Texas Take Home Pay 2026
Why Texas keeps more of your pay
Texas is one of nine states with no personal income tax. The Texas Constitution (Art. 8, §24-a, adopted by voters in November 2019) forbids the legislature from taxing the net incomes of individuals. There is no Texas income-tax return to file, nothing is withheld for state tax, and there is no local or city income tax anywhere in the state. Texas also has no state disability insurance deduction, and unemployment insurance is employer-paid only (on the first $9,000 of each employee's wages a year). Your paycheck has three deductions: federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. That is all.
The trade-off is real, though: Texas funds its government through a 6.25% state sales tax (plus up to 2% local, 8.25% combined maximum) and local property taxes, which are among the highest in the country as a share of home value. Whether Texas is cheaper overall depends on what you buy and where you live — but for take-home pay on a salary, the answer is unambiguous.
Worked example: $70,000 salary in Texas
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $70,000.00 |
| Standard deduction (single) | −$16,100.00 |
| Taxable income | $53,900.00 |
| Federal income tax | $6,570.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | $4,340.00 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | $1,015.00 |
| State income tax | $0.00 |
| Take-home pay | $58,075.00 a year ($4,839.58 a month) |
Compare that with California, where the same $70,000 would lose roughly another $1,500–$2,000 to state income tax (plus 1.1% state disability insurance), or New York, where state tax plus New York City tax would take a similar amount. The federal part is identical everywhere — only the state slice changes.
Worked example: $100,000 salary in Texas
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $100,000.00 |
| Taxable income | $83,900.00 |
| Federal income tax | $13,170.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | $6,200.00 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | $1,450.00 |
| State income tax | $0.00 |
| Take-home pay | $79,180.00 a year ($6,598.33 a month) |
Your marginal federal rate at $100,000 is 22%, so each extra dollar keeps 78 cents after federal tax (before FICA). At $250,000, Social Security stops (the $184,500 wage base is passed, so the maximum $11,439 is already paid) but the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax starts on wages above $200,000.
Texas minimum wage and overtime
Texas follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — it has no state minimum wage of its own, and $7.25 has been unchanged since 2009. On a full-time 40-hour week that is $15,080 a year before tax. At that income, federal income tax after the $16,100 standard deduction is $0, and take-home pay is about $13,926 a year after Social Security and Medicare. Most large Texas employers pay well above the minimum: the median hourly wage in Texas is roughly $22–$24.
Moving to Texas for the tax?
People do move to Texas for the tax — the state adds roughly 400,000–500,000 residents a year, and no state income tax is one of the reasons people cite. But the saving is the state tax you would have paid elsewhere: on $100,000, roughly $4,000–$6,000 a year versus California or New York, and $0 versus Florida, Wyoming or Washington (which also have no income tax). Property taxes and home insurance in Texas are high, so run the whole budget, not just the paycheck. Use the Take Home Pay Calculator USA to compare your own figure.
Related: Take Home Pay Calculator USA · Federal Tax Brackets 2026 · What Is Take Home Pay?
Sources: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, “A Field Guide to the Taxes of Texas” (December 2025); Texas Constitution, Art. 8, §24-a; IRS, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and Topic No. 751; Social Security Administration, “Contribution and Benefit Base”. Checked 13 November 2026.