Live in Idaho, work in Washington
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Washington takes
$0
on wages earned there
Idaho takes
$2,327
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,327
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
no work-state taxWashington has no income tax, so only Idaho taxes this pay. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Idaho 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
- People move jobs to Washington expecting the tax to disappear. It does not, not while you live in Idaho. Your home state taxes what you earn anywhere, and Washington charging nothing simply means there is nothing to set against it. The year comes to $2,327, all of it to Idaho.
- 29,561 jobs is the size of this crossing from Idaho into Washington. Smaller than the famous ones, and governed identically. The only practical difference is familiarity — fewer people at your workplace will have done this before.
- Washington levies no individual income tax, so a commuter into it is taxed by Idaho alone, on the whole of the wages, at $2,327 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 Idaho 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 Idaho bill. The only version of this that changes the answer is moving.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 29,561 jobs in Washington held by Idaho residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,122
- Yours$58,471
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.16% | $3,122 |
| Yours77.96% | $58,471 |
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
| Washington takes, on wages earned there | $0 |
|---|---|
| Idaho charges its residents | $2,327 |
| Less the credit Idaho gives | $0 |
| Total state tax | $2,327 |
| If you also worked in Idaho | $2,327 |
| 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 Washington 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 Idaho residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Washington is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Idaho. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- The dollars rest on one assumed salary of sixty thousand. Double your pay and they do not simply double, because both states charge more on higher slices of income. What tends to stay put is which side of the Idaho and Washington comparison you are on.
- 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 Washington or Idaho carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Washington and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Idaho limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Washington portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Washington 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 Idaho to Washington 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 Washington'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 Idaho and Washington?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Washington taxes what you earn inside it. Idaho taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Washington already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,327 a year on this route.
Does working in Washington cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,327, exactly what you would owe if the job were in Idaho. That is not true of every crossing — plenty of them do cost money — but this one does not. What it does cost you is time at tax filing, because two states may each want a return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Idaho and Washington?
Two returns is the normal outcome here, even when only one state ends up taking anything. Washington generally wants to see a non-resident return from people who work there, and Idaho wants your whole picture. It is paperwork rather than extra tax.
What if I work from home in Idaho some days instead of going to Washington?
It depends on the state, and the answer is not the one most people expect. You might assume a day worked at your kitchen table in Idaho is taxed by Idaho. Usually that is right, and your Washington share shrinks to the days you were actually there. But a few states tax days you work at home as though you had been in the office, unless your employer required you to be elsewhere. It is worth checking which kind Washington is before assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Washington on a source basis, Idaho 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, $2,327 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. Idaho's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Washington's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,327. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Washington.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Idaho requires a resident return reporting all income; Washington 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 Idaho fall outside Washington'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 Washington throughout.