday bonuses for Seollal and Chuseok. Others use a base-plus-variable structure where the base is relatively low and performance bonuses make up the rest. Select the structure that matches your employer. This choice changes the gross monthly amount the calculator uses for deduction calculations and directly affects your monthly cash flow projection.

3. 3

   Enter Allowances and Tax-Exempt Components

   If your pay includes a meal allowance (식대), enter it separately. Under the 소득세법, meal allowances up to 200,000 won per month are exempt from income tax. Child care allowances, certain education subsidies, and company car benefits may also have tax-exempt portions. Enter each component in its designated field so the calculator can apply the correct tax treatment. Missing a tax-exempt allowance means the calculator will overstate your tax burden and understate your take-home pay. Check your payslip or ask your HR department for a breakdown of taxable versus non-taxable components.

4. 4

   Specify the Number of Dependents

   The monthly tax withholding amount depends on how many dependents you claim. The 간이세액표 uses the number of family members — including yourself — to determine the withholding rate. A single worker with no dependents faces higher monthly withholding than a married worker with two children at the same gross salary. Enter the correct number to match what your employer has on file. If you recently married, had a child, or started supporting an elderly parent, updating your dependent count with your employer reduces monthly withholding and increases immediate cash flow — though the annual tax liability stays the same, settled at year-end.

5. 5

   Review the Deduction Breakdown

   The calculator displays each deduction on its own line. National pension at 4.5 percent of gross monthly salary — capped at the income ceiling. Health insurance at approximately 3.545 percent. Long-term care insurance at 12.81 percent of the health insurance premium. Employment insurance at 0.9 percent. Income tax per the withholding table. Local income tax at 10 percent of income tax. Add them together and subtract from gross monthly pay to arrive at your net monthly salary. Verify these figures against your most recent payslip. If there is a discrepancy, it may indicate that your employer is using a different gross base — perhaps excluding certain allowances from the insurance calculation — or that the rates have been updated mid-year.

6. 6

   Compare Scenarios and Plan Your Budget

   Use the multi-scenario feature to model different situations. What if you get a 10 percent raise — how much more take-home pay does that actually produce? What if you switch from a 12-month to a 14-month payment structure — does the monthly net change? What if you add a dependent? Each scenario adjusts the entire calculation chain from gross to net. This is particularly valuable during job negotiations. An offer with a higher gross salary but fewer tax-exempt allowances might yield less take-home pay than a lower gross with generous non-taxable benefits. The calculator reveals these hidden differences.

Expert Tips for Understanding Your Monthly Salary

Related Tools

Your monthly salary is the rhythm of your financial life — the number you build your budget around, plan your savings against, and measure your progress by. The Salary After Tax Calculator extends this monthly view into a full annual picture, incorporating year-end settlement deductions and credits that can yield a meaningful tax refund each January. The Severance Pay Calculator adds another dimension by estimating the lump-sum payment you accumulate for every year of service — a form of deferred compensation that does not appear on your monthly payslip but represents real value. And the Pension Calculator projects the retirement income your monthly national pension contributions are building toward, turning a mandatory deduction into a tangible future benefit. Each tool illuminates a different aspect of the same paycheck, and together they give you a complete understanding of what your labor is actually worth.