See federal withholding and FICA for any salary or hourly rate and pay frequency. Because Wyoming has no state or local income tax, your take-home is higher than in most states.
Wyoming payroll is one of the simplest in the country for employees. Every Wyoming paycheck has just three taxes withheld: federal Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and federal income tax withholding based on Form W-4. Wyoming levies no personal income tax and no corporate income tax, and W.S. 39-12-101 goes further than most no-tax states by forbidding any county, city, or town from taxing wages. There is no employee-paid disability, paid-leave, or unemployment premium. The state-level payroll costs, unemployment insurance on the first $33,800 of each worker's 2026 wages and workers' compensation premiums, are paid by the employer and never withheld from a paycheck. The one catch is cross-border work: a Colorado, Utah, or Idaho resident who works in Wyoming still owes home-state income tax on those wages. For in-state workers the result is a short deduction list and higher take-home pay than in any neighboring income-tax state at the same gross salary.
- Wyoming levies no personal income tax, and W.S. 39-12-101 bars every county, city, and town from imposing a tax based on wages, so no state or municipal income tax line can appear on a Wyoming pay stub.
- Wyoming also has no corporate income tax. It relies on mineral severance taxes, property taxes, and the 4% statewide sales and use tax plus voter-approved local pennies.
- The only taxes withheld from a Wyoming paycheck are federal: Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and federal income tax withholding under Form W-4 and IRS Publication 15-T.
- Unemployment insurance is paid entirely by employers on the first $33,800 of each employee's 2026 wages ($34,900 in 2027). W.S. 27-3-503(a) says the contributions shall not be deducted from employee wages.
- Workers' compensation for extrahazardous employment is paid to the state Workers' Compensation Division through monthly or quarterly payroll reports. It is an employer cost, not a paycheck line.
- Wyoming's statutory minimum wage is $5.15 with a $2.13 tipped cash wage, but employers covered by federal law must pay the $7.25 federal minimum. Reported tips are wages for federal income tax and FICA; no Wyoming tax applies to them.
- Cross-border catch: Colorado, Utah, and Idaho tax their residents on all wages, so a commuter living there and working in Cheyenne, Evanston, or Jackson still owes home-state tax, often with nothing withheld by the Wyoming employer.
What Makes Wyoming Payroll Different
Federal payroll tax is the same in every state. What changes from one state to the next is the second layer: state income tax withholding, local wage taxes, employer unemployment taxes, and any employee social-insurance contributions. Wyoming sits at the simplest end of that spectrum. It has no state income tax, like Texas and South Dakota, and unlike Washington or Alaska it has no employee-paid paid-leave, long-term-care, or unemployment premium. That makes a Wyoming paycheck about as short as an American paycheck gets.
Where Wyoming stands out among the no-income-tax states is that the local layer is closed by statute. Many states simply have no city income taxes in practice; Wyoming law says outright that the state preempts the field of income and earnings taxes and that no political subdivision may levy one. The other Wyoming wrinkles are geographic and employer-side. Cheyenne sits about 45 miles from Fort Collins, Colorado, Evanston borders Utah, and Jackson draws workers from Idaho's Teton Valley, and all three of those states tax their residents on wages earned anywhere. On the employer side, workers' compensation runs through a state fund rather than private insurers. The federal baseline behind the three taxes an employee actually sees is explained in the how payroll taxes work guide, and the FICA half of it is covered in the what is FICA tax guide.
Employee Withholding Overview in Wyoming
A Wyoming employee sees federal taxes only. There is no state income tax line, no local tax line, and no employee premium line. The deductions are all federal.
| Deduction | Who Pays | Rate | Wage Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security (federal) | Employee + Employer | 6.2% | $184,500 (2026) |
| Medicare (federal) | Employee + Employer | 1.45% | None |
| Additional Medicare (federal) | Employee only | 0.9% | Wages over $200K ($250K MFJ) |
| Federal income tax withholding | Employee only | Varies (W-4) | None |
| Wyoming state income tax | None | None | No state income tax |
| Local / city wage tax | None | None | Barred by W.S. 39-12-101 |
| Employee disability / paid leave / UI | None | None | No state program; UI is employer-paid |
The federal lines work identically to any other state. For Social Security, the 2026 wage base is $184,500, after which Social Security stops for the year. Medicare has no cap, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax is withheld on wages above $200,000. There are no Wyoming state lines to add, so once the federal taxes are subtracted, the rest is take-home pay, unless the worker lives in, or physically works in, a neighboring income-tax state.
