US Pay & Taxes: What Your State Actually Costs You

A US paycheck has three layers. Two of them — federal income tax and FICA — are identical in all fifty states. Only the third, state and local income tax, changes when you move. These guides cover that third layer: which states charge it, how much of the difference is real, and what the comparison tables routinely leave out.

Start with the calculator

The take-home salary calculator computes the federal income tax and FICA portion of a salary. That figure is state-independent — it is the same number whether you live in Seattle or Miami — so it is the right starting point for any comparison. The state layer sits on top of it, and that is what these guides explain.

The guides

• California vs Texas Take-Home Pay

  Same salary, two states. What the state line actually changes in a paycheck, what stays identical, and why “no income tax” is not the same as “lower taxes”.

• New York vs Florida Salary

  New York City residents pay a city income tax on top of the state one. That layer, plus the residency and remote-work rules that can erase the whole saving.

• The Nine States With No Income Tax

  Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming — what each charges instead, and who actually comes out ahead.

• $100,000 After Taxes by State

  Federal tax and FICA are identical in all fifty states. Nine take nothing more, thirteen apply a flat rate, and eleven cities add a wage tax most tables leave out.

• Remote Work Across State Lines

  Two states can claim the same income. Convenience of the employer rules, reciprocity agreements, day-count thresholds, and what withholding does not prove.

How these pages handle numbers

Tax rates, brackets, standard deductions and thresholds change every filing season, and a stale figure in a financial comparison misleads rather than helps. Every such figure on these pages is explicitly marked for verification against the IRS and the relevant state revenue department rather than printed from memory. What does not change year to year — the structure of the comparison, which layers move and which do not, which traps catch people — is written out in full.

Not tax advice. These pages explain how the pieces fit together. They do not produce a number for your situation and are not a substitute for a CPA or an enrolled agent.