How much tax is deducted from a paycheck in Texas depends almost entirely on the federal side, because Texas itself withholds nothing. The only mandatory deductions are federal income tax (set by your W-4 and income), 6.2% for Social Security on wages up to $184,500, and 1.45% for Medicare on every dollar. For someone earning $60,000, that comes to about $9,600 a year, or roughly 16% of gross pay.
Why There’s No State Line on Your Pay Stub
Texas is one of eight states with no personal income tax, and the Texas Constitution specifically prohibits the legislature from ever imposing a tax on individual net income.1State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 8 – Taxation and Revenue There are also no city or county income taxes anywhere in Texas. Local governments raise revenue through property and sales taxes, neither of which shows up on your paycheck.
So when you scan your stub, every tax withholding line is federal. That’s the starting point for understanding the rest of the numbers.
Federal Income Tax: The Biggest and Most Variable Deduction
Federal income tax is usually the largest single item withheld, and it’s the hardest to predict because it depends on how much you earn, how you file, and the choices you made on IRS Form W-4.
What Your W-4 Actually Controls
Form W-4 tells your employer how to estimate your federal tax each pay period.2Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 – 2026 Employee’s Withholding Certificate Three inputs move the number the most: your filing status (Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household), whether you claim dependents, and whether you ask for extra withholding on line 4(c). A single filer with no dependents will see noticeably more withheld than a married-filing-jointly worker with two kids at the same salary.
If you consistently under-withhold and owe more than $1,000 at filing time, the IRS can add an underpayment penalty on top of the tax.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6654 – Failure by Individual to Pay Estimated Income Tax That’s the main reason people with freelance income or investment gains use line 4(c) to add a flat dollar amount each pay period.
The 2026 Brackets Applied to Your Paycheck
Your employer converts these brackets into per-paycheck withholding using either the wage bracket method or the percentage method in IRS Publication 15-T.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods The 2026 brackets:5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
- 10% on taxable income up to $12,400 (single) or $24,800 (jointly)
- 12% from $12,401 to $50,400 (single) or $24,801 to $100,800 (jointly)
- 22% from $50,401 to $105,700 (single) or $100,801 to $211,400 (jointly)
- 24% from $105,701 to $201,775 (single) or $211,401 to $403,550 (jointly)
- 32% from $201,776 to $256,225 (single) or $403,551 to $512,450 (jointly)
- 35% from $256,226 to $640,600 (single) or $512,451 to $768,700 (jointly)
- 37% above $640,600 (single) or $768,700 (jointly)
These rates apply to taxable income, meaning gross pay minus the standard deduction. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for joint filers, and $24,150 for heads of household. A single filer earning $60,000 has about $43,900 of taxable income, which sits mostly in the 12% bracket with a small slice in the 10% bracket.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Two flat-rate deductions come out of every paycheck no matter what your W-4 says.
Social Security: 6.2% Up to $184,500
You pay 6.2% of gross wages to Social Security, and your employer pays another 6.2%.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC Chapter 21 – Federal Insurance Contributions Act The tax applies only to the first $184,500 you earn in 2026.7Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet Once your year-to-date wages cross that ceiling, Social Security withholding stops until January. Someone earning $250,000 typically stops paying it around mid-October.
Medicare: 1.45% on Every Dollar
Medicare tax is 1.45% of all gross wages, no cap.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates High earners also owe an extra 0.9% Medicare surtax on wages above certain thresholds: $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for joint filers, and $125,000 for married filing separately.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax Your employer starts withholding the surtax once your wages pass $200,000 in a calendar year regardless of filing status, and unlike regular Medicare, the employer doesn’t match it.10Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
What a Real Texas Paycheck Looks Like
Take a single filer in Texas earning $60,000, paid biweekly across 26 pay periods, claiming the standard deduction and no dependents:
- Gross pay per paycheck: $2,308
- Federal income tax: roughly $193 (about $5,020 for the year)
- Social Security at 6.2%: $143
- Medicare at 1.45%: $33
- Total federal taxes per paycheck: about $369
- Take-home before voluntary deductions: about $1,939
Federal taxes eat about 16% of gross pay in this example. In California or New York, another 5% to 10% would come off the top for state and local income tax. Your actual withholding will differ based on your specific W-4 elections, pre-tax deductions, and which method your employer uses from Publication 15-T.
Bonuses and Overtime Are Withheld Differently
Bonuses, commissions, and other supplemental wages are usually withheld at a flat 22% for federal income tax regardless of what your W-4 says.11Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide If your supplemental wages top $1 million in a year, the rate on the excess jumps to 37%.
Some employers instead use the aggregate method, adding the bonus to your regular pay for that period and withholding as if the combined amount were a single check. That often produces a bigger withholding number because the total briefly lands in a higher bracket. Either way, the withholding is only an estimate. If too much came out, you get the difference back when you file.
Social Security and Medicare still apply at 6.2% and 1.45% to bonuses, with no special treatment.
Pre-Tax Deductions That Shrink Your Tax Bill
Some voluntary deductions come out before taxes are calculated, so they reduce the wages the IRS taxes even though they aren’t taxes themselves.
Traditional 401(k) contributions cut your federal income tax withholding but not FICA. For 2026, the elective deferral limit is $24,500, with an $8,000 catch-up for workers 50 and older, and an $11,250 catch-up specifically for workers aged 60 through 63 under SECURE 2.0.12Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500 Roth 401(k) contributions come out of after-tax pay and don’t reduce current withholding.
Health Savings Account contributions are pre-tax for both federal income tax and FICA. The 2026 HSA limits are $4,400 for individual coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, and you need a high-deductible health plan to qualify.13Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-19 – 2026 Inflation Adjusted Items for Health Savings Accounts Health, dental, and vision premiums paid through an employer’s Section 125 cafeteria plan are also typically pre-tax for both income tax and FICA.
Garnishments and Involuntary Deductions
If you see a line on your stub that isn’t a tax and isn’t something you signed up for, it’s likely a garnishment. Courts and agencies can order your employer to withhold pay for child support, unpaid taxes, or defaulted student loans.
For most consumer debts, federal law caps the garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which works out to $217.50 a week.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Disposable earnings means what’s left after legally required deductions like federal taxes and FICA, not your full gross pay.
Support orders follow different limits: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you’re currently supporting another spouse or child, or up to 60% if you’re not, with an additional 5% if the support order is more than 12 weeks overdue. Tax debts and federal student loans operate under their own rules outside the Consumer Credit Protection Act caps.
If You’re a 1099 Worker Instead
Everything above assumes you’re a W-2 employee. If you’re paid on a 1099 as an independent contractor, no taxes are withheld from your checks at all, and you’re responsible for paying them yourself through quarterly estimated payments. You also owe self-employment tax at a combined 15.3% (12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare), which covers both the employee and employer shares of FICA.15Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) You can deduct the employer-equivalent half when calculating adjusted gross income, but the full 15.3% still comes out of pocket first. Combined with federal income tax, self-employed workers in Texas commonly see 25% to 35% of net earnings go to federal taxes.