States with no income tax on wages
Nine states levy no personal income tax on wage income. For a remote worker whose employer can hire anywhere, that is one of the few decisions that changes take-home pay without changing the job.
| State | Time zone | Convenience rule | Open roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Alaska Time (AKT) | No | 4128 |
| Florida | Eastern Time (ET)* | No | 4128 |
| Nevada | Pacific Time (PT) | No | 4128 |
| New Hampshire | Eastern Time (ET) | No | 4128 |
| South Dakota | Central Time (CT)* | No | 4128 |
| Tennessee | Central Time (CT)* | No | 4128 |
| Texas | Central Time (CT)* | No | 4128 |
| Washington | Pacific Time (PT) | No | 4128 |
| Wyoming | Mountain Time (MT) | No | 4128 |
* State spans more than one time zone.
What "no income tax" does not mean
No state runs without revenue. The nine states here collect it somewhere else, and for some households the substitute costs more than the income tax would have.
- Property tax. Texas and New Hampshire both have effective property tax rates among the highest in the country. A remote worker who moves and buys a house can hand back much of the income tax saving.
- Sales tax. Washington and Tennessee lean heavily on sales tax, which takes a larger share of a lower income than of a higher one.
- Other income. Washington taxes long-term capital gains above a threshold, which matters if part of your pay is equity: vesting RSUs are wage income, but a later sale of the shares may not be. New Hampshire used to tax interest and dividends while never taxing wages, but repealed that tax effective January 1, 2025, so it now levies no personal income tax at all.
The job market matters more than the rate
A tax saving is worth nothing if no employer will hire you there. This is where the nine states differ sharply. Washington pairs no wage tax with one of the largest technology employer bases in the country. Texas and Florida both have deep, diversified metro job markets. Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska have far thinner white-collar markets, which matters if you ever need to find your next role locally rather than remotely.
Moving is a tax event, not just a move
Leaving a high-tax state does not by itself end your tax liability there. States that lose residents to Florida, Texas and Nevada audit those departures, and keeping a home, a driver license, family ties or too many days in the old state can leave you taxed as a resident anyway. California in particular applies a facts-and-circumstances test rather than a simple day count.
Separately, if you keep a job based in aconvenience-rule state — New York and Pennsylvania among them — that state may continue taxing your wages even after you move away, because it treats remote days worked for your own convenience as days worked in-state.
Before moving for tax reasons, confirm your position with a tax professional. The saving is real, but so is the cost of getting the residency change wrong. See thedisclaimer.