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W-2 Boxes 18 to 20: Local Wages, Local Tax and Locality (2025)

Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Boxes 18, 19 and 20 of Form W-2 hold your local wages, the local income tax withheld, and the name of the locality. They carry local information when your employer reports it. The IRS instructions leave the specifics to the locality, so your city or county tax rules, not the federal form, explain where these amounts go.

What boxes 18, 19 and 20 report

The three local boxes follow the state boxes on Form W-2. The labels printed on the form are:

BoxLabel printed on the form
Box 18“Local wages, tips, etc.”
Box 19“Local income tax”
Box 20“Locality name”

The employer-side instructions put the state and local boxes together: “Use these boxes to report state and local income tax information.” The whole run of boxes from 10 to 20 is laid out in the W-2 boxes 10 to 20 guide.

Local wages and local income tax

Box 18 is labelled “Local wages, tips, etc.” and box 19 is labelled “Local income tax”. As with the state boxes, the General Instructions give no formula for either amount. They hand the subject to the local authority: “Contact your state or locality for specific reporting information.”

That is why this page makes no claim about any particular city, county or school district. If you see a figure in box 18 or 19, it is the employer’s report of what applies under local rules, and the rules are the locality’s to explain. When box 18 differs from your federal wages in box 1, the form itself does not say why. A pay stub line labelled with a city or district name is the usual place to look first, and payroll can tell you which local rule produced the amount. The money items that sometimes explain differences between boxes are described on the W-2 box 14 page and the W-2 box 11 page.

The locality name in box 20

Box 20 is the label, not an amount. On the form it reads “Locality name”. It tells the reader which local jurisdiction the box 18 and box 19 amounts belong to. When two localities are reported on one form, the name is what lets you match each pair of amounts to the right place.

The form has room for two localities, and the instructions say how they are kept apart: “The state and local information boxes can be used to report wages and taxes for two states and two localities.” “Keep each state’s and locality’s information separated by the broken line.” If you see two lines in the local boxes, the broken line is the divider between them.

When there is more than one form

The same instruction covers the overflow case: “If you need to report information for more than two states or localities, prepare a second Form W-2.” A second Form W-2 from one employer can carry the additional state or local lines, and the instructions also allow a second form to carry other items, such as more than four coded items in box 12 or other compensation. Before treating it as a duplicate, check boxes 15 to 20 on each form. The state group is covered on its own page, W-2 boxes 15 to 17.

Which copy goes to the locality

The copy of Form W-2 for your federal return is labelled “To Be Filed With Employee’s FEDERAL Tax Return.” The copy aimed at state and local filing is a different one: “To Be Filed With Employee’s State, City, or Local Income Tax Return”. If your city or locality asks for a return, that is the copy the form points you to.

Local tax and the federal return connect in one place on this site’s pages: the deduction for state and local taxes. It is explained on the 2026 SALT cap page and the schedule that carries it is on the Schedule A page. Those pages are pointers for context. What box 19 means for your own filing depends on your locality and on those sources, not on the box number alone.

What to check on your own form

Start with whether the boxes should be filled in at all. If you work or live where a local income tax exists, a blank box 20 deserves a question to payroll. If you do not, blank is expected. If there are amounts, check that the locality name in box 20 is the one you recognize from your pay stubs, and that box 19 is close to the sum of the local withholding lines on them.

If the employer must correct something, the notice on the form tells you what to keep: “Be sure to get your copies of Form W-2c from your employer for all corrections made so you may file them with your tax return.” Keep every corrected form you receive alongside the original.

Edition and box numbers

The primary read for this page is the 2025 edition of Form W-2, the form an employee receives in early 2026 for tax year 2025, together with the 2025 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3. The 2026 edition of both documents was the one irs.gov served as current on 2026-10-17, and it was compared line by line. The text on boxes 15 through 20 is the same in both editions. The 2026 form prints the label “Locality name”, and the 2026 instructions repeat “Contact your state or locality for specific reporting information.” as the closing sentence of the group. Check the tax year printed on the form you received, because the box numbers and the wording you see are those of that year’s edition.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming a blank local box is an error. The IRS wording is that the boxes “can be used to report wages and taxes for two states and two localities”, which describes a capacity, not a requirement for every employee.
  • Guessing what a locality’s tax rule is from the form. The instructions say “Contact your state or locality for specific reporting information.”
  • Losing the second line in the local boxes. The form says “Keep each state’s and locality’s information separated by the broken line.” Read both sides of the line before adding amounts.

Related: the 2026 SALT cap, Schedule A (Form 1040), Form W-4, and Form 1040.

Sources

Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.

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