2019’s Tax Burden by State

On April 15, Uncle Sam will once again take his cut of the past year’s earnings. And many taxpayers are already wondering how that will affect their finances. However, since the tax code is so complicated and has rules based on individual household characteristics, it’s hard for the average person to tell. And with a new tax code taking effect this year, this year’s taxes will be quite different than last year’s.

One simple ratio known as the “tax burden” helps cut through the confusion. Unlike tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s circumstances, tax burden measures the proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes. And it isn’t uniform across the U.S., either.

To determine the residents with the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub compared the 50 states across the three tax types of state tax burdens — property taxes, individual income taxes and sales and excise taxes — as a share of total personal income in the state. Read on for our findings, commentary from a panel of tax experts and a full description of our methodology.

For more fun (or not so fun) facts about 2019’s tax landscape, check out WalletHub’s Tax Day Facts infographic.

1 Main Findings 2 Red States vs. Blue States

3 Ask the Experts 4 Methodology

Main Findings

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Overall Tax Burden by State

Overall Rank (1=Highest)	State	Total Tax Burden (%)	Property Tax Burden (%)	Individual Income Tax Burden (%)	Total Sales & Excise Tax Burden (%)
1	New York	12.97%	4.57% (6)	4.81% (1)	3.59% (21)
2	Hawaii	11.71%	2.24% (39)	2.91% (9)	6.56% (1)
3	Maine	10.84%	4.74% (5)	2.60% (15)	3.50% (25)
4	Vermont	10.77%	5.12% (2)	2.31% (26)	3.34% (26)
5	Minnesota	10.25%	2.97% (20)	3.68% (4)	3.60% (20)
6	Rhode Island	10.20%	4.75% (4)	2.30% (27)	3.15% (34)
7	New Jersey	9.86%	5.05% (3)	2.40% (22)	2.41% (43)
8	Connecticut	9.70%	4.21% (8)	3.03% (8)	2.46% (42)
9	Illinois	9.67%	4.04% (9)	2.05% (32)	3.58% (23)
10	Iowa	9.49%	3.41% (16)	2.52% (20)	3.56% (24)
11	California	9.47%	2.71% (30)	3.57% (5)	3.19% (30)
12	Ohio	9.31%	2.80% (25)	2.54% (19)	3.97% (15)
13	Maryland	9.26%	2.63% (31)	3.87% (3)	2.76% (40)
14	Nebraska	9.21%	3.84% (10)	2.37% (23)	3.00% (38)
15	West Virginia	9.18%	2.48% (34)	2.73% (11)	3.97% (15)
16	Wisconsin	9.15%	3.42% (15)	2.73% (11)	3.00% (38)
17	Arkansas	9.11%	1.79% (47)	2.34% (25)	4.98% (5)
18	Mississippi	9.02%	2.76% (26)	1.68% (37)	4.58% (7)
19	Massachusetts	8.90%	3.62% (13)	3.24% (6)	2.04% (45)
20	Kansas	8.77%	3.14% (18)	1.62% (38)	4.01% (13)
20	Kentucky	8.77%	1.96% (45)	3.22% (7)	3.59% (21)
22	New Mexico	8.66%	1.97% (44)	1.74% (36)	4.95% (6)
23	Pennsylvania	8.58%	2.87% (23)	2.57% (17)	3.14% (35)
24	Louisiana	8.51%	2.08% (43)	1.44% (39)	4.99% (4)
25	Michigan	8.40%	3.16% (17)	2.20% (31)	3.04% (36)
26	North Carolina	8.38%	2.28% (38)	2.78% (10)	3.32% (27)
27	Arizona	8.26%	2.61% (32)	1.41% (40)	4.24% (12)
27	Utah	8.26%	2.42% (36)	2.63% (14)	3.21% (28)
29	Nevada	8.26%	2.24% (39)	0.00% (44)	6.02% (2)
30	Oregon	8.25%	3.11% (19)	4.05% (2)	1.09% (50)
31	Indiana	8.22%	2.22% (42)	2.26% (28)	3.74% (18)
32	Washington	8.20%	2.59% (33)	0.00% (44)	5.61% (3)
33	Texas	8.18%	3.82% (11)	0.00% (44)	4.36% (10)
34	Colorado	8.15%	2.72% (28)	2.24% (29)	3.19% (30)
35	Georgia	8.10%	2.72% (28)	2.37% (23)	3.01% (37)
36	Missouri	7.86%	2.23% (41)	2.42% (21)	3.21% (28)
37	North Dakota	7.83%	2.46% (35)	0.88% (41)	4.49% (8)
38	Virginia	7.80%	2.90% (21)	2.73% (11)	2.17% (44)
39	Idaho	7.75%	2.33% (37)	2.24% (29)	3.18% (33)
40	South Carolina	7.55%	2.89% (22)	1.94% (33)	2.72% (41)
41	Wyoming	7.51%	4.32% (7)	0.00% (44)	3.19% (30)
42	Alabama	7.28%	1.39% (50)	1.89% (34)	4.00% (14)
42	South Dakota	7.28%	2.87% (23)	0.00% (44)	4.41% (9)
44	Montana	7.27%	3.44% (14)	2.58% (16)	1.25% (48)
45	Oklahoma	7.12%	1.66% (49)	1.82% (35)	3.64% (19)
46	New Hampshire	6.86%	5.45% (1)	0.12% (42)	1.29% (47)
47	Florida	6.56%	2.74% (27)	0.00% (44)	3.82% (17)
48	Tennessee	6.28%	1.90% (46)	0.11% (43)	4.27% (11)
49	Delaware	5.55%	1.79% (47)	2.55% (18)	1.21% (49)
50	Alaska	5.10%	3.66% (12)	0.00% (44)	1.44% (46)

