How Texas paychecks work (2026)
In Texas, your take-home pay is your salary minus federal income tax, FICA (Social Security 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%) — and that's it, because Texas has no state income tax. This calculator uses the official 2026 rates for a single filer. What Texas skips in income tax it recovers through some of the highest property taxes in the country.
Texas state income tax
Texas has no state income tax. You only pay federal income tax and FICA, so your take-home is higher than in most states.
Example: $80,000 in Texas
On $80,000 in Texas, federal tax is about $8,770 and FICA $6,120, leaving roughly $65,110 — no state tax touches it. The trade-off arrives elsewhere: a typical Texas home attracts $5,000–$9,000 a year in property tax, which never appears on your paycheck.
Texas take-home pay by salary (2026)
Estimated annual take-home for a single filer after federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare — Texas has no state income tax, using the 2026 rates. Figures are tax liability, not withholding.
| Gross salary | Take-home / year | Per month | % kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $34,320 | $2,860 | 85.8% |
| $60,000 | $50,390 | $4,199 | 84.0% |
| $80,000 | $65,110 | $5,426 | 81.4% |
| $100,000 | $79,180 | $6,598 | 79.2% |
| $150,000 | $113,791 | $9,483 | 75.9% |
What often catches people out in Texas
- Texas replaces income tax with property and sales tax: effective property-tax rates (~1.6–1.9%) are among the highest in the US, so a Texas homeowner's total tax bill is far from zero.
- Combined sales tax reaches 8.25% with local add-ons — another way the 'no income tax' math quietly evens out.
- The upside is real: no state return to file, so your only income-tax paperwork is federal.
The Texas exemption that just moved by $40,000
Texas replaces income tax with property tax, and the single number that decides how much property tax a Texas homeowner actually pays is the school district homestead exemption — because school taxes are the largest slice of a Texas property bill. That number changed recently and by a lot, which is why older guidance is now wrong.
Tax Code §11.13(b) requires school districts to exempt $140,000 of a residence homestead's value. Senate Bill 4 of the 89th Legislature raised it from $100,000. Homeowners aged 65 or over, or with a qualifying disability, get a further $60,000 under §11.13(c), so $200,000 in total. The Comptroller's own worked example: a home appraised at $300,000 with the $140,000 exemption is taxed for school purposes as though it were worth $160,000.
Put that against the paycheck. On the $80,000 salary above you keep about $65,110 because Texas takes nothing from wages. If your school district rate is around 1% of taxable value, the $40,000 increase in the exemption is worth roughly $400 a year — small next to the several thousand a state income tax would have taken, which is the whole design of the Texas system. But note who it does and does not reach: the exemption applies to a homestead you own and occupy. If you rent, you get the no-income-tax benefit in full and none of the property-tax relief directly, though it does feed through into what landlords can charge.
Businesses are not exempt from the trade either. Texas has no corporate income tax but does levy a franchise tax measured on margin above a revenue threshold, so "no income tax in Texas" is a statement about individuals and wages, not about the state raising no tax on economic activity. Source: Texas Comptroller — Property Tax Exemptions.
What this calculator does not include
- Local/city taxes (none), 401(k) and pre-tax deductions, and filing statuses other than single.
- It shows tax liability, which can differ from paycheck withholding (employers often over-withhold).
Does Texas tax my income?
No — Texas is one of nine states with no state income tax on wages.
What's FICA?
Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) payroll taxes, deducted in every state including Texas.
More United States calculators
This calculator provides estimates for a single filer in Texas for 2026 based on IRS and state figures and is for general information only — it is not financial or tax advice. It excludes local taxes, 401(k) and other deductions, and shows tax liability rather than withholding. Sources: IRS (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), Texas Department of Revenue.