Texas Paycheck Calculator

Texas does not tax wages at the state level. Before any deductions you choose, your paycheck loses only federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Enter your pay above and each of those shows up as its own line.

Why a Texas pay stub has no state income tax line

Article VIII, Section 24-a of the Texas Constitution says the legislature may not impose a tax on the net incomes of individuals. The provision was added in November 2019. In practice there is no Texas withholding form for you to fill out and no state withholding table for your employer to use, so the state amount is zero at every pay level and filing status.

Unemployment insurance is also an employer cost here. The Texas Workforce Commission states that unemployment taxes are not deducted from employee wages. We found no other state program that takes money from an employee’s check, though no official list of absent programs exists to confirm that.

What does come out of a Texas paycheck

Federal income tax is the largest piece for most people. It follows the IRS percentage method in Publication 15-T, which uses your W-4 answers, your filing status and your pay frequency. Two people with the same salary can see different federal amounts if one has claimed dependents or extra withholding.

Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 for 2026. Medicare takes 1.45% of all wages. Once your wages pass $200,000 in the year, your employer also withholds an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on the amount above that line.

Anything you elect on top, such as a 401(k) contribution or health premiums, comes out as well. A traditional 401(k) lowers the wages used for federal tax. Health plan and HSA payments taken through a cafeteria plan lower both federal tax and FICA wages.

Hourly pay and overtime in Texas

If you are paid by the hour, switch the calculator to hourly and add your overtime hours. Overtime is not taxed at a special rate. It raises gross pay for that period, and the federal formula treats a larger period as a higher annual wage, so a heavy overtime week can have a bigger federal withholding share than a normal week. That is a withholding effect. Any difference is settled when you file your return.

Because Texas adds no state tax on top, a Texas hourly worker’s estimate is the simplest one on the site: gross pay, federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, then what is left.

Checking the numbers against your own stub

Compare the calculator with your last pay stub line by line. If federal tax is far off, look at your W-4, especially the multiple jobs box and any extra withholding. If the Social Security or Medicare lines differ from 6.2% and 1.45% of the same gross, your gross may include pre-tax benefits that FICA handles differently from income tax.