The 9 States With No Income Tax on Wages (and What It Really Means)

What you actually save

The saving is simply the state income tax you would have paid elsewhere. Here is that tax at three salaries in the four states with the highest state income tax on a $100,000 salary. Living in a no-tax state removes this line entirely.

The amounts are for a single filer using the standard deduction and no other deductions, calculated with the same rules as our calculator. They rise with income because state brackets rise, but notice how modest they are at $50,000 and how quickly they grow at $250,000: the benefit of a no-tax state is far larger for high earners than for middle earners.

Federal tax and FICA do not change

Moving to a no-tax state changes one line of your tax bill. Federal income tax and FICA are the same everywhere: a single filer on $100,000 pays $13,170 of federal income tax and $7,650 of FICA whether they live in Texas or California. That is why the difference between the best and worst state is a few thousand dollars, not tens of thousands, at a middle income.

Where the states get their money instead

A state that skips the income tax on wages still has to fund schools, roads and services. Depending on the state, it leans on sales tax, property tax, taxes on businesses or natural resources, and fees. Those costs land on you in different ways: a higher sales tax on everything you buy, or higher property taxes if you own a home.

• If you rent, property tax reaches you indirectly through your rent, and much less directly than an income tax would.
• If you spend a large share of your income, sales tax can matter more than the income tax you avoided.
• If you own a home, compare the property tax bill in the two places you are considering, not just the income tax.

Things that can outweigh the tax savings

A tax ranking is one input in a bigger decision. Before treating a no-tax state as automatically cheaper, weigh the things the ranking cannot see:

• Housing costs, which vary far more between cities than income tax varies between states.
• Insurance, utilities and transport costs, which differ by region.
• Your employer's location and salary: pay is often adjusted to the local market, so a move can change your income as well as your tax.
• Local income taxes and state payroll taxes in the state you leave and the one you move to.

If you are thinking about moving

Changing your address does not switch your tax status overnight. States have their own rules about when you become, and stop being, a resident, and both your old and new state may have a claim on income you earned during the year of the move. If a move might change your tax bill materially, check both states' residency rules on their revenue department websites and consider speaking with a qualified tax professional. Our calculator can show you the size of the difference for your own salary; it cannot tell you how your particular move will be treated.

See your own numbers

Open the calculator, choose one state, note your take-home pay, then change to another to compare. Each state has a page with its brackets, deductions and salary examples, and our ranking of all 50 states and DC shows take-home pay side by side.