Why Wyoming Has No State Income Tax
Wyoming's tax laws sit in Title 39 of the Wyoming Statutes, and that title contains no income tax levy. Its Chapter 7, "Income Taxes," holds a single section that was repealed in 1998, and its Chapter 12, "Income Tax," holds only the preemption rule discussed below. There is no corporate income tax either. For an employee this means there is no Wyoming withholding certificate to complete, no state withholding table, and no state line on the pay stub. Only the federal Form W-4 matters.
The state funds its government through other channels. Severance taxes on oil, natural gas, coal, and other minerals (Title 39, Chapter 14) and property taxes carry much of the load. The Wyoming Department of Revenue describes the sales and use tax as two pieces: a mandatory statewide 4% rate and any voter-approved local pennies, with the state keeping about 69% of the statewide 4% and returning the rest to local governments. None of these is withheld from a wage paycheck, so the "state tax" line on a Wyoming pay stub is simply absent. The money a worker keeps on payday is still reached at the register through sales tax, which is worth remembering when comparing total tax burden rather than paycheck size alone.
Wyoming Law Bars Local Wage Taxes
W.S. 39-12-101 reads: "The state of Wyoming does hereby preempt for itself the field of imposing and levying income taxes, earning taxes, or any other form of tax based on wages or other income and no county, city, town or other political subdivision shall have the right to impose, levy or collect such taxes." In practice that means a worker in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Gillette, Rock Springs, Sheridan, or Jackson pays no municipal or county income tax, and no city can start one without the legislature first changing the law. Wyoming cities raise money through local option sales taxes and property taxes instead.
This matters because several of the states National Tax Tools covers do have local wage taxes: Ohio and Pennsylvania have city income taxes, Kentucky has local occupational taxes on gross wages, Missouri has the Kansas City and St. Louis earnings taxes, and Colorado has Occupational Privilege Taxes in Denver and a few other cities. Wyoming has none, and its statute makes that a rule rather than an accident. Even in its largest cities, a Wyoming pay stub shows only the three federal taxes.
Cross-Border Work: Colorado, Utah, and Idaho
Wyoming's no-income-tax status protects wages only from Wyoming tax. It does not stop another state from taxing the same wages, and along Wyoming's borders that happens in two directions.
Living in Colorado, Utah, or Idaho, Working in Wyoming
Colorado, Utah, and Idaho all tax their residents on all of their wages, wherever earned. A worker who lives in Fort Collins and commutes to a Cheyenne employer, or who lives in Victor or Driggs, Idaho and works in Jackson, still owes home-state income tax on every dollar of that pay. The usual credit for tax paid to another state does nothing here, because Wyoming charges no tax to credit. And a Wyoming employer with no presence in the worker's home state may not be registered there, so it may withhold nothing at all for the home state. The worker can then owe a full year of home-state tax at filing, plus any underpayment penalty. The practical fix is to ask the employer whether it will withhold home-state tax voluntarily, or to make quarterly estimated payments to the home state.
Living in Wyoming, Working in a Neighboring State
A Wyoming resident who physically works in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, or Nebraska pays that state's income tax on the wages earned there as a nonresident, and the employer withholds it the normal way. Wyoming adds nothing on top, so there is no second return to coordinate. South Dakota is the one neighbor that, like Wyoming, has no income tax. To compare the paychecks side by side, run the same salary through the Colorado paycheck calculator, the Utah paycheck calculator, or the Idaho paycheck calculator and the Wyoming paycheck calculator.
