Moving From One State to Another: The Paycheck Math
In California
Gross pay$100,000
Take-home pay$72,969
- Federal income tax$13,17013.2%
- FICA$7,6507.6%
- California income tax$4,9114.9%
- California local payroll tax$1,3001.3%
- Take-home pay$72,96973.0%
After moving to Texas
Gross pay$100,000
Take-home pay$79,180
- Federal income tax$13,17013.2%
- FICA$7,6507.6%
- Take-home pay$79,18079.2%
A relocation question is not the same question as “what does $100,000 take home in California”. It has a direction, a before and an after, and it usually comes with a moving bill. These pages hold the salary constant on purpose: same gross, same federal brackets, same FICA, only the state line different. That isolates the one number you can actually act on.
Why these twenty routes and not 51 × 50
Pairing every state with every other state produces 2,550 pages of near-identical arithmetic, most of which nobody searches for. The twenty below are the routes that appear repeatedly in real relocation decisions — the California and New York exits, the New Jersey and Illinois exits, the adjacent-state commuter pairs, and three reverse routes so the list is not a one-directional sales pitch.
| Route | Why this pair is worth a page | Net change at $100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| California → Texas | The biggest high-tax-to-no-tax lane in the country: a 13.3% top rate plus 1.3% SDI against zero. | +$6,211 |
| California → Nevada | A neighbouring state with no income tax, though Nevada's sales tax and insurance costs run higher. | +$6,211 |
| California → Washington | No income tax, but a 0.58% WA Cares payroll deduction — not quite zero. | +$5,631 |
| California → Arizona | Into a low flat-rate state, and Arizona has kept cutting its rate. | +$3,920 |
| California → Oregon | The reverse direction, and tax goes up: Oregon tops out at 9.9% with no sales tax to offset it. | −$1,710 |
| New York → Florida | The retirement and remote-work route: New York's 10.9% top rate against zero. | +$4,860 |
| New York → Texas | From a steeply progressive code to none, and the cost-of-living gap is smaller than the rate gap. | +$4,860 |
| New York → North Carolina | Into a low flat-rate state that has been cutting its rate year by year. | +$1,378 |
| Illinois → Texas | Illinois' 4.95% flat rate plus high property taxes, traded for zero income tax. | +$4,805 |
| Illinois → Indiana | A border move: Indiana's flat rate sits just above 3%, and the gap shows up on the pay stub. | +$1,885 |
| New Jersey → Pennsylvania | A common cross-border commute, and Pennsylvania's 3.07% flat rate is among the lowest in the country. | +$1,112 |
| New Jersey → Florida | The classic retirement move, out of a state whose top rate is 10.75%. | +$4,182 |
| Massachusetts → New Hampshire | Across one street: Massachusetts' 5% rate, 4% millionaire surtax and 0.46% paid-leave levy against New Hampshire's zero. | +$5,240 |
| Minnesota → Wisconsin | From the Midwest's steepest schedule (Minnesota, 9.85%) to a middle one. | +$1,357 |
| Washington → Idaho | No income tax into a low flat rate — an uncommon direction, but a real one, driven by house prices. | −$3,612 |
| Texas → California | The reverse lane: zero income tax into a 13.3% top rate plus SDI, and the paycheck has to be recalculated. | −$6,211 |
| Florida → New York | The return lane: most people underestimate New York's state and local layers. | −$4,860 |
| Arizona → Colorado | Two low flat-rate states side by side — a small difference, but a real one. | −$1,400 |
| Georgia → Tennessee | The Southeast's most common no-tax move, out of a Georgia code that is still progressive. | +$4,567 |
| Ohio → Michigan | A Midwest border pair, where both states treat retirement income separately from wages. | −$2,032 |
| Oregon → Washington | Across the Columbia River: Oregon taxes wages on a progressive schedule, Washington does not tax them at all. One commute, two state lines. | +$7,340 |
| Connecticut → Florida | A progressive north-eastern code traded for a state with no wage tax — the route that keeps emptying New England. | +$3,925 |
| Maryland → Delaware | A short border hop between two progressive codes, and a daily commute for a lot of people. The federal line does not move; the state line does. | −$873 |
| Virginia → West Virginia | Two neighbouring progressive codes with different starting points — the sort of move where the paycheck changes and people do not expect it to. | +$1,051 |
| Iowa → South Dakota | From a flat rate to no wage tax at all, across one border — a move made for property prices that quietly changes the payroll too. | +$3,148 |
| Maine → New Hampshire | Down one state: Maine taxes wages on a progressive schedule, New Hampshire does not tax earned income. | +$5,654 |
| Vermont → New Hampshire | A second New England exit into the same no-wage-tax state, this time out of Vermont's progressive code. | +$4,140 |
| New Mexico → Texas | A long border and a simple trade: New Mexico's progressive code against a state that does not tax wages. | +$3,569 |
| North Carolina → South Carolina | The reverse of the usual south-eastern lane: both states tax wages, but North Carolina is flat-rate while South Carolina is progressive. | −$1,362 |
| Colorado → Utah | Two flat-rate neighbours in the Mountain West — a small gap, but one that shows up in every pay period. | −$765 |
Three things that are true in every state
- Federal tax and FICA do not change. The brackets, the standard deduction, the 6.2% Social Security rate, the $184,500 wage base and the 1.45% Medicare rate are identical whether you live in a state with a 13.3% top rate or none at all. Only the state withholding line moves.
- “No income tax” is not “no tax”. The money is collected somewhere — property tax, sales tax, or a wage-based programme. Two of the states in this list (Washington and Massachusetts) run payroll deductions that look nothing like an income tax but still reduce the paycheck.
- The year you move is not a normal year. Part-year residency means two state returns and an apportionment by dates. The comparison below is what a full year in each state looks like, which is the second year onward, not the first.
What a state comparison cannot tell you
Salary levels are not equal across states. A $100,000 job in one state is often a $85,000 or $115,000 job in another, and rent, property tax and commuting costs move with it. Holding the salary constant is the right way to see the tax effect, but it is the wrong way to decide where to live. Use these pages to answer “what does the state line cost me”, then add the cost-of-living piece yourself.
If you are self-employed
The payroll deductions on these pages (SDI, paid family leave) apply to W-2 wages only. A freelancer moving between the same two states faces a different comparison, because those programmes do not touch self-employment income and the state income tax base is net profit rather than salary. See the self-employment pages by state.
Related
Take-home by stateEvery state, every salary level, single filerMarried filing jointlyWhat merging two incomes changesSelf-employed by state1099 income, state tax, and what does not apply
FAQ
- How soon does the new state tax start?
- When payroll has your new address and the new state withholding certificate. Most employers will not change it retroactively, so the first paychecks after the move may still show the old state.
- Do I owe the old state anything after I leave?
- For the part of the year you were a resident, yes. A few states also try to tax deferred compensation or certain retirement income of former residents — check the specific state’s rules before assuming a clean break.
- Do remote workers pay tax where the employer is?
- Some states do, under a convenience-of-the-employer rule; others have reciprocity agreements with neighbours. This is the one case where the state line on your paycheck and the state on your address can differ legitimately.