Updated for 2026 – No state income tax
Texas Paycheck Calculator
See your real take-home pay after federal tax and FICA, with the Texas rules other calculators skip: the $2.13 tip credit, FLSA-only overtime, TWC unemployment tax, and what your property tax bill does to the no-income-tax advantage.
Step 1 How you are paid
Before any taxes or deductions. This is the number on your offer letter.
Texas Payday Law requires non-exempt workers be paid at least twice a month.
Step 1 Hours and rate
Step 1 Tipped pay
Step 1 1099 and business income
Step 1 Two offers, side by side
Comparing a Texas offer against one in another state is where most people find the real number. Set a different state on Offer B to see the swing.
A First offer
B Second offer
Employer Your Texas payroll costs
Applies to the first $9,000 of each employee’s wages per year.
Percent of gross pay you contribute.
Scales the annual totals below.
Take-home pay per paycheck
Biweekly, after federal tax and FICA
You keep
0%of every gross dollarEffective tax rate
0%total tax / gross payMarginal rate
0%on your next dollar earnedAnnual take-home
$0all 12 monthsYour Texas pay stub, line by line
Biweekly periodWhere every dollar of your gross pay goes
The full split of one paycheck, drawn to scale. The green block is what actually reaches your bank account.
Where your federal tax actually comes from
Only the income sitting inside each bracket is taxed at that rate. Your top bracket is not the rate you pay on everything.
The Texas advantage, in dollars
Same gross salary, same federal tax, same deductions. The only variable is the state you work in.
| State | State income tax | Other state payroll tax | Annual take-home | vs Texas |
|---|
State figures use each state’s most recently published schedule and standard deduction for your filing status, and exclude local income taxes except where noted. Verify with that state’s revenue agency before making a move.
The property tax reality check
Texas funds itself through property tax instead of income tax. This is the honest version of the no-income-tax story, and no other paycheck calculator shows it to you.
What is on a Texas pay stub
A Texas paycheck is one of the simplest in the country, and that simplicity is the whole story. Four federal deductions come out. Nothing goes to Austin.
The four deductions that actually apply
- Federal income tax. Withheld under the percentage method in IRS Publication 15-T, based on your Form W-4, your pay frequency and your gross wages. Seven brackets from 10% to 37%.
- Social Security (OASDI). 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Once you cross that, it stops for the rest of the year and your paycheck jumps.
- Medicare. 1.45% on every dollar with no cap, plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 for single and head of household filers, $250,000 for joint filers, and $125,000 if you file separately.
- Whatever you elected. 401(k), health premiums, HSA, FSA, dental, vision, Roth contributions, and any garnishment a Texas court actually allows.
The line that stays empty
There is no state income tax withholding line on a Texas pay stub. Article 8, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution, added by voters in November 2019, bars the Legislature from imposing an individual income tax at all. Repealing that ban would take a two-thirds vote of both chambers plus statewide voter approval, which is why Texas payroll rules have been stable for decades while other states move every session.
There is also no state disability insurance deduction, no paid family leave premium, no state unemployment deduction from the employee side, and no local income tax in any Texas city. Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth all withhold exactly the same amount from a given paycheck: nothing.
Practical effect: a Texas worker earning $100,000 as a single filer with no pre-tax deductions keeps about $79,180 a year. The same worker in California keeps roughly $6,500 less, and in New York City roughly $8,500 less, purely because of state and local taxes on the same gross pay.
What Texas does tax
Texas is not a low-tax state so much as a differently-taxed state. The revenue that other states collect through income tax, Texas collects through property tax and sales tax:
- Property tax. No state property tax exists, but school districts, counties, cities, hospital districts and special districts each levy their own. Combined effective rates commonly land between 1.5% and 2.3% of market value, among the highest in the country.
- Sales tax. 6.25% state rate, with local jurisdictions adding up to 2%, for a maximum of 8.25%. Groceries and prescription drugs are exempt.
- Franchise tax. A margin tax on business entities, not on individuals. Sole proprietors and general partnerships made up of natural persons are excluded entirely.
How to use this calculator
Every field updates the result the moment you type. There is no calculate button and nothing is sent to a server.
If you are salaried
Enter your annual gross salary and pay frequency, set your filing status, then add your 401(k) percentage and health premium. Most people stop there. If your refund or balance due last April surprised you, open the W-4 panel and match the Step 3 and Step 4 fields to the form you actually submitted, because that is where the discrepancy almost always lives.
