How North Dakota taxes a paycheck
North Dakota already had the lowest income tax rates of any state that levied one, and HB 1158 of 2023 cut them further and created a large zero bracket. For 2026 a single filer pays nothing on the first $48,475 of taxable income, 1.95% from there to $244,825 and 2.5% above; married couples pay nothing to $80,975 and 2.5% above $298,075. Because North Dakota starts from federal taxable income, the $16,100 federal standard deduction is removed first, so a single earner pays no state tax until gross income passes about $64,575 and a couple until about $113,175.
The bracket widths shown are the 2025 inflation-adjusted figures; the state publishes 2026 widths later in the year. There are no local income taxes in North Dakota. The state funds itself substantially from oil and gas extraction and production taxes, which is what makes the low income tax possible.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in North Dakota?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in North Dakota pays about $5,020 in federal income tax and $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and nothing to the state, because $60,000 less the $16,100 deduction is $43,900, inside the zero bracket. Net pay is about $50,390 a year, $1,938 every two weeks, the same as in a no-tax state.
At $150,000 the tax is about $1,670, an effective rate of 1.1%; a married couple on $100,000 pays $0.
North Dakota compared with its neighbours
North Dakota borders South Dakota, which taxes no wages, and Minnesota and Montana, which do. On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is $0 in North Dakota, $2,560 in Minnesota and $2,060 in Montana. At $150,000 it is about $1,670 in North Dakota against $8,940 in Minnesota and $7,110 in Montana.
The Fargo-Moorhead metro straddles the Minnesota line, and the gap there is the largest of any adjacent city pair in the Midwest: a $60,000 earner pays $2,560 in Moorhead and $0 in Fargo.
Withholding forms and filing status in North Dakota
North Dakota employers withhold using the federal W-4 and the state's tables, which apply the zero bracket and two rates after the federal standard deduction. Married couples get a $80,975 zero bracket and a $32,200 deduction, so a joint return pays nothing until combined gross pay passes about $113,175, and the 2.5% rate begins at $298,075 of taxable income. North Dakota's married brackets are wider than single but not doubled at the top.
North Dakota has reciprocal agreements with Minnesota and Montana, so Moorhead residents working in Fargo pay only Minnesota, and Fargo residents working in Moorhead pay only North Dakota, which for most of them means nothing. HB 1158's structure is set in statute; a 2024 ballot measure to abolish property taxes, which would have shifted the state's revenue mix, was defeated.