2017 Tax Burden by State
On April 18, Uncle Sam will once again take his cut from everyone’s earnings this past year. And many taxpayers are already wondering what that haircut on their finances will look like.
One simple ratio known as the “tax burden” helps cut through the confusion. Not to be confused with tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s particular circumstances, tax burden measures the exact 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 which states’ residents bear the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across the three tax types that make up state tax burden — property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes — as a percentage 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.
Overall Tax Burden by State
| Overall Rank | State | Total Tax Burden (%) |
Property Tax Burden (%) |
Individual Income Tax Burden (%) |
Total Sales & Excise Tax Burden (%) |
| 1 | New York | 12.94% | 4.55% | 4.76% | 3.63% |
| 2 | Hawaii | 11.27% | 2.11% | 2.64% | 6.52% |
| 3 | Vermont | 10.75% | 4.96% | 2.29% | 3.50% |
| 4 | Maine | 10.73% | 4.65% | 2.58% | 3.50% |
| 5 | Minnesota | 10.24% | 2.87% | 3.59% | 3.78% |
| 6 | Connecticut | 10.23% | 4.16% | 3.24% | 2.83% |
| 7 | New Jersey | 10.14% | 5.31% | 2.32% | 2.51% |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 10.09% | 4.80% | 2.15% | 3.14% |
| 9 | Illinois | 10.00% | 4.14% | 2.66% | 3.20% |
| 10 | California | 9.52% | 2.72% | 3.44% | 3.36% |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 9.44% | 3.73% | 2.66% | 3.05% |
| 12 | Maryland | 9.38% | 2.76% | 3.88% | 2.74% |
| 13 | Ohio | 9.15% | 2.85% | 2.66% | 3.64% |
| 14 | West Virginia | 9.13% | 2.38% | 2.68% | 4.07% |
| 15 | Arkansas | 9.12% | 1.79% | 2.33% | 5.00% |
| 16 | Nebraska | 9.07% | 3.64% | 2.33% | 3.10% |
| 17 | Mississippi | 9.02% | 2.68% | 1.63% | 4.71% |
| 18 | Massachusetts | 9.01% | 3.66% | 3.29% | 2.06% |
| 19 | Iowa | 8.96% | 3.43% | 2.40% | 3.13% |
| 20 | Kansas | 8.72% | 3.09% | 1.87% | 3.76% |
| 20 | New Mexico | 8.72% | 2.00% | 1.70% | 5.02% |
| 22 | Kentucky | 8.71% | 1.99% | 3.05% | 3.67% |
| 23 | Indiana | 8.63% | 2.40% | 2.26% | 3.97% |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | 8.52% | 2.93% | 2.54% | 3.05% |
| 25 | Utah | 8.51% | 2.57% | 2.61% | 3.33% |
| 26 | Michigan | 8.48% | 3.26% | 2.05% | 3.17% |
| 27 | Oregon | 8.40% | 3.24% | 4.02% | 1.14% |
| 28 | North Carolina | 8.33% | 2.42% | 2.66% | 3.25% |
| 29 | Louisiana | 8.29% | 2.01% | 1.42% | 4.86% |
| 30 | Nevada | 8.25% | 2.35% | 0.00% | 5.90% |
| 31 | Arizona | 8.22% | 2.59% | 1.35% | 4.28% |
| 32 | Georgia | 8.20% | 2.80% | 2.29% | 3.11% |
| 33 | Washington | 8.18% | 2.71% | 0.00% | 5.47% |
| 34 | Texas | 7.99% | 3.57% | 0.00% | 4.42% |
| 35 | Colorado | 7.97% | 2.74% | 2.12% | 3.11% |
| 36 | North Dakota | 7.93% | 1.94% | 1.16% | 4.83% |
| 37 | South Carolina | 7.82% | 2.93% | 1.92% | 2.97% |
| 38 | Missouri | 7.77% | 2.34% | 2.28% | 3.15% |
| 39 | Idaho | 7.75% | 2.50% | 2.20% | 3.05% |
| 40 | Virginia | 7.60% | 2.91% | 2.61% | 2.08% |
| 41 | Montana | 7.51% | 3.61% | 2.56% | 1.34% |
| 42 | Wyoming | 7.29% | 3.77% | 0.00% | 3.52% |
| 43 | Alabama | 7.19% | 1.41% | 1.85% | 3.93% |
| 44 | South Dakota | 7.12% | 2.83% | 0.00% | 4.29% |
| 45 | Florida | 6.79% | 2.76% | 0.00% | 4.03% |
| 46 | New Hampshire | 6.70% | 5.33% | 0.13% | 1.24% |
| 47 | Oklahoma | 6.61% | 1.38% | 1.69% | 3.54% |
| 48 | Tennessee | 6.45% | 2.06% | 0.09% | 4.30% |
| 49 | Alaska | 6.27% | 4.84% | 0.00% | 1.43% |
| 50 | Delaware | 5.59% | 1.83% | 2.59% | 1.17% |
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494/