State paycheck guides: choose the right rules, not just a rate

Guidance and estimates—not an official tax calculation. These articles explain published rules. Your employer applies payroll rules and federal/state certificate elections to your actual wages; your annual return reconciles your final tax. Use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator for year-wide planning.

Start with residency and where the work is performed

For an ordinary resident paycheck, use the state where the wages are taxable under that state’s rules. Do not automatically choose the employer’s headquarters. Living in one state and working in another, moving during the year, and remote work can involve nonresident allocation, reciprocity agreements, credits, or special sourcing rules.

Our state calculators are designed for regular resident wages. They do not decide residency, allocate earnings between states, apply reciprocity, or calculate credits for taxes paid elsewhere. New York’s telecommuting guidance illustrates why remote work cannot be reduced to one universal rule. If more than one state appears on a stub, obtain the employer’s allocation and the relevant agencies’ instructions before estimating.

Sources: New York — residency, nonresident filing, and telecommuting FAQs

Use the state certificate independently of the W-4

State certificates do not share one standard input system. California uses DE 4 allowances; New York uses IT-2104; Maryland uses MW507 and local information. Other states can use annual dollar allowances, an elected percentage, or withholding codes. An annual federal credit is not a state allowance count.

Follow the labels and units in the selected calculator. A blank election uses the displayed model assumption, not a claim that payroll has your actual certificate. If the employer has an updated certificate, use that version and compare the state line separately from federal withholding. A state’s annual income-tax rate or bracket schedule is not necessarily its employer withholding schedule.

Sources: California — official employer withholding guidance; New York — official employer withholding guidance; Maryland — official employer withholding guidance; IRS Publication 15-T (2026) — federal withholding methods

Check state wages and local payroll lines

State taxable wages can differ from federal wages. Pennsylvania generally includes employee retirement deferrals in compensation; New Jersey excludes qualifying 401(k) deferrals but treats some other retirement plans differently. Check the wage base rather than assuming a contribution is excluded everywhere because it reduces federal tax.

County, city, disability, paid-leave, and long-term-care deductions may appear alongside state income tax. Washington has no individual wage income tax for 2026 but does have payroll programs. California SDI is separate from personal income-tax withholding. New York City and Yonkers have their own withholding schedules. Our local and other-payroll fields subtract actual entered dollars; they do not automatically calculate these programs.

Sources: Pennsylvania — gross compensation guide; New Jersey GIT-1 — retirement-plan contributions; Washington — Paid Leave 2026 updates; California EDD — 2026 payroll contribution rates; New York — employer withholding publications, including NYC and Yonkers

A tax-year label does not guarantee a historical payroll match

Employer tables can change within a year, and a current table can differ from a return’s final liability rules. The existing calculators identify the supported employer source and effective period. They use the latest supported 2026 table, not a pay-date selector that reproduces every earlier check. Do not apply a revised table to a historical stub without verifying its effective date.

The legacy annual-estimate mode is a separate, simplified reference model. It uses an earlier February 19 snapshot and omits state credits, exemptions, some status rules, and subsequent changes. The guides do not convert that mode into an official 2026 return calculation. Use the relevant agency for filing instructions and official payroll guidance.

Sources: IRS Publication 15-T (2026) — federal withholding methods; New York — official employer withholding guidance; Maryland — official employer withholding guidance

Choose a guide by the question you are trying to answer

The focused articles below address genuinely different issues: California’s separate income-tax and SDI lines, New York’s city and remote-work complications, Texas’s federal-only income-tax withholding, Pennsylvania’s wage base and local taxes, Maryland’s county withholding, and Washington’s paid-leave and long-term-care programs.

For other states, the directory links to the existing calculator, its state certificate fields, and its source-backed explanation. We have not created a duplicate article for every state. Begin with take-home pay and federal withholding, then consult the official state source for an election or exception specific to you.

State calculator directory

50 state paycheck calculators. States with a dedicated guide are marked.

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State guides

California paycheck guide: DE 4, income tax, and SDI

California personal income-tax withholding and State Disability Insurance are different deductions. Check them separately before comparing net pay.

2 min read · Reviewed 2026-10-04 State guides

New York paycheck guide: state, city, and remote-work questions

A New York paycheck can contain more than one income-tax line. Location and state elections matter as much as the salary amount.

2 min read · Reviewed 2026-10-04 State guides

Texas paycheck guide: no state income tax does not mean no withholding

A Texas state income-tax line can be zero while federal taxes and benefits still materially reduce the deposit.

2 min read · Reviewed 2026-10-04 State guides

Pennsylvania paycheck guide: state wages and local deductions

Pennsylvania’s flat state rate does not eliminate wage-base differences or local taxes. A federal pre-tax deduction is not automatically a Pennsylvania exclusion.

2 min read · Reviewed 2026-10-04 State guides