Employer Payroll Obligations in Wyoming
Because there is no state income tax to withhold, a Wyoming employer's state-level payroll duties are unemployment insurance and, for extrahazardous work, workers' compensation, both administered by the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. The federal side, covered in the employer payroll tax obligations guide, includes the matching 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare plus the Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA).
| Employer tax | Rate | Wage base |
|---|---|---|
| UI tax, new employer (under 3 years) | Industry base rate + 4 rate factors | $33,800 per employee |
| UI tax, experienced employer | Benefit-ratio base rate + 4 rate factors | $33,800 per employee |
| UI tax, unregistered at first report | 8.5% base rate | $33,800 per employee |
| Workers' compensation (extrahazardous work) | Premium by classification | Gross payroll |
| State income tax withholding | None | No state income tax |
| FUTA (federal, after state credit) | 0.6% | $7,000 per employee |
The Department of Workforce Services assigns unemployment rates under W.S. 27-3 Article 5. An employer with at least three years of experience gets a base rate calculated on its own benefit ratio; a newer employer gets a base rate for its industry. Both add four further rate factors, and the total is the employer's rate for the calendar year. Annual rate notices are mailed no later than December 31 of the prior year. A new employer receives its rate after completing a Joint Business Registration (plus an Out of State Questionnaire if it is not based in Wyoming); one that reports before registering is assigned the highest base rate, 8.5%. The taxable wage base keeps rising: $32,400 for 2025, $33,800 for 2026, and $34,900 already published for 2027. W.S. 27-3-503(a) states that contributions are payable by employers and "shall not be deducted from employee wages." Staying current on state reports and taxes earns the federal credit that cuts FUTA from 6.0% to 0.6%. Employers can fold these costs into a cost-to-hire estimate with the employer payroll tax calculator.
Workers' Compensation Through the State Fund
Wyoming handles workers' compensation differently from most states. Under the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act (W.S. 27-14), an employer whose workers are engaged in extrahazardous employment obtains coverage through the Workers' Compensation Division of the Department of Workforce Services and pays premiums to the division. W.S. 27-14-202 requires the employer to send the division a certified copy of the payroll for those employees and to submit payroll reports and payments by the last day of the month after the month in which the earnings are paid; the director may allow quarterly reporting for employers with a good payment record.
For employees, the point is that workers' compensation is not a paycheck deduction. The premium is an employer cost calculated on payroll, it does not appear on the pay stub, and the benefits it funds are the employee's exclusive remedy against a contributing employer for covered workplace injuries (W.S. 27-14-104). For employers, it is a second state payroll filing alongside the quarterly unemployment report, and missing it carries interest and lien remedies under W.S. 27-14-203.
How Tips Are Taxed for Wyoming Workers
Wyoming's tourism economy, from Jackson Hole and the Grand Teton and Yellowstone gateways to Cody, the Cheyenne Frontier Days crowds, and the hotels and restaurants of Casper and Sheridan, employs thousands of servers, bartenders, and hospitality workers whose pay is largely tips. For payroll purposes, reported tips are wages. A tipped Wyoming worker owes federal income tax withholding, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%) on reported tips exactly as on base pay. Wyoming has no state income tax, so no state tax applies to tips.
W.S. 27-4-202 sets Wyoming's minimum wage at $5.15 per hour and provides that employers may pay tipped employees no less than $2.13 per hour. The $5.15 figure is below the federal level, so most Wyoming employers, those covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, must pay at least the $7.25 federal minimum wage. A covered employer that pays the $2.13 cash wage must make sure tips bring each tipped employee up to at least $7.25 an hour. That base pay flows through payroll normally, and reported tips are added to it for FICA and federal income tax withholding.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a federal deduction for a portion of qualified tips for tax years 2025 through 2028. It is a below-the-line deduction claimed on the worker's federal return, not a change to paycheck withholding, and it does not reduce Social Security or Medicare tax. Tips are still fully withheld on during the year, and the deduction is settled at filing. Tipped workers can estimate the deduction with the No Tax on Tips Calculator and read the mechanics in the No Tax on Tips guide.
How Take-Home Pay Works in Wyoming
The calculation sequence runs from gross pay down to net pay, and it is shorter in Wyoming than almost anywhere else because there are no state lines to subtract.
- Start with gross wages for the pay period, including any reported tips.
- Apply federal income tax withholding using the Form W-4 and IRS Publication 15-T.
- Subtract Social Security (6.2%, up to the annual wage base) and Medicare (1.45%) on FICA wages.
- There is no Wyoming income tax, no local tax, and no employee premium to subtract.
