Washington Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your take-home pay in Washington, where a 1933 state supreme court ruling has kept a broad income tax off the books ever since, leaving federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare as the only deductions from most paychecks.
California payroll premiums
Mandatory deductions that aren't income tax. They come out of your paycheck whether or not California taxes income.
- CA SDI1.3% (no cap)
1.3% of all wages, with no cap since 2024.
Your Form W-4
Optional. Skip this and you'll get the withholding for a W-4 with nothing claimed on it. The form has had no "allowances" since 2020 — dependents are now a dollar credit in Step 3.
The dollar total from Step 3, not a number of people — typically $2,200 per qualifying child and $500 per other dependent.
Interest, dividends or retirement income with no withholding of its own.
Only deductions beyond the standard deduction, from the Step 4(b) worksheet.
An extra dollar amount held from each paycheck, on top of the tax above.
This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Actual paycheck amounts may vary based on your employer, benefits, local taxes, filing status, and tax elections.
Federal withholding calculation updated September 2026 using IRS Publication 15-T (2026).
Your estimate will appear here
Enter your pay details and click calculate to see your estimated take-home pay, tax breakdown, and annual income.
A note on state payroll premiums: This calculator's $0 state tax line is accurate, Washington genuinely has no income tax. But two mandatory payroll premiums still come off your pay, and this calculator now subtracts both on their own lines: WA Cares (0.58% of wages with no cap, funding a long-term care benefit) and the employee's share of Paid Family and Medical Leave (1.13% of wages up to $184,500, of which the employee pays up to 71.43%, so about 0.81%). Neither is income tax, both are dedicated benefit premiums, and together they take roughly 1.39% of gross pay. Some employers cover their employees' share of PFML, and some workers hold a WA Cares exemption; you can switch either off above. Large Seattle employers also pay a separate JumpStart payroll tax on high earners, but that's an employer cost, not something deducted from an employee's paycheck.
Quick Answer
Washington has no state income tax on wages, but two mandatory payroll premiums still come out of every paycheck, and this calculator subtracts both on their own lines: WA Cares (0.58% of wages, no cap) and the employee's share of Paid Family and Medical Leave (about 0.81% of wages, capped at $184,500). Together they take roughly 1.39% of gross pay, which is why a Washington paycheck is smaller than a Texas one on the same salary.
How It Works: Formula & Variables
Net Pay = Gross Pay − Federal Tax − Social Security − Medicare − Other Deductions
- Gross Pay
- Your total earnings before any deductions, hourly rate times hours, or annual salary divided by pay periods.
- Federal Tax
- Calculated using progressive tax brackets based on your filing status and taxable income.
- State Tax
- $0. Washington does not collect state income tax on wages.
- Social Security
- 6.2% of gross pay, up to the annual wage base limit.
- Medicare
- 1.45% of gross pay, with no wage limit (plus 0.9% surtax above certain thresholds).
Worked Examples
Example 1: Hourly worker in Spokane
Riley works 40 hours a week at $23 an hour. Gross weekly pay is $920. After federal income tax (around $68.48), Social Security (6.2%, or $57.04), and Medicare (1.45%, or $13.34), estimated take-home pay lands at about $781.14 a week, roughly 85% of gross pay. There's no state tax line to subtract.
Example 2: Salaried employee in Seattle
Morgan earns $85,000 a year, paid biweekly ($3,269.23 gross per paycheck), filing as Single. After federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare, estimated take-home pay comes out to roughly $2,640 per paycheck, about 81% of gross pay.
Example 3: Salaried employee including WA Cares and PFML
Jess earns $72,000 a year, paid biweekly ($2,769.23 gross per paycheck), filing as Single. Beyond federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare, Jess's paycheck also has WA Cares (0.58% of wages, about $16.06) and the employee share of PFML (about $22.35) withheld. The calculator subtracts all of it, so the figure it shows is Jess's real take-home pay of roughly $2,249 per paycheck, about $38 less than income tax and FICA alone would suggest.
Key Concepts
No income tax by court order: Washington's lack of an income tax isn't just tradition, a 1933 state supreme court decision (Culliton v. Chehalis) struck down a graduated income tax as unconstitutional, and that ruling has stood ever since.