If you are hourly
Enter your rate, your regular weekly hours, and any hours over 40. Texas applies the federal 40-hour weekly overtime threshold and nothing more. If you work four 10-hour shifts and total exactly 40 hours, you have earned zero overtime under Texas law, which is the opposite of how California treats the same schedule.
If you work for tips
The tipped mode is where Texas differs most sharply from the coastal states. Enter your cash wage, your hours, and the tips you report. The calculator runs the tip credit test for you: it checks whether your cash wage plus tips reaches $7.25 per hour across the workweek, and flags the shortfall your employer legally owes you if it does not. It also computes overtime the correct way, on the full minimum wage rather than the $2.13 cash wage, which is the single most common tipped-pay error in Texas restaurants.
If you are self-employed
Enter gross 1099 income and business expenses. The calculator applies self-employment tax at 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, caps the Social Security portion at the wage base, deducts half the SE tax from your income tax base, and applies the 20% QBI deduction. Switch the display to quarterly to get the number for your Form 1040-ES estimated payment.
If you are comparing offers or states
Compare mode lets you put a Texas offer beside an out-of-state one with different benefits. A $95,000 Texas offer with a 6% match and cheap insurance frequently beats a $108,000 offer somewhere with a 6% state income tax, and the dollar difference is usually larger than people guess.
Texas payroll rules other calculators miss
National calculators are built for a generic worker, then bolted onto fifty states. Here is what they get wrong about this one.
Overtime is weekly only, with no state layer
Texas has no state overtime statute. The Fair Labor Standards Act governs, which means 1.5x after 40 hours in a fixed and recurring 168-hour workweek. There is no daily threshold, no double time requirement, and no seventh-consecutive-day rule. Employers may voluntarily pay 2x, and many oilfield and manufacturing shift schedules do, but no law compels it. Averaging hours across two weeks of a biweekly pay period to avoid overtime is illegal.
The tip credit is legal here, and it is $5.12
Texas permits the full federal tip credit. An employer may pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and count up to $5.12 per hour of your tips toward the $7.25 minimum. Three rules protect you:
- Your cash wage plus tips must reach $7.25 per hour averaged over the workweek. If it does not, your employer must pay the shortfall.
- Overtime for a tipped worker is calculated on $7.25, not $2.13. The overtime rate is $10.88 per hour, less the tip credit, for a cash overtime wage of $5.76. Employers who compute 1.5 times $2.13 are underpaying you.
- Managers and supervisors cannot take any share of a tip pool, and the employer cannot keep any portion of tips for any purpose.
The tip credit, drawn to scale
Both bars have to reach the legal floor. The employer only funds the dark portion.
Sources: Fair Labor Standards Act Section 3(m), 29 CFR Part 531, and Texas Labor Code Chapter 62. Texas applies the federal tip credit in full, unlike California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Minnesota and Alaska, which prohibit it entirely.
Cities cannot raise the minimum wage
Texas minimum wage is $7.25, matching the federal rate and unchanged since July 2009. Texas Labor Code Section 62.0515 preempts local minimum wage ordinances, and House Bill 2127 broadened that preemption further in 2023. Austin, Houston and Dallas set higher wage floors for their own municipal employees and city contractors, but no Texas city can require a private employer to pay above $7.25.
Most wage garnishment is illegal in Texas
Texas is one of only four states that prohibit wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debt. A credit card company, medical provider or auto lender cannot garnish your paycheck here even with a judgment. Only child support, spousal maintenance, federally guaranteed student loans, unpaid federal taxes and court-ordered restitution can reach your wages. If you see a garnishment line on a Texas pay stub for a consumer debt, something is wrong.
The Texas Payday Law sets the timing
Texas Labor Code Chapter 61, administered by the Texas Workforce Commission, governs when you get paid:
- Pay frequency. Exempt employees must be paid at least once a month. Non-exempt employees must be paid at least twice a month, on paydays as nearly equal in length as practicable.
- Final paycheck after termination. If you were fired or laid off, wages are due within six calendar days of discharge.
- Final paycheck after resignation. If you quit, wages are due on the next regularly scheduled payday.
- Deductions. Anything beyond taxes and court orders requires your specific written authorization, and cannot push you below minimum wage.
- Filing a claim. You have 180 days from the date wages were due to file a wage claim with the TWC. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.