Red States vs. Blue States

Ask the Experts

For more insight on the differences in state tax policies, we asked a panel of taxation experts to weigh in with their thoughts on the following key questions:

What state and local tax instruments are most fair? Least fair?
What’s the relationship between state tax burden and economic growth?
Should states and localities tax property at different marginal rates like income?
What makes some state and local tax systems better able to weather economic downturns?

< >

Monica Salomon Instructor, Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida
Andrew Felo Ph.D., CFE, CMA, CFM – Associate Professor & Chair, Nova Southeastern University
Joseph P. Cunningham CPA, MBA – Associate Professor, Wilson College
Marsha Huber Professor of Accounting, Williamson College of Business Administration, Youngstown State University

Methodology

In order to determine the states that tax their residents the most and least aggressively, WalletHub compared the 50 states across the following three tax burdens and added the results to obtain the overall tax burden for each state:

Property Tax as a Share of Personal Income
Individual Income Tax as a Share of Personal Income
Total Sales & Excise Tax as a Share of Personal Income

Videos for News Use:

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the Tax Policy Center.

Image: rosedesigns / Shutterstock.com

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@grhodes12

May 15, 2019

I just bought an electronic item at BestBuy in St.Louis, Mo. on May 10th 2019 and the sales tax on the $99.99 item was $10.21, so what's up with that when cities add additional sales taxes on top of already sales taxes???

@helenras50

April 28, 2019

But what do the residents of each state get for their taxes? Where does each state rank with education? Public safety? Public transportation? Condition of public infrastructure? How well run/efficient is state and local government (and what is the cost of public employees)? How are the hospitals? Social services? All that matters.

@notruss

April 27, 2019

Is this information accurate? I don't think so. In Florida for example, we have a 6% and up sales tax depending on where you live. I checked the Tax Policy Center Website cited here, and the data listed there is much higher. The most recent (2015) Florida state and local tax revenue as a percentage of personal income is listed at 7.60%, not what you have here. Check your data.

@esfritzi

April 18, 2019

I live in Maine, having moved up from the Atlanta area for the better weather in the Spring, Summer and Fall. For Winter, we are out of here to the panhandle of Florida. Maine in many ways is still in the stone age. State government has 151 house legislators for 16 counties with 1.33 million people. My county and two contiguous counties in Georgia had about the same population, so I'd say that Maine is very top heavy. The legislature is fighting over a local option sales tax that 37 states already have, incl. Ga. and with millions of visitors each year vacationing in the State, it's a no brainer, but somehow Augusta can't quite see the benefit of this option for all coastal counties from Kittery to Bar Harbor. Duh!