Do Texas teachers pay Social Security? TRS and the 2026 earnings limit

1. Do Texas teachers pay into Social Security?

In Texas, whether a public school teacher pays into Social Security depends on the school district, and data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that most Texas districts do not take part. In data the U.S. Department of Education’s NCES published in 2019, 96.4% of Texas teachers were not covered by Social Security, because most school districts did not opt in.

In its own words, NCES says: “Texas is one of five states that has a mixed state policy where some teachers are covered by social security and some are not.” and “However, almost all (96.4%) teachers are not covered in Texas because the majority of school districts do not opt-in” It adds: “(only 17 school districts in Texas opt-in to social security coverage for teachers)” NCES published this in 2019, and its data do not say which school year the counts describe.

NCES explains how it built the data: “data were compiled at the state and school district levels.” Its sources included “communication with state social security administrators.” It also notes: “Teachers’ eligibility for social security coverage depends on what state and school district they work in.” Read its figures as the general picture for Texas when NCES published them, not as a statement about any one district or job today.

Why it varies: Texas law lets ERS and a local government body enter an agreement “to obtain social security coverage for the employees of the political subdivision” (Government Code §606.022(a)), as part of Texas’s Section 218 agreement. The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) says “thousands of local political subdivisions (cities, counties, housing authorities, hospital districts, school districts, utility districts etc.) have signed agreements” with the State Social Security Administrator’s office to be included in the state’s agreement, and that adding a new group of employees involves “the subdivision conducting a referendum election among the affected employees, which is overseen by the State Administrator.” ERS adds: “The Office of the State Social Security Administrator has been based at ERS, a Texas state agency, since 1975.”

ERS’s FAQ says: “Beginning April 20, 1983, Section 218 Agreements are permanent and cannot be terminated.” It adds: “If a local political subdivision covered by a modification is dissolved, merged, or no longer has employees, its agreement” under a modification “can be transitioned to inactive status”. As we read these pages, a district that did not take part when NCES published its data could have joined since, which is one more reason to check your own position (section 2).

2. How to check your own position

Because coverage is set by agreement with each employer, the answer for you is in your own records, not in a statewide rule. ERS’s FAQ says: “The employing local political divisions must have a Section 218 Agreement that covers the employee’s position or the employee’s position must otherwise be covered under mandatory coverage rules.”

• Your Social Security record. TRS points you to SSA. Its Social Security page says: “The best and most direct source for information on how this may affect you is the Social Security Administration.” It gives SSA’s number: “call the SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213.”
• The district that employed you. As we read ERS’s FAQ, coverage turns on the employer’s agreement and on the position, so the school district (or other employer) can say whether a given job was covered. ERS’s FAQ tells an employer that wants to know whether it has an agreement to contact the State Social Security Administrator at ERS.
• Part-time and substitute work. NCES’s data table notes that it takes a teacher to mean a full-time, licensed public school educator, and that states may cover part-time and substitute teachers differently. It also notes that some states and districts may be applying their agreements incorrectly.
• A divided vote. Federal law (42 U.S.C. 418(d)(6)(C)) names Texas among the states where a retirement system may be divided into a part whose members want Social Security coverage and a part whose members do not. IRS Publication 963, a reference guide, describes this as a divided retirement system referendum and lists Texas too. As we read it, that could leave some staff in a covered district without coverage. The sources we read do not say that any Texas school district has used one.

3. A TRS pension and Social Security

TRS’s Social Security page says: “The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (HR 82), which became law on Jan. 5, 2025, repealed two provisions that reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for certain retirees.” The two provisions are the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). TRS’s Summer 2025 retiree newsletter explains: “These provisions previously reduced or eliminated social security benefits for certain retirees who receive a pension from an employer that did not pay into social security.”

The law itself is Public Law 118-273, the Social Security Fairness Act, approved January 5, 2025. It is an Act “To amend title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government pension offset and windfall elimination provisions.” Its effective-date section applies the changes to “monthly insurance benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act for months after December 2023.” SSA’s operating manual (July 2025) says of the WEP: “Beginning with benefits due for January 2024 (paid in February 2024), SSA no longer reduces Social Security benefits based on receipt of pensions from work not covered by Social Security.” and of the GPO: “SSA no longer offsets Social Security benefits based on receipt of pensions from work not covered by Social Security.” As we read the law, the WEP reduced a person’s own benefit and the GPO reduced spouse’s and survivor’s benefits; the Act repealed both reductions.

