Texas Paycheck Calculator (2026)

How It Works

A Texas paycheck is the simplest in the country to read: there is no state income tax line at all. Texas is one of nine states that levy no broad-based tax on individual income, and since 2019 the ban has been written into the state constitution — Article VIII, Section 24-a says the legislature “may not impose a tax on the net incomes of individuals.” Voters added it as Proposition 4 on November 5, 2019, so creating an income tax would take another constitutional amendment, not just a new law. There is no Texas state income tax return to file and no state withholding on any paycheck.

What does come out is all federal: federal income tax withholding, Social Security at 6.2% of wages up to the $184,500 wage base for 2026, and Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, plus an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 for a single filer. This calculator figures the FICA lines from your gross pay and takes federal withholding from you — it depends on your W-4, so you enter the figure from your pay stub. The state line is always $0.00, whatever you earn.

No income tax does not mean no tax. Texas funds itself largely through a 6.25% state sales tax (up to 8.25% combined with local sales taxes) and locally administered property taxes that rank among the highest in the country. Businesses pay a franchise tax on their margin, though sole proprietors are exempt and smaller businesses owe nothing below a revenue threshold. None of those touch a paycheck directly, which is why the calculator leaves them out — but they are the reason a Texas salary can look generous on payday and tighter when the property-tax bill arrives.

The comparison with taxed states is the point of the page: on the same gross pay, a Texan keeps every dollar a Californian or New Yorker hands to their state. On the $72,800 salary in the worked example below, a California worker would pay $2,647.12 in state income tax plus $946.40 in CA SDI — $3,593.52 a year that stays in a Texas paycheck. Whether the Texan comes out ahead overall depends on property tax, sales tax and housing costs — the paycheck is only one side of the ledger.

Worked Example

A single filer earning $2,800 every two weeks — $72,800 a year — with $320 of federal withholding per paycheck. Texas state income tax is $0. FICA is $5,569.20 a year: Social Security 6.2% of $72,800 = $4,513.60, plus Medicare 1.45% of $72,800 = $1,055.60 — $214.20 per paycheck. Total deductions are $534.20 per paycheck ($320 federal + $214.20 FICA), leaving net pay of $2,265.80 every two weeks — $58,910.80 a year, or 80.9% of gross pay. There is no state line to add, no state standard deduction to work out, and nothing to file in April beyond the federal return.

The same calculation at other bi-weekly pay levels, with federal withholding held at $320 per paycheck and no other deductions:

With the state column permanently at zero, the only thing bending the numbers is FICA. At $39,000 the take-home share is 71.0% of gross; at $195,000 it is 88.4% — partly because the Social Security portion stops at the $184,500 wage base (FICA in the last row is $14,266.50, not 7.65% of $195,000). Treat the top rows with caution, though: federal withholding is held fixed at $320 in every row, and real federal withholding rises steeply with income, so the higher rows overstate the net pay a real worker would see.

Assumptions and What This Calculator Leaves Out

• Texas levies no state income tax on individuals — the state line is $0.00 at every income level, for every filing status.
• There is no local income tax either: no Texas city or county levies one, so no local line is needed.
• There is no Texas state income tax return to file. The only income tax return most Texans file is the federal Form 1040.
• FICA is figured on annual gross pay: Social Security 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, Medicare 1.45% on all wages, plus 0.9% above $200,000 for a single filer. The annual figure is spread evenly across paychecks.
• Federal withholding is your figure to enter, taken from your pay stub. The calculator never estimates it from tax tables.
• The Texas franchise tax is not included — it applies to businesses, not to employee paychecks, and sole proprietors are exempt from it.
• Sales tax and property tax are not part of a paycheck calculation, so they are not modelled — but they are the taxes that replace the missing income tax in Texas, and they can be substantial.
• Pre-tax deductions such as a 401(k) are not modelled as tax reducers. Add them under “Other deductions” if you want them in net pay — the calculator subtracts them from take-home without touching any tax line.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your gross pay per period and your pay frequency, then your federal withholding per period from your most recent pay stub and any other fixed deductions. The results show each deduction line — federal, Social Security and Medicare, with the Texas state line at $0.00 — plus your total deductions, net pay per paycheck, and your annual gross and net. Use the Reset button to return to the $2,800 worked example.

Tips and Practical Advice

File federal only. With no state return to prepare, skip the paid state-return add-ons that tax software tries to sell you — there is nothing to file in Texas, and the money is better kept. The same goes for moving: if you relocate to Texas from a taxed state, your new paychecks carry no state withholding from day one, though the state you left may still tax the income you earned while you lived there.

Budget for the taxes that replace the income tax. Texas property taxes are among the highest in the country and they arrive as a bill, not a payroll deduction, so a salary that looks generous per paycheck can feel tighter once a year. Texas uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and under the Texas Payday Law employers must pay non-exempt employees at least twice a month. And check your pay stub: a Texas stub should show only federal lines and FICA — anything labelled as state income tax withholding is a mistake worth raising with payroll.

Sources: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; Texas Constitution, Article VIII, Section 24-a (Proposition 4, adopted November 5, 2019); Social Security Administration (wage base $184,500 for 2026). Figures checked 13 November 2026. Last reviewed: 13 November 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions