A new study released on April 1 by WalletHub reveals that residents of Hawaii are burdened by taxes the most among the 50 states, while Alaska residents have the lowest tax burden.
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, according to WalletHub. And it’s not uniform across the U.S. either.
To determine the residents with the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on the cost of three types of taxes—property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes—as a share of total personal income in the state.
- Related article: How the 50 States Rank By Tax Burden [2024]
- Related article: How the 50 States Rank By State and Local Tax Rates in 2025
- Related article: These States Have the Highest Property Tax Rates
The following are some key findings from WalletHub’s study:
- Hawaii has the highest overall tax burden, while Alaska has the lowest.
- Vermont has the highest property tax burden, while Alabama has the lowest.
- New York has the highest individual income tax burden, while eight states, including Texas, Florida, and Washington, have none.
- Hawaii has the highest sales and excise tax burden, while New Hampshire has the lowest.
- Red states have a lower tax burden than blue states, on average.
The following is how the states rank by overall tax burden, with No. 1 being the highest and No. 50 being the lowest, according to WalletHub:
| Overall Rank* | State | Total Tax Burden (%) | Property Tax Burden (%) | Individual Income Tax Burden (%) | Total Sales & Excise Tax Burden (%) |
| 1 | Hawaii | 13.92% | 2.57% | 4.18% | 7.17% |
| 2 | New York | 13.56% | 4.28% | 5.76% | 3.52% |
| 3 | Vermont | 11.53% | 5.00% | 3.08% | 3.45% |
| 4 | California | 11.00% | 2.78% | 4.87% | 3.35% |
| 5 | Maine | 10.64% | 4.14% | 3.02% | 3.48% |
| 6 | New Jersey | 10.30% | 4.67% | 2.87% | 2.76% |
| 7 | Illinois | 10.22% | 3.81% | 2.63% | 3.78% |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 10.08% | 3.93% | 2.75% | 3.40% |
| 9 | Maryland | 10.04% | 2.63% | 4.47% | 2.94% |
| 10 | Connecticut | 9.90% | 3.96% | 3.22% | 2.72% |
| 11 | Minnesota | 9.72% | 2.74% | 3.79% | 3.19% |
| 12 | New Mexico | 9.62% | 2.08% | 1.94% | 5.60% |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 9.57% | 3.48% | 4.05% | 2.04% |
| 14 | Utah | 9.46% | 2.22% | 3.31% | 3.93% |
| 15 | Ohio | 9.36% | 2.77% | 2.59% | 4.00% |
| 16 | Kansas | 9.33% | 2.89% | 2.64% | 3.80% |
| 17 | Iowa | 9.23% | 3.25% | 2.58% | 3.40% |
| 18 | Indiana | 9.09% | 2.13% | 3.21% | 3.75% |
| 19 | Mississippi | 9.06% | 2.60% | 1.83% | 4.63% |
| 20 | Oregon | 9.06% | 2.95% | 4.39% | 1.72% |
| 21 | Louisiana | 8.94% | 1.86% | 1.75% | 5.33% |
| 22 | Kentucky | 8.93% | 1.94% | 3.37% | 3.62% |
| 23 | Virginia | 8.86% | 2.89% | 3.26% | 2.71% |
| 24 | West Virginia | 8.85% | 2.21% | 2.81% | 3.83% |
| 25 | Nebraska | 8.78% | 3.39% | 2.45% | 2.94% |
| 26 | Colorado | 8.73% | 2.77% | 2.61% | 3.35% |
| 27 | Nevada | 8.62% | 2.15% | 0.00% | 6.47% |
| 28 | Washington | 8.61% | 2.64% | 0.00% | 5.97% |
| 29 | Arkansas | 8.61% | 1.56% | 2.21% | 4.84% |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | 8.58% | 2.63% | 2.74% | 3.21% |
| 31 | Georgia | 8.47% | 2.55% | 2.92% | 3.00% |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 8.31% | 2.96% | 2.46% | 2.89% |
| 33 | Michigan | 8.25% | 2.94% | 2.33% | 2.98% |
| 34 | Arizona | 8.22% | 2.14% | 1.73% | 4.35% |
| 35 | North Carolina | 8.18% | 1.98% | 2.80% | 3.40% |
| 36 | South Carolina | 8.15% | 2.63% | 2.38% | 3.14% |
| 37 | Alabama | 7.99% | 1.35% | 2.37% | 4.27% |
| 38 | Montana | 7.87% | 3.12% | 3.45% | 1.30% |
| 39 | Missouri | 7.83% | 2.31% | 2.59% | 2.93% |
| 40 | Texas | 7.77% | 3.55% | 0.00% | 4.22% |
| 41 | Idaho | 7.54% | 1.88% | 2.34% | 3.32% |
| 42 | Oklahoma | 7.01% | 1.62% | 1.78% | 3.61% |
| 43 | North Dakota | 6.61% | 2.28% | 0.85% | 3.48% |
| 44 | Delaware | 6.52% | 1.81% | 3.69% | 1.02% |
| 45 | Florida | 6.49% | 2.59% | 0.00% | 3.90% |
| 46 | South Dakota | 6.46% | 2.41% | 0.00% | 4.05% |
| 47 | Tennessee | 6.38% | 1.64% | 0.00% | 4.74% |
| 48 | New Hampshire | 5.94% | 4.87% | 0.15% | 0.92% |
| 49 | Wyoming | 5.79% | 2.81% | 0.00% | 2.98% |
| 50 | Alaska | 4.93% | 3.46% | 0.00% | 1.47% |
In-depth look at state tax burdens
Total tax burden
Hawaii has the highest total tax burden, with residents paying out nearly 14% of their income to state and local governments, including 4.2% on income taxes, 2.6% on property taxes, and 7.2% in sales and excise taxes.
Alaska has the lowest total tax burden, as its residents pay no income tax. They also pay out only 3.5% of their income in property taxes and 1.5% in sales and excise taxes, for a total of 4.9%.
Income tax burden
New York has the costliest state and local income taxes in the nation, at 5.8% of its residents’ income. On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming don’t charge any income tax, which makes them attractive states to move to, WalletHub said.
Property tax burden
Vermont charges the most in property taxes, at 5% of residents’ income. All states have some sort of property tax, but Alabama’s is by far the lowest—only 1.4%.
Sales and excise tax burden
Hawaii residents pay out around 7.2% of their income in sales and excise taxes every year. New Hampshire residents have the lowest burden—the state doesn’t charge a general sales tax, and other excise taxes only work out to less than 1% of the average resident’s income each year.
“It’s easy to be dismayed at tax time when you see just how much of your income you lose,” Chip Lupo, an analyst with WalletHub, said in a statement. “Living in a state with a low tax burden can alleviate some of that stress. Some states charge no income tax or no sales tax, although all states have some form of property taxes and excise taxes.”
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Tags: Income Taxes, state taxes, states, tax burden, Taxes
Dave Puterbaugh April 5 2025 at 10:18 pm
Regarding the state of Washington, sale tax has a base then lots of add ons that are not accounted for here. My sales tax is around 9% putting Washington way up into the top 10. Where is gas tax? Seems that is a big number that is ignored.