How Washington taxes a paycheck
Washington has never taxed wages. The state supreme court struck down a graduated income tax in 1933 and voters have rejected income tax proposals ten times since. In 2021 the legislature enacted a 7% tax on long-term capital gains above an exemption (about $278,000 for 2026), with a 9% rate above $1 million added in 2025; the court upheld it as an excise tax in 2023. It does not apply to salary, so for a wage earner Washington is a no-income-tax state.
Two other lines do come out of Washington paychecks. Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums are 0.92% of wages in 2026 with employees paying about 72% of that, roughly 0.66%, up to the Social Security wage base. WA Cares, the long-term care programme, takes 0.58% of all wages with no cap. Together they are about 1.24% of a typical salary. They are mandatory, they are not income tax, and they are not included in this estimate; they are named here so the figure above is not read as the whole paycheck.
There are no local income taxes. Seattle's 2020 payroll expense tax is paid by large employers on high salaries, not by employees. Washington's 6.5% sales tax, reaching over 10% in Seattle, and its property taxes fund the state and its cities.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Washington?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Washington pays about $5,020 in federal income tax and $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, a total of $9,610, and no state income tax. Net pay before paid leave and WA Cares is about $50,390 a year, $1,938 every two weeks; those two premiums would take a further $740 or so.
At $150,000 the federal share is about $38,600 and the two state premiums about $1,860.
Washington compared with its neighbours
Washington borders Oregon, which taxes wages at up to 9.9% and has no sales tax, and Idaho, with a flat 5.3%. On a $60,000 single salary the state income tax is $0 in Washington, about $3,980 in Oregon and $2,070 in Idaho. Even after Washington's $740 of premiums, a Vancouver, Washington resident keeps about $3,240 more than a Portland resident on that salary.
The Columbia River is the most-crossed tax border in the West for exactly that reason, with the sales tax running the other way: Washington residents shop in Oregon, Oregon residents earn in Washington. Washington residents who work in Oregon pay Oregon income tax on those wages.
Does Washington have state income tax?
No. Washington has no state income tax on wages, so a Washington paycheck has only federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare withheld for income tax purposes, plus the state's paid leave and WA Cares premiums, which are insurance contributions rather than income tax. Washington funds itself through a 6.5% sales tax that exceeds 10% in Seattle, the business and occupation tax on gross receipts, property taxes, and since 2022 a 7% tax on long-term capital gains above about $278,000.
Washington's supreme court held in 1933 that income is property and must be taxed uniformly, which has blocked a graduated income tax ever since; the capital gains tax survived in 2023 because the court classed it as an excise tax. Washington residents who work in Oregon or Idaho owe those states' tax on the wages earned there with no home-state credit.