Texas take-home pay by salary in 2026
Single filer, standard deduction, no pre-tax contributions, paid biweekly. Run your own numbers above for anything more specific.
| Gross salary | Federal tax | FICA | Annual take-home | Monthly | Per check | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $2,620 | $3,060 | $34,320 | $2,860 | $1,320 | 14.2% |
| $50,000 | $3,820 | $3,825 | $42,355 | $3,530 | $1,629 | 15.3% |
| $60,000 | $5,020 | $4,590 | $50,390 | $4,199 | $1,938 | 16.0% |
| $65,000 | $5,620 | $4,972 | $54,408 | $4,534 | $2,093 | 16.3% |
| $75,000 | $7,670 | $5,738 | $61,592 | $5,133 | $2,369 | 17.9% |
| $85,000 | $9,870 | $6,502 | $68,628 | $5,719 | $2,640 | 19.3% |
| $100,000 | $13,170 | $7,650 | $79,180 | $6,598 | $3,045 | 20.8% |
| $120,000 | $17,570 | $9,180 | $93,250 | $7,771 | $3,587 | 22.3% |
| $150,000 | $24,734 | $11,475 | $113,791 | $9,483 | $4,377 | 24.1% |
| $200,000 | $36,734 | $14,339 | $148,927 | $12,411 | $5,728 | 25.5% |
| $250,000 | $51,304 | $15,064 | $183,182 | $15,265 | $7,045 | 26.7% |
Two things to notice. Above $184,500 the Social Security deduction stops, which is why the FICA column barely moves between $200,000 and $250,000. And the effective rate stays under 27% even at a quarter million dollars, because there is no state layer stacked on top.
Is the no-income-tax advantage real?
Mostly yes, and the honest answer depends on whether you buy a house.
The raw paycheck swing
On a $100,000 salary as a single filer, moving from California to Texas puts roughly $6,500 more per year in your pocket, or about $540 a month. From New York City the swing is around $8,500. From Illinois, about $4,800. From Florida, Tennessee, Nevada or Washington, zero, because those states do not tax wage income either.
What the missing state tax line is worth
Annual dollars a Texas worker keeps that an identical earner in California or New York City does not.
Single filer, standard deduction, identical gross salary in every state. California figures include the 1.2% State Disability Insurance withholding. New York City figures stack the city resident income tax on top of New York State tax. Both use the standard deduction for a single filer and exclude property tax, which is covered separately below.
The property tax offset
Here is the part relocation guides skip. A $400,000 home at a 1.9% combined rate, after the $140,000 school district homestead exemption, produces a bill in the neighborhood of $6,500 to $7,000 a year. That can consume most or all of the income tax savings for a homeowner. Renters, on the other hand, keep the full advantage directly, though landlords pass some of the cost through in rent.
November 2025 improved this materially. Texas Proposition 13 raised the school district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, and Proposition 11 raised the additional exemption for homeowners 65 or older or disabled from $10,000 to $60,000. The Texas Comptroller estimates average savings near $1,760 a year for homesteaded owners. Texas Tax Code Section 23.23 also caps annual increases in the assessed value of a homesteaded property at 10%, regardless of what the market does.
Effective property tax rate by Texas county
Where you buy inside Texas moves your bill more than which state you left.
The bill column assumes the $140,000 school district homestead exemption applied to the school portion of each rate. Rates are appraisal district averages blending school, county, city, hospital, college and special district levies, and will not match any single address. Municipal Utility Districts and Public Improvement Districts common in newer master planned suburbs can add 0.5% or more on top. Confirm your rate on your county appraisal district notice.
The honest math
You gain the most if you rent, if you earn a high salary, or if you are moving from California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon or Minnesota.
You gain the least if you buy an expensive house in a high-rate district such as parts of Fort Bend, El Paso or a new MUD-heavy suburb, or if you are moving from a state that already has no income tax.
Use the property tax panel above with your actual purchase price and county rate. That comparison, not the paycheck alone, is the number that decides it.
For Texas employers: what payroll really costs
Switch the calculator to employer view to see the full loaded cost of a hire. Texas keeps the state side unusually light.
TWC unemployment tax is your only state payroll tax
Texas employers pay unemployment insurance tax to the Texas Workforce Commission on the first $9,000 of each employee’s wages per calendar year, a wage base that has not changed since 1997. For 2026 the minimum effective rate is 0.32% and the maximum is 6.32%. New employers pay the greater of 2.7% or their NAICS industry average until they have enough history for an experience rating, which takes about three fiscal years.
