The Tax Foundation recently published a state-by-state study on state and local tax burdens. The study lists that tax burdens by state, including a ranking from highest to lowest state taxes.
New York was the “winner” with a state tax burden topping the charts at 12.8%. Alaska has the lowest tax burden at 7.0%. The average tax burden across all states is 9.9%. Here’s a map of the details:
Top 10 States with Highest Taxes
There are three states with taxes that exceed 12%. All in the top 10 are over 10%.
| New York | 12.8% |
| New Jersey | 12.4% |
| Connecticut | 12.3% |
| California | 11.2% |
| Wisconsin | 11.1% |
| Rhode Island | 10.9% |
| Minnesota | 10.8% |
| Massachusetts | 10.4% |
| Maine | 10.3% |
| Pennsylvania | 10.2% |
Top 10 States with Lowest Taxes
And here’s the list of the 10 states with the lowest taxes:
| South Carolina | 8.4% |
| Nevada | 8.2% |
| Alabama | 8.2% |
| New Hampshire | 8.1% |
| Texas | 7.9% |
| Wyoming | 7.8% |
| Louisiana | 7.8% |
| Tennessee | 7.7% |
| South Dakota | 7.6% |
| Alaska | 7.0% |
And of course, the above tax burden is on top of federal taxes, which currently top out at 35%.
Rob Berger
Rob founded the Dough Roller in 2007. A litigation attorney in the securities industry, he lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, their two teenagers, and the family mascot, a shih tzu named Sophie.
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Published or updated October 29, 2012.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome, I live in a state with the highest taxes!! Wait, that’s not a good thing.
Does this only take into account state and local taxes? I’m curious if sales taxes are factored into this or not. Since I’m in one of the highest, I would hate to see what sales tax would do to the numbers if not already accounted for.
Awesome, I live in a state with the highest taxes!! Wait, that’s not a good thing.
Does this only take into account state and local taxes? I’m curious if sales taxes are factored into this or not. Since I’m in one of the highest, I would hate to see what sales tax would do to the numbers if not already accounted for.
The state/local tax burdens are figured by dividing ALL the taxes collected in the state / all the income. Including sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes, excise taxes ( booze, gas, etc), and corporate taxes.
So this is not similar to a top 35% income tax margin on the federal level. Using the same idea the ‘burden’ of the federal level is around 18.2%. ($2.3T revenue vs 12.6T personal income in 2010).
Also note the states spread their taxes around in a wide variety of ways. Look at Alaska for example. They cite a burden of 7% yet Alaska has no income tax and no state wide sales tax. AND the state distributes a dividend annually to each resident from their permanent fund. Its quite easy to have a 0% state tax burden in Alaska or near to it, but the average is 7%. I assume primarily due to corporate / property taxes.
What causes the high (liberal leaning) states to have the higher tax rates? Is it welfare and other aid?