Tax

The 10 best states for taxes

What does it cost to live in your state?

Much as the price of rent, food, gas and more can vary widely from state to state in the U.S., so to does the tax burden, with a gap of almost 10 percentage points from the lowest effective rate to the highest in the country.

Figuring out that effective rate can be difficult, as not every state fields the same slate of taxes, though most commonly they include some mix of the following:

  • Real estate taxes;
  • Vehicle property taxes;
  • Income taxes; and,
  • Sales and excise taxes.

A recent WalletHub study calculated the tax burden of each state and the District of Columbia, and ranked them from No. 1 (the least) to No. 51 (the heaviest; this table shows the 10 states where you'd pay the least amount of taxes based on median U.S. household income, while the cards below share some details about the individual states.

Rank

State

Annual state and local tax burden

1

Alaska

$5,634

2

Delaware

$5,842

3

Wyoming

$6,156

4

Idaho

$6,215

5

Montana

$6,398

6

South Carolina

$7,028

7

Colorado

$7,110

8

Nevada

$7,113

9

Florida

$7,116

10

District of Columbia

$7,497

Welcome to Washington DC sign
Andy Dean Photography/Andy Dean - stock.adobe.com

10. District of Columbia

Effective total state & local tax rate: 9.23%

Effective income tax rate: 2.24%
Effective real estate tax rate: 2.4%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: NA
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 4.59%
welcome-to-florida011712.jpg

9. Florida

Effective total state & local tax rate: 8.76%

Effective income tax rate: NA
Effective real estate tax rate: 3.12%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: NA
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 5.65%
Welcome to Nevada sign
Danny - stock.adobe.com

8. Nevada

Effective total state & local tax rate: 8.76%

Effective income tax rate: 0.59%
Effective real estate tax rate: 1.91%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: 0.76%
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 5.5%
p19d5qku6phu94qrhmq4nv1tof8.jpg

7. Colorado

Effective total state & local tax rate: 8.75%

Effective income tax rate: 1.58%
Effective real estate tax rate: 1.98%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: -0.65%
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 4.55%
South Carolina Welcome Sign
Sue Smith/Sue Smith - stock.adobe.com

6. South Carolina

Effective total state & local tax rate: 8.65%

Effective income tax rate: 1.48%
Effective real estate tax rate: 1.98%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: 0.83%
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 4.36%
Welcome to Montana sign
Christopher Boswell/Christopher Boswell - stock.adobe.com

5. Montana

Effective total state & local tax rate: 7.88%

Effective income tax rate: 3.11%
Effective real estate tax rate: 2.94%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: 0.41%
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 1.43%
Welcome to Idaho sign near the road
Panas/Wirestock Creators - stock.adobe.com

4. Idaho

Effective total state & local tax rate: 7.65%

Effective income tax rate: 1.97%
Effective real estate tax rate: 1.99%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: NA
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 3.69%
Welcome to Wyoming sign
Kirk Fisher - stock.adobe.com

3. Wyoming

Effective total state & local tax rate: 7.58%

Effective income tax rate: NA
Effective real estate tax rate: 2.34%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: 0.64%
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 4.6%
Welcome to Delaware Sign
Joe Sohm/spiritofamerica - stock.adobe.com

2. Delaware

Effective total state & local tax rate: 7.19%

Effective income tax rate: 3.25%
Effective real estate tax rate: 2.06%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: NA
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 1.88%
Alaska Welcome Sign
idoerenberg - stock.adobe.com

1. Alaska

Effective total state & local tax rate: 6.94%

Effective income tax rate: NA%
Effective real estate tax rate: 4.53%
Effective vehicle property tax rate: NA
Effective sales & excise tax rate: 2.41%

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