Your effective rate is the sum of five components: the general tax rate based on your chargebacks, the replenishment tax rate, the obligation assessment, the deficit tax rate, and the Employment and Training Investment Assessment of 0.10%. Because the wage base is so low, even the maximum rate costs only about $569 per employee per year. Reports and payments are due quarterly on Form C-3.
FUTA is cheap here
Federal unemployment tax is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages, but employers in good standing receive a 5.4% credit for paying state unemployment tax on time. Texas is not a credit reduction state, so Texas employers get the full credit and pay an effective 0.6%, or $42 per employee per year. Form 940 is filed annually, with quarterly deposits once liability passes $500.
Workers’ compensation is optional, and that is a real decision
Texas is the only state where private employers may decline workers’ compensation coverage entirely. Roughly a quarter of Texas employers are non-subscribers. The premium savings are genuine, and so is the exposure:
- You lose the exclusive remedy defense. An injured employee can sue you directly in tort for negligence, with no damages cap.
- You lose the three common-law defenses: contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, and the fellow-servant rule.
- You must notify employees in writing and file DWC Form-005 with the Texas Department of Insurance annually.
- Government employers, and building and construction contractors on public projects, cannot opt out.
Many non-subscribers buy an occupational accident policy instead. That covers medical and wage benefits but does not restore the liability shield.
Compliance checklist
- Designate paydays in advance and post them, as required by the Texas Payday Law.
- Pay non-exempt employees at least twice a month, exempt employees at least monthly.
- Deliver a discharged employee’s final wages within six calendar days.
- Get specific written authorization for any deduction beyond taxes and court orders.
- Report every new hire to the Texas Attorney General’s Employer New Hire Reporting program within 20 days.
- Keep payroll records at least three years under the FLSA. Four is safer.
- Starting in 2026, report qualified tips and qualified overtime separately on Form W-2. Qualified tips use Box 12 code TP.
New for 2026: the tips and overtime deductions
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created two federal deductions for tax years 2025 through 2028. They matter enormously in Texas, which has one of the largest tipped workforces in the country and no state income tax to complicate the interaction.
Qualified tips
You can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips from taxable income. The cap is per return, not per spouse. Tips must be voluntarily determined by the customer and earned in an occupation that customarily and regularly received tips before December 31, 2024. Mandatory service charges do not qualify. The deduction phases out above $150,000 of modified AGI, or $300,000 for joint filers, reduced by $100 for each $1,000 over the threshold. Married taxpayers must file jointly to claim it.
Qualified overtime
You can deduct up to $12,500, or $25,000 filing jointly, of qualified overtime compensation. Important detail that trips people up: only the premium portion counts, meaning the extra half in time-and-a-half, not the whole overtime payment. If your regular rate is $24 and you earn $36 for an overtime hour, the deductible amount is $12, not $36. Only FLSA-required overtime qualifies, so contractual double time does not. Same phase-out thresholds as tips.
What both deductions do not do: they do not reduce Social Security or Medicare tax, and they do not automatically change your paycheck. They reduce income tax at filing. If you want the benefit in each check instead of as a spring refund, adjust Step 4b on your W-4.
Tax rates and limits used in this calculator
| Item | 2026 value | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax brackets | 7 brackets, 10% to 37% | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Standard deduction | $16,100 single and MFS, $32,200 MFJ, $24,150 HOH | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Additional standard deduction, age 65+ | $2,050 single or HOH, $1,650 per spouse if married | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Social Security rate and wage base | 6.2% on the first $184,500 | SSA 2026 COLA announcement |
| Medicare | 1.45%, no cap | IRS Publication 15 |
| Additional Medicare Tax | 0.9% above $200,000 / $250,000 / $125,000 | IRC Section 3101(b)(2) |
| 401(k) and 403(b) elective deferral | $24,500, plus $8,000 at 50+, or $11,250 at 60 to 63 | IRS Notice 2025-67 |
| HSA contribution limit | $4,400 self-only, $8,750 family, plus $1,000 at 55+ | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 |
| Health FSA salary reduction | $3,400 | IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Federal supplemental withholding rate | 22% flat up to $1 million | IRS Publication 15 |
| Self-employment tax | 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit | IRS Schedule SE |
| Qualified tips deduction | Up to $25,000, phase-out from $150,000 MAGI | IRC Section 224, OBBBA |
| Qualified overtime deduction | Up to $12,500 single, $25,000 joint | IRC Section 225, OBBBA |
| Texas state income tax | None | Texas Constitution Art. 8, Sec. 24-a |
| Texas minimum wage | $7.25, tipped cash wage $2.13 | Texas Labor Code Ch. 62 |
| Texas UI wage base and rates | $9,000 base, 0.32% to 6.32%, new employer 2.7% | TWC 2026 tax rates |
| FUTA effective rate | 0.6% on the first $7,000 | IRS Form 940 instructions |
| School district homestead exemption | $140,000, plus $60,000 at 65 or disabled | Texas Props 13 and 11, Nov. 2025 |
Frequently asked questions
How much is taken out of my paycheck in Texas?
