How this calculator works
Texas has no state income tax, so your paycheck deductions are federal income tax and FICA only. This calculator takes your gross pay, subtracts any pre-tax 401(k) and health-insurance deductions, computes federal income tax and FICA on what’s left, and divides the year’s total by your number of pay periods to estimate what lands in your account each paycheck.
The formula
grossAnnual = salary, or hourlyRate × hoursPerWeek × 52
ficaWages = grossAnnual − pretaxHealth (401(k) does NOT reduce FICA wages)
fedTaxableWages = grossAnnual − pretaxHealth − 401(k) contribution
taxableIncome = max(0, fedTaxableWages − standardDeduction)
FICA = 6.2% of ficaWages (up to the $184,500 wage base)
+ 1.45% of ficaWages (no cap)
+ 0.9% of ficaWages over $200,000
federalTax = 2026 bracket engine applied to taxableIncome
stateTax = $0 (Texas has no state income tax)
net = grossAnnual − pretaxHealth − 401(k) − FICA − federalTax − stateTax − postTaxDeductions
netPerPaycheck = net / payPeriodsPerYear
Worked example
A single filer earning $60,000/year, paid biweekly, with no 401(k) or extra deductions:
- FICA: 7.65% × $60,000 = $4,590.00/year ($3,720 Social Security + $870 Medicare)
- Taxable income: $60,000 − $16,100 standard deduction = $43,900 → federal tax = $5,020.00/year
- Net pay: $60,000 − $4,590 − $5,020 = $50,390.00/year, or $1,938.08 per biweekly paycheck
We cross-checked this against SmartAsset’s Texas Paycheck Calculator for the same inputs (accessed 2026-08-23): it showed a gross paycheck of $2,308, FICA of $177, and take-home of $1,936 per period — within about $2 (roughly 0.1%) of our figures. The small gap comes from SmartAsset modeling actual per-paycheck IRS withholding tables, while this calculator divides your estimated annual tax liability evenly across paychecks — a deliberate simplification we think is more useful for answering “about how much will I take home,” even though it won’t match your pay stub to the penny.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Why is there still tax taken out of my paycheck in Texas if there's no state income tax?
Texas has no state income tax, but you still owe federal income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) on every paycheck, no matter which state you live in. Those are federal, not state, deductions — Texas just skips the extra state withholding line other states add.
What is FICA?
FICA is the combined 7.65% Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) tax withheld from your paycheck, matched by your employer. Social Security stops once your wages hit the annual wage base ($184,500 for 2026); Medicare has no cap and adds an extra 0.9% above $200,000.
Why did my Social Security tax stop appearing on a paycheck near the end of the year?
Social Security tax only applies up to the annual wage base — $184,500 for 2026. Once your year-to-date wages cross that line, your paychecks stop showing Social Security withholding for the rest of the year (Medicare keeps applying with no cap).
How does contributing to a 401(k) change my take-home pay?
A traditional 401(k) contribution lowers the wages your federal income tax is calculated on, so it shaves a bit off your income tax bill — but it does not reduce your Social Security or Medicare wages, since those are calculated before the 401(k) deduction.
Why doesn't my calculated net pay match what shows up in my actual paycheck?
This calculator estimates your annual tax liability and divides it evenly across your pay periods. Your actual employer withholds federal tax per paycheck using IRS withholding tables, which can differ slightly period-to-period — the two methods land close together but rarely to the exact cent.