You still owe federal tax: Skipping state tax doesn't mean skipping taxes altogether. Federal income tax and FICA still apply the same way they would anywhere else in the country.
Two payroll premiums Texas doesn't have: WA Cares (0.58% of wages, funding long-term care) and the employee share of Paid Family and Medical Leave (about 0.81% of wages) are mandatory payroll deductions unique to Washington among the no-income-tax states. They're benefit premiums, not income tax, but they do trim take-home pay a little more than a state like Texas, which has neither.
A narrow exception for capital gains: Washington's 2022 capital gains excise tax applies to investment profits above a high threshold, not to wages, so it doesn't affect a typical paycheck calculation.
Seattle's JumpStart tax is an employer cost: Large Seattle employers with high-earning staff pay a separate payroll expense tax, but it's levied on the business, not deducted from an employee's paycheck the way WA Cares or PFML are.
Useful for comparing job offers: If you're weighing a Washington offer against one in a state with income tax, run both through a paycheck calculator first. The gross salary numbers can look close while the take-home amounts differ by a few hundred dollars a paycheck.
Common Mistakes
Assuming no state tax means no tax: Federal income tax and FICA still come out of every paycheck in Washington. The savings only apply to the state line.
Confusing the capital gains tax with a wage income tax: Washington's capital gains excise tax only applies to investment sales above a high annual threshold, not to salaries or hourly wages.
Forgetting WA Cares and PFML premiums: These two payroll deductions are real money out of most Washington paychecks, even though they aren't income tax and aren't included in this calculator's net pay figure.
Comparing gross salaries across states: An $80,000 offer in Washington and an $80,000 offer in California don't translate to the same take-home pay. Always compare net pay, not gross.
Ignoring pre-tax deductions: 401(k) contributions and health insurance premiums still lower your taxable income in Washington the same way they would anywhere else. Skipping these in your estimate makes it less accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Washington is one of nine states with no state income tax on wages, so your paycheck only has federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare taken out, not a state withholding line.
Your Washington take-home pay depends on your gross income, filing status, and any pre-tax deductions, but since there's no state tax to subtract, Washington workers generally keep a higher percentage of their gross pay than workers in income-tax states at the same salary.
Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to the annual wage base), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% more for high earners) are withheld. There's no state income tax line.
Washington's state supreme court ruled a graduated income tax unconstitutional back in 1933, under a state constitutional requirement that taxes on property (which the court held income to be) must be uniform. That ruling has never been overturned, so every attempt to introduce a broad income tax since has run into the same constitutional wall, and voters have also rejected income tax proposals at the ballot box more than once.
Washington added a 7% capital gains excise tax in 2022 on the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets above a high annual threshold, which the state supreme court upheld in 2023 as an excise tax rather than an income tax. It applies to investment gains, not wages, so it doesn't show up on a regular paycheck.
WA Cares is a state long-term care benefit funded by a payroll premium of 0.58% of gross wages, paid entirely by the employee with no wage cap. Unlike income tax, it's not withheld to fund general government services, it's a dedicated premium that builds eligibility for a long-term care benefit later in life. This calculator subtracts it, on its own line, because it comes out of every Washington paycheck.
PFML is a separate payroll premium, 1.13% of gross wages up to the Social Security wage base for 2026, split between employer and employee (employees generally cover about 71.43% of the premium, employers the rest, though small employers under 50 workers aren't required to pay the employer share). It funds paid leave benefits for qualifying family or medical events. Like WA Cares, this calculator subtracts it on its own line. For 2026 the employee share works out at about 0.81% of gross wages, capped at the $184,500 Social Security wage base.
Yes, switch between the Hourly and Salary tabs and enter your wage or annual salary along with your pay frequency. The state is already set to Washington.
Related Calculators
Paycheck Calculator
Estimate take-home pay for any state.
Texas Paycheck Calculator
Compare to another state with no income tax.
Florida Paycheck Calculator
Compare to another state with no income tax.
Paycheck Calculators by State
Find your state and compare tax rates nationwide.
Compare Take-Home Pay by State
Put two or three states side by side, including city and county tax.