Between roughly 14% and 27% of gross pay for most Texas workers, and it is all federal. A single filer at $50,000 loses about 15.3% to federal income tax and FICA combined. At $75,000 it is about 17.9%, at $100,000 about 20.8%, and at $200,000 about 25.5%.
Those percentages assume the standard deduction and no pre-tax contributions. A 401(k) contribution, health premium or HSA deposit lowers the number further. The same salaries in California or New York would lose an additional 4% to 9% to state and local tax.
Does Texas have a state income tax in 2026?
No. Texas is one of nine states with no individual income tax on wage income, alongside Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming.
The ban is constitutional rather than statutory. Article 8, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution, approved by voters as Proposition 4 in November 2019, prohibits the Legislature from imposing an individual income tax. Changing that would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate plus approval by statewide voters, which makes it one of the most durable tax provisions in the country.
There is also no state disability insurance deduction, no paid family leave premium, and no local income tax in any Texas city.
How much is $100,000 after taxes in Texas?
A single filer earning $100,000 in Texas takes home about $79,180 a year in 2026, which works out to roughly $6,598 a month or $3,045 per biweekly paycheck. That assumes the standard deduction and no pre-tax deductions.
The breakdown is about $13,170 in federal income tax, $6,200 in Social Security and $1,450 in Medicare, for an effective rate near 20.8%.
Married filing jointly at the same $100,000 keeps considerably more, roughly $84,710 a year, because the joint standard deduction is $32,200 and the brackets are twice as wide. Contributing 6% to a 401(k) would add several hundred dollars more per year in tax savings.
Why is my Texas paycheck smaller than the calculator says?
Five causes account for nearly all of it:
- Your W-4 has a Step 2 box checked. If you or your spouse checked the multiple jobs box, withholding roughly doubles in rate terms because the tables assume a second income.
- Benefits you forgot to enter. Health, dental, vision, life insurance and disability premiums are often deducted before you ever see the pay stub.
- You are still on a pre-2020 W-4. Allowance conversion under Publication 15-T rarely matches current tables. File a new W-4.
- A bonus was paid in that check. Bonuses paid separately are withheld at a flat 22% federal rate, which usually exceeds your actual bracket.
- Extra withholding on Step 4c. Any dollar amount there comes out of every single check.
If none of those apply, compare the Social Security line to 6.2% of gross and Medicare to 1.45%. Those two are fixed percentages and are easy to verify, so an error there points straight at a payroll system problem.
What is the Texas minimum wage, and what do tipped workers make?
The Texas minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, identical to the federal rate and unchanged since July 24, 2009. There are no scheduled increases.
Tipped employees may be paid a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, with the employer taking a tip credit of up to $5.12. Your cash wage plus tips must reach at least $7.25 per hour averaged across the workweek, and if it does not, your employer is legally required to pay the difference.
Texas cities cannot set a higher minimum. Texas Labor Code Section 62.0515 preempts local minimum wage ordinances for private employers, and House Bill 2127 reinforced that in 2023. Cities can and do set higher wages for their own employees and contractors, but that does not reach private businesses.
Does Texas have daily overtime or double time?
No. Texas has no state overtime law at all. The Fair Labor Standards Act applies, which requires 1.5 times your regular rate only for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.
This is the single biggest difference from California. In Texas, four 10-hour shifts totaling 40 hours produce zero overtime. In California, the same schedule produces 8 hours of premium pay. No Texas or federal law requires double time for any schedule, holiday or seventh consecutive day, though employers may offer it voluntarily.
Two things employers still cannot do: average your hours across two weeks of a biweekly period to avoid the 40-hour threshold, or give comp time instead of overtime pay in the private sector.
How are bonuses taxed in Texas?