- The remainder is net pay.
To see exact figures for a specific salary or hourly rate and pay frequency, use the Wyoming paycheck calculator or the general take-home pay calculator for a full pre-tax benefits stack.
Wyoming Supplemental Wage Withholding
Supplemental wages are payments outside regular salary: bonuses, commissions, overtime, sales awards, and back pay. Wyoming has no state income tax, so there is no state supplemental rate to apply.
- No Wyoming income tax on supplemental wages, because there is no state income tax at all.
- Federal income tax withholding on supplemental wages is a separate calculation set by the IRS, typically a flat 22% on amounts under $1 million, and Social Security and Medicare still apply under their own rules.
- Because there is no state or local layer, a Wyoming bonus keeps more of its value than the same bonus paid in an income-tax state.
For the federal supplemental math on a bonus, use the Bonus Tax Calculator and see the Bonus Tax Withholding Guide.
Wyoming Reporting and Payment
Wyoming employers file quarterly unemployment wage reports and pay unemployment tax to the Department of Workforce Services. The due dates are April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31, with the report delinquent the following day; when a due date falls on a weekend or holiday it moves to the next business day. Employers with extrahazardous employment also file workers' compensation payroll reports and payments, monthly by default (by the last day of the following month) or quarterly if the division allows it. Because there is no state income tax, there is no state wage-withholding return to file. The federal deposit schedule for income tax withholding and FICA is covered separately in the payroll tax deadlines guide.
New employees must also be reported to the Wyoming new hire program shortly after the hire date, as in every state. Out-of-state businesses that hire in Wyoming complete the Out of State Questionnaire as part of registration so the department can assign a rate.
Wyoming Payroll Quick Facts (2026)
| State income tax | None (no levy in Wyoming Statutes Title 39) |
| Corporate income tax | None |
| Local wage tax | None; barred by W.S. 39-12-101 |
| Employee disability / paid leave | None (no state program) |
| Employee unemployment | None (employer-funded; W.S. 27-3-503(a)) |
| Employer UI wage base | $33,800 per employee (2026); $34,900 (2027) |
| New-employer UI rate | Industry base rate plus four rate factors; 8.5% if unregistered |
| Workers' compensation | Employer premiums to the state Workers' Compensation Division |
| Minimum wage | $5.15 state ($2.13 tipped); $7.25 federal for FLSA-covered employers |
| State sales and use tax | 4% statewide, plus voter-approved local pennies |
| Social Security wage base | $184,500 (2026) |
| Withheld from a WY paycheck | Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare only |
| Agencies | Dept. of Workforce Services (UI, workers' comp, labor standards); Dept. of Revenue (sales tax) |
At LMN Tax Inc, the recurring Wyoming question comes from the border towns. A client living in Fort Collins or Loveland takes a job in Cheyenne, or a Teton Valley, Idaho resident takes a job in Jackson, sees no state tax on the stub, and assumes the job made the paycheck state-tax-free. Then the home-state return arrives with a full year of tax due and nothing withheld. Colorado and Idaho tax residents on all wages, Wyoming has no tax to credit against them, and a Wyoming employer with no presence across the border often is not registered to withhold for that state. We set these clients up with voluntary home-state withholding where the employer agrees, or with quarterly estimated payments where it does not. The second issue is the flip side of a simple paycheck: with no state withholding cushioning a federal shortfall, getting the federal W-4 right matters more, not less. We see this most with dual-income households, where each employer withholds as if its salary were the only income and the couple lands in a higher federal bracket than either employer expected. The fix is the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on Form W-4, and it takes fifteen minutes. On the employer side, the most common miss is treating Wyoming as a one-filing state: new owners register for unemployment insurance and forget that extrahazardous employment also needs workers' compensation coverage and its own monthly payroll report with the state.
Real-World Example: A Wyoming Biweekly Paycheck
Priya earns $65,000 per year and works in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She lives in Wyoming, is paid biweekly (26 pay periods), files Single on her W-4, and has no pre-tax contributions. The federal figures below follow the 2026 Publication 15-T percentage method.
