What is different in Texas:
- No state income tax on wages — the state line on every example below is $0.
- No city or county wage tax anywhere in the state.
- Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare work exactly as in every other state.
- Texas unemployment insurance is paid by employers, not deducted from your pay.
What a Texas paycheck looks like at six salaries
Single filer, paid every two weeks, no 401(k) or other deductions, 2026 figures. Every number below comes from the same tested formulas the calculator above uses.
| Salary | Federal income tax | Social Security + Medicare | Texas tax | Take-home / year | Take-home / paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $2,620 | $3,060 | $0 | $34,320 | $1,320.00 |
| $60,000 | $5,020 | $4,590 | $0 | $50,390 | $1,938.08 |
| $80,000 | $8,770 | $6,120 | $0 | $65,110 | $2,504.23 |
| $100,000 | $13,170 | $7,650 | $0 | $79,180 | $3,045.38 |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $11,475 | $0 | $113,791 | $4,376.58 |
| $200,000 | $36,734 | $14,339 | $0 | $148,927 | $5,727.96 |
Worked example: $120,000, married, paid monthly
Married filing jointly, paid once a month, 6% of salary to a traditional 401(k) — $600.00 a month, $7,200 a year — in Texas.
- Taxable income: $120,000 − $7,200 401(k) − $32,200 standard deduction (married) = $80,600.00.
- Federal income tax on that amount: $9,176.00 a year.
- Social Security: $7,440.00; Medicare: $1,740.00. The 401(k) does not reduce these.
- Texas state income tax: $0.
- Take-home: $120,000 − $7,200 − $9,176.00 − $7,440.00 − $1,740.00 = $94,444.00 a year, or $7,870.33 per monthly paycheck.
Worked example: $25 an hour in Texas
A single worker earns $25.00 an hour for 40 hours a week: $25.00 × 40 × 52 = $52,000 a year before tax. After federal income tax ($4,060), Social Security ($3,224) and Medicare ($754), take-home is $43,962 a year — about $1,690.85 per biweekly paycheck, with $0 of Texas state tax.
Texas vs a state with income tax: $100,000
The same single worker earning $100,000, paid biweekly with no 401(k). In Texas the state line is $0; in Illinois the flat 4.95% rate takes $4,950 a year.
| Texas | Illinois (4.95%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $13,170 | $13,170 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $7,650 | $7,650 |
| State income tax | $0 | $4,950 |
| Take-home per year | $79,180 | $74,230 |
The Illinois worker keeps $4,950 less per year for doing the same job — about $190.38 per paycheck. To compare every no-tax and flat-tax state side by side, see take-home pay by state. For the other large no-tax state, see our Florida paycheck calculator.
What Texas does not tax — and what it does
Texas has no tax on wages and no local wage tax, but the state still needs revenue. The state sales tax is 6.25%, and with city and county add-ons the combined rate can reach 8.25%. Property taxes are among the highest in the country. None of that comes out of your paycheck, but it affects what your take-home pay buys — which is why comparing salaries by net pay, not gross pay, matters most when Texas is involved.
What this page leaves out
Child and dependent credits, itemized deductions, health premiums, 401(k) contributions beyond the examples above, bonuses and overtime are not in the simplified calculator — the full paycheck calculator covers all of them, with Texas as the "no state income tax" option. For exact figures use your employer's payroll system or the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator.
Sources and review
Brackets and standard deductions come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The Social Security wage base comes from the Social Security Administration, and the fact that Texas levies no individual income tax is confirmed by the Tax Foundation's 2026 state rates. Last reviewed September 2026. See our methodology for how every figure is checked.