A bonus paid separately from your regular wages is withheld at the flat federal supplemental rate of 22%, plus 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare. Total withholding is about 29.65%. Above $1 million in cumulative supplemental wages in a year, the rate on the excess jumps to 37%.
There is no state supplemental rate in Texas, because there is no state income tax. California, for comparison, adds a flat 10.23% state rate on bonuses and stock compensation.
If your bonus is paid inside a regular paycheck rather than separately, your employer may instead use the aggregate method, which withholds at the rate for that combined larger amount. Either way, 22% is a withholding rate, not your final tax. If your actual bracket is 12%, the overwithheld amount comes back as a refund.
What payroll taxes do Texas employers pay?
Four items, and only one of them is a state tax:
- Social Security: 6.2% matching, on the first $184,500 per employee.
- Medicare: 1.45% matching, with no cap. Employers do not match the Additional Medicare Tax.
- FUTA: 0.6% effective on the first $7,000, about $42 per employee per year. Texas is not a credit reduction state, so employers receive the full 5.4% credit.
- TWC unemployment tax: 0.32% to 6.32% for 2026 on the first $9,000 of wages. New employers pay the greater of 2.7% or their industry average.
Total employer burden typically runs 8% to 10% of gross wages before benefits and workers’ compensation. Texas has no state disability tax, no paid family leave tax, and no employer-side income tax withholding obligation, which makes it one of the cheapest states in which to run a payroll.
When does my employer have to give me my final paycheck in Texas?
It depends on how the job ended, under Texas Labor Code Chapter 61:
- Fired, laid off or otherwise discharged: within six calendar days of the discharge date.
- You quit voluntarily: on the next regularly scheduled payday.
Accrued vacation or PTO is only owed if a written policy or agreement says it is. Texas does not require payout by default. Your employer also cannot hold your final check hostage over unreturned equipment or claimed training costs.
If the deadline passes, you have 180 days from the date wages were due to file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The process is free, does not require an attorney, and the TWC can assess an administrative penalty against an employer who acted in bad faith. Texas does not impose automatic waiting-time penalties the way California does.
Is living in Texas actually cheaper without an income tax?
For your paycheck, yes, immediately and unambiguously. For your household, it depends almost entirely on housing.
Texas replaces income tax revenue with property tax. Combined effective rates typically run 1.5% to 2.3% of market value, among the highest in the nation. A $400,000 home at 1.9%, after the $140,000 school district homestead exemption, generates roughly $6,500 to $7,000 a year. On a $100,000 salary that can absorb most of the income tax savings a Californian would gain.
Renters keep the advantage most cleanly. High earners keep more of it, because income tax is progressive while property tax is tied to house value rather than salary. Sales tax runs up to 8.25% but exempts groceries and prescriptions.
November 2025 tilted things further in homeowners’ favor. Proposition 13 raised the school homestead exemption to $140,000 and Proposition 11 raised the senior and disabled exemption to $60,000, with the Comptroller estimating average savings near $1,760 per homesteaded owner. Use the property tax panel above with your real purchase price and county rate before you decide.
Data sources and methodology
Every rate in this calculator traces to a primary government publication. Nothing is estimated from secondary reporting.
Federal. IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 for 2026 brackets, standard deduction and FSA limits. IRS Notice 2025-67 for retirement plan limits. IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-19 for HSA limits. IRS Publication 15 and Publication 15-T for withholding method and supplemental rates. Social Security Administration for the $184,500 wage base. IRS guidance on the tips and overtime deductions under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Texas. Texas Workforce Commission 2026 tax rates for unemployment tax. Texas Payday Law, Texas Labor Code Chapter 61, for pay timing and final wages. Texas Labor Code Chapter 62 for minimum wage and Section 62.0515 for local preemption. Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation for the non-subscriber rules. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for homestead exemptions and property tax administration. Texas Constitution Article 8, Section 24-a for the individual income tax prohibition.
Method. Federal withholding is computed with the annualized percentage method from Publication 15-T: gross pay is annualized, pre-tax deductions and the greater of the standard or itemized deduction are subtracted, the bracket schedule is applied, Step 3 credits are subtracted, and the result is divided by your number of pay periods. FICA is applied to gross wages less Section 125 cafeteria plan deductions, which is why HSA and health premiums reduce Social Security and Medicare while 401(k) contributions do not. Out-of-state comparison figures use each state’s most recently published schedule and standard deduction and are labeled as estimates.
Last reviewed: July 2026. Rates are checked against IRS, SSA and TWC releases each October through December, and after any Texas legislative session.