TRS’s Benefits Handbook (September 2025) says: “In some instances, the calculation of your social security benefits may be affected by the TRS benefits that you receive.” and points readers to SSA’s website “for information on topics such as the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).” It does not say the two provisions still apply. As we read the law, that passage is out of date: the Social Security Fairness Act repealed both for benefits payable for months after December 2023.

On TRS’s own payments, its page says: “Your TRS benefit payments are not affected by Social Security.” That sentence is about TRS benefit payments and Social Security. TRS’s rules for taking a job after retirement are a different subject, covered in our TRS employment after retirement guide.

The repeal does not by itself make anyone eligible for a Social Security benefit. A benefit based on your own work rests on the earnings on your own record; SSA’s 2026 notice says: “A quarter of coverage is the basic unit for determining if a worker is insured under the Social Security program.” As we read SSA’s manual, a spouse’s or survivor’s benefit is paid on a spouse’s record instead: it says the GPO “applied to a spouse’s Social Security benefit”, and it counts a widow or widower as a spouse (POMS GN 02608.100). SSA decides each case, so ask SSA what you may receive on your own record or a spouse’s.

If you start Social Security before full retirement age and keep working, the earnings test in section 4 counts your wages. As we read SSA’s rules, it does not count a TRS service retirement annuity (section 5).

4. The 2026 earnings test before full retirement age

If you start Social Security retirement benefits before full retirement age and also work, SSA may hold back some of your benefits. SSA’s notice of November 3, 2025 (90 FR 49047) sets these figures for 2026:

The earnings test applies only before full retirement age. If you get Social Security disability benefits, other rules apply: SSA says, “If a disabled beneficiary performs any work activity, we look at that activity to determine whether the disability has ceased.” Ask SSA before you take any job.

In SSA’s own words (NRA, normal retirement age, is the notice’s term for full retirement age):

• “The lower annual exempt amount is $24,480 under the retirement earnings test.” Above it: “For all other beneficiaries under NRA, we withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over the annual exempt amount.”
• “The higher annual exempt amount is $65,160 under the retirement earnings test.” SSA explains: “A higher exempt amount applies in the year in which a person attains NRA, but only for earnings in months before such attainment.” For those months, “we withhold $1 in benefits for every $3 of earnings over the annual exempt amount for months before NRA.”
• At full retirement age the test stops. SSA’s operating manual says: “Earnings test does not apply to individuals at or above FRA.” (ET is the earnings test; FRA is full retirement age; POMS RS 02501.021.)

Full retirement age is Social Security’s own age; SSA can tell you yours. If you get widow(er)’s benefits, the same manual says the earnings test runs to the full retirement age for retirement benefits: “Although FRA for WIB may be earlier, the FRA for RIB is controlling for ET purposes.” (WIB is widow(er)’s insurance benefits; RIB is retirement insurance benefits.) TRS’s own retirement rules are a separate matter, covered in our TRS employment after retirement guide.

Your first year of benefits: a monthly test

In your first year of benefits, a monthly limit may apply instead (SSA decides). SSA’s regulation (20 CFR 404.435) calls that year a grace year and says: “A beneficiary’s initial grace year is the first taxable year in which the beneficiary has a non-service month”. It defines the month this way: “A non-service month is any month in which you, while entitled to retirement or survivors benefits:” Then it lists three conditions: “Do not work in self-employment”; “Do not perform services for wages greater than the monthly exempt amount set for that month”; and “Do not work in non-covered remunerative activity on 7 or more days in a month while outside the United States”.

For 2026, SSA’s notice says: “The monthly exempt amounts under the OASDI retirement earnings test for tax years ending in calendar year 2026 will be $2,040” for people who reach full retirement age after 2026, and $5,430 “for those who attain NRA in 2026.”

The same regulation allows another grace year in some cases, for example when entitlement to one type of benefit ends and, after a break, you become entitled to a different type of retirement or survivors benefit. SSA can tell you whether a given year is your grace year, so treat the monthly test as something that may apply to you.

5. Which earnings count, and which do not

SSA counts both wages and net earnings from self-employment. Its regulation says earnings include “the sum of your wages for services rendered in a taxable year, plus your net earnings from self-employment for the taxable year, minus any net loss from self-employment for the same taxable year.” Wages count before deductions: “Wages include the gross amount of your wages rather than the net amount paid after deductions by your employer” (20 CFR 404.429).

