ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – This year, Uncle Sam will take a cut from the past year’s earnings on April 18. Many taxpayers are likely wondering how this year’s Tax Day will impact their finances, with people still reeling after the economic hardships of the pandemic. Since the tax code is so complicated and has rules based on each individual household, it’s hard for the average person to know just how hard they’ll get hit in the wallet.
One simple ratio known as the “tax burden” helps cut through the confusion. Unlike tax rates, which can vary widely based on circumstances, tax burden measures the proportion of total income that residents pay toward state and local taxes. 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.
The top state of all? New York State, ranked number one for overall tax burden (at 12.75%) and for individual income tax burden (at 4.9%). Falling not too far behind, in fourth place, was the State of Vermont- which saw an 11.13% total tax burden ratio.
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 | 12.75% | 4.43% (6) | 4.90% (1) | 3.42% (25) |
| 2 | Hawaii | 12.70% | 2.55% (34) | 3.18% (8) | 6.97% (1) |
| 3 | Maine | 11.42% | 5.48% (1) | 2.51% (21) | 3.43% (24) |
| 4 | Vermont | 11.13% | 5.31% (2) | 2.49% (22) | 3.33% (27) |
| 5 | Minnesota | 10.20% | 2.93% (22) | 3.74% (5) | 3.53% (22) |
| 6 | New Jersey | 10.11% | 4.98% (4) | 2.54% (20) | 2.59% (43) |
| 7 | Connecticut | 10.06% | 4.16% (7) | 3.07% (11) | 2.83% (41) |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 9.91% | 4.48% (5) | 2.31% (28) | 3.12% (34) |
| 9 | California | 9.72% | 2.76% (30) | 3.80% (4) | 3.16% (32) |
| 10 | Illinois | 9.70% | 3.98% (8) | 2.22% (30) | 3.50% (23) |
| 11 | Maryland | 9.47% | 2.61% (33) | 4.07% (3) | 2.79% (42) |
| 12 | New Mexico | 9.37% | 2.04% (42) | 1.75% (37) | 5.58% (4) |
| 13 | Iowa | 9.34% | 3.42% (14) | 2.57% (18) | 3.35% (26) |
| 14 | Kansas | 9.34% | 3.11% (18) | 2.43% (23) | 3.80% (18) |
| 15 | Utah | 9.19% | 2.36% (37) | 3.17% (9) | 3.66% (19) |
| 16 | Mississippi | 9.16% | 2.84% (23) | 1.70% (39) | 4.62% (7) |
| 17 | West Virginia | 9.08% | 2.28% (40) | 2.76% (14) | 4.04% (12) |
| 18 | Nebraska | 9.01% | 3.69% (10) | 2.41% (24) | 2.91% (39) |
| 19 | Ohio | 8.99% | 2.78% (27) | 2.60% (17) | 3.61% (21) |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 8.92% | 3.17% (16) | 2.83% (13) | 2.92% (38) |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 8.80% | 3.49% (12) | 3.35% (6) | 1.96% (45) |
| 22 | Arkansas | 8.77% | 1.77% (46) | 2.24% (29) | 4.76% (6) |
| 22 | Kentucky | 8.77% | 1.99% (44) | 3.16% (10) | 3.62% (20) |
| 24 | Louisiana | 8.75% | 1.95% (45) | 1.74% (38) | 5.06% (5) |
| 25 | Oregon | 8.65% | 3.14% (17) | 4.39% (2) | 1.12% (50) |
| 26 | Pennsylvania | 8.57% | 2.81% (25) | 2.57% (18) | 3.19% (30) |
| 27 | Colorado | 8.52% | 2.97% (20) | 2.32% (27) | 3.23% (29) |
| 28 | Indiana | 8.42% | 2.34% (38) | 2.17% (32) | 3.91% (15) |
| 29 | Arizona | 8.39% | 2.50% (35) | 1.60% (40) | 4.29% (8) |
| 30 | Washington | 8.37% | 2.63% (32) | 0.00% (44) | 5.74% (3) |
| 31 | Michigan | 8.25% | 3.09% (19) | 2.19% (31) | 2.97% (36) |
| 32 | Texas | 8.22% | 3.97% (9) | 0.00% (44) | 4.25% (11) |
| 33 | Nevada | 8.19% | 2.03% (43) | 0.00% (44) | 6.16% (2) |
| 34 | Virginia | 8.18% | 2.97% (20) | 2.92% (12) | 2.29% (44) |
| 35 | North Carolina | 8.16% | 2.19% (41) | 2.65% (16) | 3.32% (28) |
| 36 | Georgia | 8.01% | 2.68% (31) | 2.38% (25) | 2.95% (37) |
| 37 | North Dakota | 8.00% | 2.77% (28) | 0.95% (41) | 4.28% (9) |
| 38 | Missouri | 7.80% | 2.30% (39) | 2.36% (26) | 3.14% (33) |
| 39 | South Carolina | 7.67% | 2.80% (26) | 2.03% (33) | 2.84% (40) |
| 40 | Idaho | 7.59% | 2.39% (36) | 2.03% (33) | 3.17% (31) |
| 41 | Oklahoma | 7.47% | 1.74% (48) | 1.90% (36) | 3.83% (17) |
| 42 | Alabama | 7.41% | 1.41% (50) | 2.00% (35) | 4.00% (13) |
| 43 | Montana | 7.39% | 3.45% (13) | 2.66% (15) | 1.28% (47) |
| 44 | South Dakota | 7.12% | 2.84% (23) | 0.00% (44) | 4.28% (9) |
| 45 | Florida | 6.64% | 2.77% (28) | 0.00% (44) | 3.87% (16) |
| 46 | New Hampshire | 6.41% | 5.11% (3) | 0.14% (42) | 1.16% (49) |
| 47 | Wyoming | 6.32% | 3.32% (15) | 0.00% (44) | 3.00% (35) |
| 48 | Delaware | 6.22% | 1.77% (46) | 3.28% (7) | 1.17% (48) |
| 49 | Tennessee | 5.75% | 1.71% (49) | 0.06% (43) | 3.98% (14) |
| 50 | Alaska | 5.06% | 3.54% (11) | 0.00% (44) | 1.52% (46) |
Data used to create this ranking were collected from the Tax Policy Center. Each percentage represents a share of one form of state tax (property, individual income, or total sales and excise taxes) as a chunk of total personal income.
