(The Center Square) As the sayings go, taxes are one of the few certainties in life, and the annual ritual of filling them with the IRS is not one that many people look forward to. The average American paid $10,845 in federal income taxes alone in 2020. But, while everyone is subject to the same federal tax laws, states also have the authority to set their own tax policy, and exactly how much you end up paying depends largely on where you live.
To raise revenue, state governments levy a broad range of taxes. These typically include taxes on property, income, and sales, and they vary considerably by state. In fact, in some parts of the country, residents are exempt from paying one or more of these tax categories altogether.
The overall tax burden in Idaho, which is a measure of taxes paid as a share of annual income, was 6.5% of the state’s income per capita of $52,369. For comparison, the per capita state income tax burden nationwide stands at 6.0%.
All data in this story is from the Tax Foundation report Facts & Figures 2023: How Does Your State Compare from the Tax Foundation, an independent, nonprofit, tax policy research organization. Figures do not include taxes levied at the local or federal level.
| Rank | State | State tax collections per capita in fiscal 2021 ($) | Avg. annual earnings in 2022 ($) | State tax burden (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 6,356 | 61,882 | 10.3 |
| 2 | California | 6,325 | 76,614 | 8.3 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 6,120 | 83,294 | 7.3 |
| 4 | Hawaii | 5,582 | 60,947 | 9.2 |
| 5 | Minnesota | 5,571 | 66,280 | 8.4 |
| 6 | Delaware | 5,378 | 59,931 | 9.0 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 5,202 | 83,653 | 6.2 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 5,044 | 64,524 | 7.8 |
| 9 | New York | 4,714 | 76,837 | 6.1 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 4,714 | 77,016 | 6.1 |
| 11 | Illinois | 4,382 | 67,244 | 6.5 |
| 12 | Washington | 4,214 | 73,775 | 5.7 |
| 13 | Oregon | 4,192 | 61,596 | 6.8 |
| 14 | Maryland | 4,091 | 69,817 | 5.9 |
| 15 | Maine | 3,973 | 58,484 | 6.8 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | 3,965 | 64,376 | 6.2 |
| 17 | Kansas | 3,958 | 58,924 | 6.7 |
| 18 | Indiana | 3,915 | 56,497 | 6.9 |
| 19 | Arkansas | 3,875 | 50,625 | 7.7 |
| 20 | Pennsylvania | 3,824 | 64,279 | 5.9 |
| 21 | Utah | 3,784 | 56,019 | 6.8 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 3,782 | 59,626 | 6.3 |
| 23 | Virginia | 3,741 | 66,305 | 5.6 |
| 24 | Iowa | 3,701 | 57,163 | 6.5 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 3,545 | 61,205 | 5.8 |
| 26 | New Mexico | 3,531 | 50,311 | 7.0 |
| 27 | Montana | 3,514 | 56,949 | 6.2 |
| 28 | Michigan | 3,426 | 56,494 | 6.1 |
| 29 | Idaho | 3,405 | 52,369 | 6.5 |
| 30 | West Virginia | 3,391 | 48,488 | 7.0 |
| 31 | Nevada | 3,313 | 60,213 | 5.5 |
| 32 | North Carolina | 3,290 | 56,173 | 5.9 |
| 33 | Kentucky | 3,242 | 51,266 | 6.3 |
| 34 | Wyoming | 3,239 | 69,666 | 4.6 |
| 35 | Colorado | 3,238 | 70,706 | 4.6 |
| 36 | Mississippi | 3,171 | 45,881 | 6.9 |
| 37 | Ohio | 2,963 | 56,879 | 5.2 |
| 38 | Tennessee | 2,864 | 56,560 | 5.1 |
| 39 | Arizona | 2,861 | 55,487 | 5.2 |
| 40 | Oklahoma | 2,834 | 53,870 | 5.3 |
| 41 | Alabama | 2,828 | 49,769 | 5.7 |
| 42 | Louisiana | 2,651 | 54,217 | 4.9 |
| 43 | Georgia | 2,579 | 55,786 | 4.6 |
| 44 | South Carolina | 2,560 | 52,467 | 4.9 |
| 45 | Missouri | 2,447 | 55,325 | 4.4 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 2,401 | 64,462 | 3.7 |
| 47 | New Hampshire | 2,313 | 73,200 | 3.2 |
| 48 | Florida | 2,264 | 62,270 | 3.6 |
| 49 | Texas | 2,214 | 59,865 | 3.7 |
| 50 | Alaska | 1,438 | 65,813 | 2.2 |