Texas (TX) Paycheck Calculator 2026

Why Texas paychecks are simpler than most

Texas has no state income tax, no city or county wage tax and no employee-paid state disability or leave program. Every required deduction on a Texas pay stub is federal: income tax withholding based on your Form W-4, Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%.

Because there is no state withholding certificate, the W-4 is the only tax form you fill out when you start a job in Texas. Getting it right matters: Texas workers who moved from states like California or New York sometimes keep extra withholding on line 4(c) that they no longer need.

How often Texas employers must pay

Under the Texas Payday Law, employees who are exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid at least once a month, and all other employees at least twice a month (as summarized by the U.S. Department of Labor). Within those limits the employer picks the paydays, must post them where employees can easily see them, and semi-monthly periods must contain as nearly as possible the same number of days. If an employer never designates paydays, the law sets them as the 1st and 15th of each month (Texas Workforce Commission).

Texas adopts the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour by reference. A full-time minimum wage job pays $15,080 a year; a single filer keeps about $13,926 of it after $0 federal income tax and $1,154 FICA.

Hourly example with overtime

Take a single worker earning $22 an hour who works 50 hours a week, every week. Overtime is paid at time-and-a-half after 40 hours, so weekly gross pay is $22 × 40 + $33.00 × 10 = $1,210, or $62,920 a year.

Without any overtime deduction, federal income tax is about $5,370 for the year and FICA $4,813, for take-home pay of $52,736 ($1,014 a week).

The extra “half” of overtime pay is the qualified overtime premium: $11.00 × 10 hours × 52 weeks = $5,720. It can be deducted on the federal return, up to $12,500 single ($25,000 joint), for 2025 through 2028. That lowers this worker’s federal tax to about $4,684, a saving of $686. Most of that saving arrives as a refund unless you adjust your W-4.

Bi-weekly take-home at common Texas salaries

Single filer, standard deduction, no pre-tax deductions:

Common Texas paycheck questions

• Apart from payroll taxes, court-ordered garnishments and deductions required by law, a deduction from pay (for uniforms or a loan repayment, for example) must be lawful and authorized by you in writing. TWC rules say the authorization should be specific about the amount and purpose.
• Social Security stops once your wages reach $184,500 for the year. Medicare has no cap, and an extra 0.9% applies to wages over $200,000.
• Bonuses are usually withheld at 22% federal. There is no Texas tax on top.
• Unpaid wages can be claimed through the Texas Workforce Commission’s wage claim process.