Texas has no state income tax, so your paycheck math stops at federal tax and FICA.
Texas Paychecks: What Actually Comes Out
Search "paycheck calculator Texas" and the honest short answer is that a Texas paycheck has one fewer line on it than almost anywhere else: there is no state income tax deduction. Texas has no personal state income tax, full stop, for every filing status and every income level. That rests on Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, which blocks the legislature from creating a state income tax without a statewide public vote, and no such vote has ever passed one into law. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, the state agency that actually collects Texas taxes, administers more than thirty separate taxes and fees, franchise tax, sales tax, hotel occupancy tax, motor fuels tax, and others, and an individual income tax is not one of them.
That doesn't mean a Texas paycheck is untouched. Two things still come out of every paycheck regardless of which state you're in: federal income tax withholding and FICA. This calculator, defaulted to Texas, shows you exactly those two, and nothing else, because for a Texas employee, that's the complete list.
Federal Withholding Still Applies
Federal income tax is a national tax, collected the same way whether you work in Austin, Anchorage, or anywhere else. This calculator uses the annualized-income method: your pay period amount is annualized, the 2026 federal standard deduction for a single filer ($16,100) is subtracted, and the 2026 marginal brackets are applied to what's left.
| 2026 taxable income (single filer) | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $12,400 | 10% |
| $12,400 – $50,400 | 12% |
| $50,400 – $105,700 | 22% |
| $105,700 – $201,775 | 24% |
| $201,775 – $256,225 | 32% |
| $256,225 – $640,600 | 35% |
| Over $640,600 | 37% |
Source: IRS, Revenue Procedure 2025-32.
FICA in Texas Is the Same as Everywhere Else
FICA doesn't vary by state. Social Security withholds 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 annual wage base of $184,500; Medicare withholds 1.45% of every dollar, no cap; and an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to wages above $200,000 in a year. Source: IRS Publication 15 (2026).
A Worked Example
Say you earn $30 an hour, work a standard 40-hour week, and get paid weekly: $1,200 gross a week, or $62,400 a year annualized. Subtract the $16,100 standard deduction and $46,300 is taxable. Federal tax: 10% of the first $12,400 ($1,240) plus 12% of the remaining $33,900 ($4,068), for $5,308 a year, or $102.08 a week. FICA: Social Security is $1,200 × 6.2% = $74.40; Medicare is $1,200 × 1.45% = $17.40. No state tax. Net pay: $1,200 − $102.08 − $74.40 − $17.40 = $1,006.12 a week. Compare that to the same $1,200 weekly gross in a state with a flat 5% income tax: an extra $60 a week, roughly $3,120 a year, would come out on top of what's shown here. That gap, not a lower cost of living, is the specific thing "no state income tax" buys you on a paycheck.
How This Differs From Simply Zeroing Out the State Line
Some paycheck tools handle "no income tax" states by just hiding the state row. This calculator instead shows the row with a $0.00 value and the plain-language reason why, so you can see the full picture: everyone pays federal tax and FICA, and Texas employees stop there. If you also want to compare against a state that does tax income, our general paycheck calculator lets you switch the state dropdown to California or New York side by side.
If You're Self-Employed or Running a Business in Texas
This page covers W-2 employee paychecks. If you're a 1099 contractor, freelancer, or business owner in Texas, you're not subject to paycheck withholding at all, you're responsible for estimated tax payments instead, and Texas's franchise tax may apply to your business (not to your personal wages). Our self-employed tax estimator and quarterly tax calculator are built for that situation specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Texas really have no state income tax?
Yes. Texas has no personal state income tax. This rests on Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, which bars the legislature from enacting a state income tax without a statewide public vote, and no such tax has ever been enacted. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, the state's tax-collecting agency, administers over thirty separate state taxes and fees, franchise, sales, hotel, fuels, and more, but no individual income tax is among them.
If there's no state income tax, what comes out of a Texas paycheck?
Two things: federal income tax withholding and FICA (Social Security and Medicare). Both apply in every state, including Texas. Enter your gross pay above to see exactly how much of each.
How does Texas pay for state services without an income tax?
Primarily sales tax and property tax, both generally higher than the national average to make up the difference, plus the franchise tax (a tax on businesses, not individual wages) and industry-specific taxes like the oil and gas severance tax. That funding structure is outside the scope of a paycheck calculator, but it's the honest answer to why the tradeoff exists.
Is take-home pay always higher in Texas than in a state with income tax?
At the same gross salary, yes, a Texas paycheck will show more federal-and-FICA-only withholding than the same salary would in a state that also taxes income, because there's one less deduction line. That doesn't automatically mean Texas is cheaper to live in overall; sales tax, property tax, and cost of living vary too and aren't part of this calculator.
Does this calculator account for Texas franchise tax?
No. Franchise tax applies to businesses, not to an individual employee's paycheck, so it isn't part of a take-home pay estimate. If you're a Texas business owner instead of an employee, our S-Corp savings calculator and LLC cost calculator cover business-level costs.
Are local Texas cities allowed to add their own income tax?
No. The same constitutional bar that blocks a state income tax also means no Texas city or county can impose one. Property tax and sales tax, both of which do vary by locality, are the local-level equivalents, but neither shows up on a paycheck stub.
Is this tax or legal advice?
No. It's an educational estimation tool. Confirm your actual withholding with your pay stub or a licensed tax professional before making a financial decision based on it.