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Austin Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Austin take-home pay after federal, FICA, and Texas state tax for 2026.

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Austin, Texas's state capital and home to the fastest-growing tech sector in the country, runs paycheck math with no state income tax. The state line reads $0. At $85,000 single in Austin, federal tax and FICA do all the work, leaving take-home of $68,628 annually.

Austin, Texas's state capital and the country's fastest-growing major tech metro, has reshaped its labor market over the past decade through corporate relocations and individual moves from California's coastal cities. Apple operates a multi-thousand-employee campus in north Austin; Tesla built GigaTexas and relocated its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto; Oracle moved its HQ from Redwood City; Dell anchors the suburbs in Round Rock. The University of Texas at Austin drives a major research presence, and SXSW has put Austin on the map as a film and music corridor. Texas levies no state income tax, so the Austin paycheck shows nothing on the state line, a contrast Bay Area transplants reference frequently when comparing pre-move and post-move take-home. Texas also runs no state-administered employee payroll program, no SDI, no PFML. Median rent in Austin has climbed faster than nearly any other US metro, reaching roughly $1,900, meaningfully higher than Houston or Dallas but still well below San Francisco or San Jose. At $85,000 single in Austin, federal tax resolves to $9,870, Texas state tax to $0, FICA combined to $6,503, leaving take-home of $68,628.

$85,000 single filer take-home comparison

Austin

$68,600

Texas (no city tax)

$68,600

Texas (no income tax)

$68,600

Austin take-home is $0 vs the state-only figure and $0 vs the no-income-tax baseline.

How Texas tax applies in Austin

Austin does not levy a separate municipal income tax. Your paycheck math runs the Texas state schedule on top of federal tax and FICA. The Texas state page covers the full bracket detail and any state-administered programs (such as SDI or paid leave) that apply uniformly to every resident of the state.

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What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Austin take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), and Texas's state income tax schedule. No municipal income tax applies in Austin. The calculator excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Austin paycheck FAQ

How much state tax does Austin pay?
Texas charges no state income tax. The Texas Constitution requires a referendum to enact one, and no referendum has succeeded. Austin residents at $85,000 single show a state tax line of $0 on the pay stub. The full payroll-tax burden falls on federal income tax and FICA.
What state-administered payroll programs apply in Austin?
Texas runs no state-administered employee payroll program. There is no Texas SDI, no Texas PFML, and no state paid-leave deduction. Some Austin tech employers offer generous private disability and parental-leave benefits, but those are employer-side packages rather than state-mandated employee contributions. The state line on the pay stub is blank.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Austin?
Texas has no income tax, so filing-status changes affect Austin take-home only through federal mechanics. At $85,000, MFJ take-home reaches $72,658 ($4,030 more than single). Head of household clears $71,550. Married filing separately lands at $68,628. Austin households relocating from California compare these numbers against their previous CA state-tax bill, the federal MFJ advantage stands alone in Texas with no state-tax overlay. Dual-tech-income households commonly run all four statuses through the calculator since Austin median household incomes routinely cross federal bracket thresholds.
Does Austin have a city income tax?
No. Austin does not impose a city income tax. Texas state law bars municipalities from levying personal income taxes on residents or workers. The City of Austin funds itself through property tax, sales tax, Austin Energy utility transfer, and various permit and licensing fees. No Austin line appears on the pay stub.
How does Austin compare to Houston or Dallas?
Houston and Dallas share Austin's Texas state framework precisely, same $0 state line, same federal-only payroll computation, same lack of state-administered programs. The differences sit elsewhere: Houston on energy, Dallas on financial-services HQs, Austin on tech and state government. Identical take-home at $85,000; cost of living and industry mix are the wedges.
Where does Austin differ from San Francisco or Raleigh-Durham for paycheck taxes?
San Francisco Bay Area metros run California's progressive state schedule (1% to 12.3%) plus California SDI on all wages, so Austin take-home at $85,000 exceeds Bay Area take-home meaningfully at the same gross. Raleigh-Durham, another tech metro, applies North Carolina's flat 4.5% rate, a smaller drag than California but still nonzero.

See also

Run the full Texas paycheck calculatorBrowse all city paycheck calculatorsBrowse paycheck calculators by statePaycheck and tax glossaryHow we calculate paycheck taxes

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Austin paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal, state, and city sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-05-28