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Tax guide

Texas paycheck taxes, line by line

A Texas pay stub is one of the shortest in the country. Three federal deductions come out, the state line reads zero, and there is no local wage tax anywhere in Texas. Here is what each line is and how it is calculated for 2026.

Worked example

A $75,000 salary, single, paid every two weeks

Federal income tax

$295.00

The biggest line for most Texans. Payroll annualizes each check, subtracts the 2026 standard deduction for your W-4 filing status ($16,100 single, $32,200 joint), runs the result through the seven federal brackets and divides back down. Dependents claimed in W-4 step 3 reduce it, and extra withholding in step 4(c) adds to it.

Social Security (OASDI)

$178.85

6.2% of gross wages up to $184,500 for 2026. Once you pass that wage base the line stops for the rest of the year, which is why high earners see a raise in their net pay late in the year. Your employer pays a matching 6.2%.

Medicare

$41.83

1.45% of every wage dollar with no cap, matched by your employer. An additional 0.9% is withheld from you alone once your wages for the year pass $200,000, and that surtax has no employer match.

Texas state income tax

$0.00

Constitutionally prohibited. Article VIII, Section 24-a, added by Proposition 4 in 2019, bars the legislature from taxing individual net income. No Texas city, county or school district taxes wages either.

Take-home per check

$2,368.94

Gross is $2,884.62 a check and $75,000 a year. Total tax comes to $13,408 a year, an effective rate of 17.9%, leaving $61,593. Change the salary or add deductions in the Texas paycheck calculator.

What Texas charges instead

No state income tax does not mean no state taxes. Texas funds itself mainly through sales tax and property tax, both of which run high by national standards. The state sales tax is 6.25%, and local jurisdictions can add up to 2% on top, capping the combined rate at 8.25%. Property tax is levied locally rather than by the state, and Texas has no statewide property tax, but effective rates in many counties are among the highest in the country. The practical effect is that a Texas paycheck is larger than the same salary elsewhere, and more of your money leaves later, when you buy things or pay a property tax bill.

What is not withheld in Texas

Several deductions common in other states simply do not exist here. There is no state disability insurance withholding, unlike California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Hawaii. There is no paid family and medical leave contribution, unlike Massachusetts, Washington or Colorado. There is no employee share of unemployment tax, since Texas unemployment insurance is entirely employer-funded on the first $9,000 of wages. And there is no local wage tax of the kind Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland allow.

Rules that still apply to a Texas paycheck

Texas has no income tax, but it does regulate when and how you are paid. Under the Texas Payday Law, non-exempt employees must be paid at least twice a month and exempt employees at least once a month. If your employer sets no payday, the default is the first and fifteenth. A final paycheck is due within 6 calendar days if you were fired or laid off, and on the next regular payday if you quit. Overtime follows the federal FLSA at time and a half past 40 hours in a workweek, with no Texas daily overtime rule. Unpaid wage claims go to the Texas Workforce Commission.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What taxes are taken out of a paycheck in Texas?+

Three, all federal. Income tax withholding calculated from your W-4 and the 2026 brackets, Social Security at 6.2% of wages up to $184,500, and Medicare at 1.45% of all wages with an extra 0.9% once the year passes $200,000. There is no Texas state income tax line and no city or county wage tax. Anything else on the stub is either something you elected, such as a 401(k) or health premium, or something a court ordered, such as child support.

Why does Texas have no state income tax?+

Because voters removed the option. Article VIII, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution, added by Proposition 4 on November 5, 2019, says the legislature may not impose a tax on the net incomes of individuals, including an individual's share of partnership and unincorporated association income. Before that amendment an income tax was possible but politically hard, because a 1993 provision required statewide voter approval first. Now it would take a full constitutional amendment, meaning two-thirds of both chambers plus a statewide vote.

Do any Texas cities have a local income tax?+

No. Not Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth or anywhere else. Texas cities raise money through property tax and their share of sales tax instead. This is a real difference from states like Ohio, where hundreds of municipalities tax wages directly, or Pennsylvania and New York, where a local wage tax is common. A Texas pay stub has no local tax line at all.

Does Texas take unemployment tax out of my paycheck?+

No. Texas unemployment tax is paid by the employer to the Texas Workforce Commission on the first $9,000 of each employee's wages per year. Nothing is withheld from you for it. A few states do withhold an employee share for unemployment or disability programs, but Texas is not one of them, and Texas has no state disability insurance or paid family leave payroll deduction either.

How much of a Texas paycheck goes to taxes?+

It depends on income, but with no state layer the range is narrower than most states. $50,000 loses 15.3%, $75,000 loses 17.9%, $100,000 loses 20.8%, for a single filer with no pre-tax deductions in 2026. FICA alone is a flat 7.65% until you reach the Social Security wage base, and the rest is federal income tax rising through the brackets.

Do I file a state tax return in Texas?+

Not for wages. Texas has no personal income tax return, so there is no state filing, no state withholding form and no state refund. You file a federal return only. Businesses may owe the Texas franchise tax, and everyone pays sales and property tax, but none of that runs through payroll.

Texas

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Sources

Figures are estimates for planning, not tax advice. Federal figures are verified against the cited IRS and SSA documents, and Texas figures against the Texas Constitution, the Labor Code, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Comptroller.