Live in California, work in Nevada
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Nevada takes
$0
on wages earned there
California takes
$1,793
after the credit it gives
Both together
$1,793
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
no work-state taxNevada has no income tax, so only California taxes this pay. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the California bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Nevada has no income tax, and that helps you less than you would think. California taxes its residents on everything they earn, wherever they earn it. So your pay is taxed once, by California, at $1,793 a year. Working across the line in a state that charges nothing does not shrink that bill, because the bill was never Nevada's to send.
- More people make this crossing than any other into Nevada. About 39,326 jobs there are held by people living in California — the biggest of the 2 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- Nevada levies no individual income tax, so a commuter into it is taxed by California alone, on the whole of the wages, at $1,793 for the reference salary. ⛔ The common expectation — that working in a state without an income tax removes the tax — is exactly backwards for a commuter: residence is what gives California its claim, and that claim reaches income wherever it is earned. There is no work-state liability to credit against it, so nothing offsets the California bill. The only version of this that changes the answer is moving.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into Nevada, this is the largest single flow: 39,326 jobs held by California residents, ahead of all 2 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in Nevada appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,928
- Yours$58,665
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.9% | $2,928 |
| Yours78.22% | $58,665 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Nevada takes, on wages earned there | $0 |
|---|---|
| California charges its residents | $1,793 |
| Less the credit California gives | $0 |
| Total state tax | $1,793 |
| If you also worked in California | $1,793 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Nevada is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for California residents.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in Nevada, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from California can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of California and Nevada takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Nevada or California carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Nevada and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, California limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Nevada portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Nevada rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the California to Nevada comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Nevada's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to California and Nevada?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Nevada taxes what you earn inside it. California taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Nevada already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $1,793 a year on this route.
Does working in Nevada cost me anything extra?
No. The state line is real on a map and invisible on your pay stub here. Your total is $1,793 either way. Keep the paperwork in mind though: crossing a line usually means filing twice even when it changes nothing.
Do I have to file tax returns in both California and Nevada?
Two returns is the normal outcome here, even when only one state ends up taking anything. Nevada generally wants to see a non-resident return from people who work there, and California wants your whole picture. It is paperwork rather than extra tax.
What if I work from home in California some days instead of going to Nevada?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of Nevada and into California alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to Nevada, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Nevada on a source basis, California on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $1,793 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. California's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Nevada's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $1,793. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Nevada.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. California requires a resident return reporting all income; Nevada requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from California fall outside Nevada's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Nevada throughout.