Live in North Dakota, Work in Texas: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Only North Dakota taxes you. Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Texas return. North Dakota taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Texas earnings go on a North Dakota resident return in full.
Last verified
Crossing into a state with no income tax does not lower your tax bill, because your home state is not taxing you on where you work — it is taxing you on where you live. North Dakota reaches all of a resident's income, and Texas adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · North Dakota
File a North Dakota resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| North Dakota | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 2 (Form NDW-R) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form ND-1 with Schedule ND-1NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule ND-1CR | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Texas and working in North Dakota gives:Work state only.
Same two states, different situation
The withholding answer turns on how you are paid and where the work happens, not only on which two states are involved.
- Remote worker: North Dakota → TexasHome state only
- 1099 contractor: North Dakota → TexasHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: North Dakota → TexasOne part-year return — the state you left
Other North Dakota pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in North Dakota and work in Texas. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Only North Dakota taxes you. Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Texas return. North Dakota taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Texas earnings go on a North Dakota resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
North Dakota. Your employer should withhold North Dakota tax rather than Texas tax on these wages. If a Texas line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The North Dakota and Texas rules on this page were last checked against North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts on 2026-08-07. We re-check the full grid every December after state legislative sessions close, and re-check the convenience-of-the-employer states quarterly because that is where the rules move fastest.
Sources
Every fact above comes from the revenue department that publishes the rule. We do not cite secondary summaries, and we do not restate a figure we could not find at source.
- North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07