Texas vs Washington taxes

Same federal tax, two extra lines

Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare are the same in both states, and neither levies an income tax. So the whole difference is what Washington deducts and Texas does not. On $75,000 a single filer keeps $61,593 in Texas and $60,552 in Washington: $1,040 a year more in Texas, about $87 a month.

The two Washington lines:

• Paid Family and Medical Leave. Employees pay 71.43% of a premium that rose to 1.13% of wages for 2026, about 0.807% of pay, up to $184,500. On $75,000 it is $605.
• WA Cares. 0.58% of every dollar of wages, paid entirely by the employee, with no cap. On $75,000 it is $435.

A Texas payslip has neither. Texas unemployment insurance is paid by employers, and the state runs no disability or paid family leave program.

How the gap grows

Because both premiums are a share of pay, Texas’s lead rises in step with salary: $694 on $50,000, $2,081 on $150,000. The leave premium stops at its wage cap, so above that only WA Cares keeps growing, and more slowly: $2,939 on $250,000 and $4,389 on $500,000. Filing status changes nothing here, because neither premium depends on it: a married couple on $150,000 sees the same $2,081.

So Washington is not a zero-deduction state, but the cost is modest: a little over one percent of pay on an ordinary salary.

How settled the no-income-tax status is

The two states got there differently. Texas has written it into its constitution: Article 8, Section 24 has required voter approval for an income tax since 1993, and Proposition 4 in 2019 prohibited one outright. Washington’s position rests on a 1933 state supreme court ruling, Culliton v. Chase, that a graduated income tax breaches the state constitution’s uniformity clause. Attempts to change that have failed since, at the ballot box and in the courts.

What the take-home figure does not count

With no income tax, each state raises its money elsewhere. Texas leans on property tax, and Washington on sales tax, a business and occupation tax and property tax. Housing costs differ widely between and within the two. None of that is in the figures above, which compare only what is taken from wages.

Questions people ask

Do you take home more in Texas or Washington on $75,000?

Texas, by $1,040 a year, or $87 a month, for a single filer in 2026. That counts federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and every state payroll deduction.

Is the difference the same at every salary?

No, but the same side stays ahead. The gap is $416 a year at $30,000 and $2,939 at $250,000, for a single filer.

What do Washington's two premiums pay for?

Paid Family and Medical Leave funds the state's paid family and medical leave program, and WA Cares funds the state's long-term care benefit. Texas has no equivalent program funded from wages, so a Texas worker keeps the money but gets neither benefit from the state.

Can I get out of paying WA Cares?

Only through a narrow exemption for people who held qualifying private long-term care insurance before the 2022 deadline. Otherwise it is deducted from every dollar of wages. The Washington figures here assume no exemption.

Does either state tax investment income?

Texas does not. Washington levies an excise tax on long-term capital gains above an annual threshold, with exclusions for real estate and retirement accounts. It does not touch wages and is not in these figures.

What this comparison covers

Income tax and payroll deductions on wages: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, every state payroll deduction. It does not compare sales tax, property tax, housing or the cost of living, which can outweigh the difference in take-home pay. Figures assume the standard deduction, no dependents and no pre-tax retirement contributions. See how we calculate.