As we read SSA’s rules, wages from every job count together, including part-time tutoring pay. Pay from SpecialEdResource is W-2 pay. SpecialEdResource withholds federal income tax and your share of Social Security and Medicare, pays the employer’s half (7.65% of your pay) and carries workers’ comp.

SSA’s manual says: “Do not count bona fide pension payments.” (POMS RS 02505.240, item 57). As we read SSA’s rules, that covers a TRS service retirement annuity, so it does not count toward the earnings test.

SSA’s manual also has a line for teachers: “Count teachers pay in period for which paid if received in a nonwork month.” (POMS RS 02505.240, item 78). Ask SSA how this applies to your last school paychecks.

Wages that Social Security covers also build your Social Security record. SSA’s 2026 notice says: “The taxable earnings a person must have in 2026 to be credited with a quarter of coverage will be $1,890.” As we read the IRS’s and SSA’s rules, pay that has Social Security tax withheld, such as SpecialEdResource’s W-2 pay, counts toward those credits, even for a teacher whose school job was not covered. How many credits you need, and what they mean for a benefit, is SSA’s decision on your own record.

TRS’s own rules are a separate question

Social Security’s earnings test is not a TRS rule, and TRS’s rules for working after retirement are not SSA’s. Our TRS employment after retirement guide covers them in full. One point matters before any job. In your first months of retirement, ask TRS before you take any job. TRS says: “All retirees must observe a one full, calendar-month break in service after their effective retirement date to avoid revoking their retirement.” and “Returning to work for a TRS-covered employer in the month directly following your effective retirement date will revoke your retirement.” TRS writes these rules for work with a TRS-covered employer, and work through a company that such an employer retains to provide personnel can count as that work for a retiree who “performs services for or on behalf of a TRS-covered employer” (TRS’s third-party entity rule). Confirm your own situation with TRS before you start: call 800-223-8778, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central (TRS’s contact page, read October 20, 2026).

6. What the limit means in tutoring hours

The figures below divide SSA’s 2026 annual limit of $24,480, the limit before full retirement age, by an hourly pay rate, for readers who get Social Security retirement benefits and are under full retirement age for all of 2026. They do not predict the hours you would be offered, and they are not a benefit calculation. Available hours depend on student demand and schedule fit.

SpecialEdResource’s starting pay is $23/hour, W-2. All tutors can earn a 10% performance bonus in any pay period when they tutor at least 10 hours and turn in session notes on time. In a pay period that earns the bonus, the rate works out to $25.30 an hour.

The right-hand column applies only if every pay period earns the bonus. In a pay period that does not, every hour is paid at $23, so the real figure falls between the two columns. This section converts only that limit into hours. The $2,040 amount for a grace-year month (section 4) and the $65,160 amount for the year you reach full retirement age (section 4) are given in dollars only.

SSA counts wages from every job and net earnings from self-employment, so other work leaves less room under the limit. These figures are arithmetic, not a promise about your benefits: SSA applies the test to your actual earnings before full retirement age. For your own figures, ask SSA.

7. When the 2027 figures come out

The amounts on this page are SSA’s figures for 2026, for “tax years ending in calendar year 2026”. SSA sets each new year’s amounts in its yearly cost-of-living notice in the Federal Register; the notice for 2026 came out on November 3, 2025. When SSA raises benefits effective with the month of December, federal law says SSA’s Commissioner “shall also determine and publish in the Federal Register on or before November 1 of the calendar year” the new exempt amounts (42 U.S.C. 403(f)(8)(A)).

When we checked the Federal Register on October 20, 2026, SSA had not yet published its notice for 2027. This guide does not list 2027 amounts. For 2027, use SSA’s notice once it is published, or ask SSA.

8. Texas income tax, in the state’s own words

The Texas Constitution, Article 8, Section 24-a, headed “INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX PROHIBITED”, says: “The legislature may not impose a tax on the net incomes of individuals, including an individual's share of partnership and unincorporated association income.” The section was added on Nov. 5, 2019.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts puts it plainly in its Fiscal Notes, December 2025 issue: “Texas has no state income tax.”

These sentences are about a state tax on individuals’ net incomes. Federal income tax is a separate matter: the IRS tells employers to have a Form W-4 on file for each employee to know how much federal income tax to withhold (IRS Publication 15, 2026).