Gross pay per period: $65,000 / 26 = $2,500.00
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross wages | $2,500.00 |
| Federal income tax withholding | −$216.15 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$155.00 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$36.25 |
| Wyoming state income tax | $0.00 |
| Net pay | $2,092.60 |
There is no state or local income tax line, so the only deductions are the three federal taxes. The federal withholding of $216.15 comes from annualizing the $2,500 biweekly gross to $65,000, subtracting the $8,600 Single allowance to reach a $56,400 adjusted annual wage, applying the 2026 Publication 15-T Single schedule ($1,240.00 plus 12% of the amount over $19,900), and dividing the $5,620.00 annual result by 26. If Priya instead lived across the border in Fort Collins, her Cheyenne paycheck could look exactly the same, but Colorado would tax her wages at its flat 4.40% rate on her Colorado return. Run your own numbers with the Wyoming paycheck calculator.
When Wyoming Payroll Logic Does Not Apply
- Living in Colorado, Utah, or Idaho: A resident of an income-tax state who works in Wyoming owes home-state tax on those wages, and a Wyoming employer may withhold none of it. Plan for voluntary withholding or estimated payments.
- Working across state lines: If you live in Wyoming but physically work in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, or Nebraska, that state taxes the wages earned there and the employer withholds its income tax. Wyoming still adds nothing.
- Remote workers for out-of-state employers: A worker living and working in Wyoming for an out-of-state company generally owes no state income tax on those Wyoming-performed wages, but the employer must still register with the Department of Workforce Services for unemployment insurance and report the wages.
- Tipped hospitality workers: Reported tips are wages for federal income tax and FICA, even though Wyoming has no state tax on them. Under-reporting tips leaves federal withholding short at filing.
- Pre-tax deductions: Traditional 401(k) deferrals and Section 125 medical premiums reduce the wages subject to federal income tax withholding, so actual federal withholding is lower than a gross-only estimate. FICA still rides on most of those wages.
- High earners and the caps: Once wages pass the $184,500 Social Security wage base, Social Security stops for the year while Medicare continues, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax begins above $200,000.
- Self-employed and 1099 workers: Independent contractors are not subject to Wyoming payroll withholding and handle federal tax through estimated payments, as in the self-employment tax guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are a Wyoming employee, use the Wyoming paycheck calculator to see federal withholding and FICA for your salary and pay frequency, then confirm the lines on your stub. Because there is no state withholding to cushion a federal shortfall, make sure your federal W-4 is right, and complete the Multiple Jobs Worksheet if you or your spouse hold more than one job. If you live in Colorado, Utah, or Idaho, confirm whether your employer withholds home-state tax, and if not, set up estimated payments. Tipped workers should report tips fully and consider Step 4c extra withholding.
If you are a Wyoming employer, complete the Joint Business Registration before your first report so you are not assigned the 8.5% base rate, check your annual rate notice each December, budget unemployment tax on the first $33,800 of each worker's wages, set up workers' compensation coverage and monthly payroll reports for any extrahazardous employment, and file the quarterly wage report by the last day of the month after each quarter. Model your full cost-to-hire with the employer payroll tax calculator and review the employer payroll tax obligations guide.
- Wyoming Statutes Title 39, Taxation and Revenue (W.S. 39-12-101 state preemption of income and earnings taxes; Chapter 7 income taxes repealed 1998)
- Wyoming Statutes Title 27, Labor and Employment (W.S. 27-3-503 unemployment contributions; W.S. 27-4-202 minimum wage; W.S. 27-14-104, 27-14-202 and 27-14-203 workers' compensation)
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services: Unemployment Taxable Wage Base ($32,400 for 2025; $33,800 for 2026; $34,900 for 2027)
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services: Unemployment Tax Rates (experience and industry base rates, four rate factors, 8.5% for unregistered employers)
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services: Reporting Due Dates (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31)
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services: Workers' Compensation
- Wyoming Department of Revenue, Excise Tax Division: Excise Tax FAQs (mandatory statewide 4% sales and use tax plus voter-approved pennies)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees by State (Wyoming: $7.25 federal minimum, $2.13 cash wage, $5.12 maximum tip credit)
- IRS Publication 15 (Employer's Tax Guide)
- IRS Publication 15-T: Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
- IRS Topic 751: Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
- IRS Topic 560: Additional Medicare Tax