The Lowest Tax Rates in America by State

When you decide where you want to live, you may consider the employment opportunities, the quality of the school systems, housing prices, and access to stores and services. Another aspect to factor into your decision of where to live is the tax rates for the state. Some states in America have very high tax rates, while others have low or no personal income or sales tax. Our team at Pasquesi Sheppard LLC in Lake Forest has put together this comprehensive guide so you’ll learn which states have the lowest tax rates for income, sales, and property.

What Are Tax Rates?

Tax rates are a percentage of the income an individual or business owes to the federal government. Income can come from wages or a salary, capital gains from investments, and profits from selling goods or services. You pay income taxes to the federal government and the state in which you work, and the government has a progressive tax rate system based on income and the tax bracket you fall into. The higher your income, the higher your tax bracket and the percentage you’ll pay, from 10% to 37% for the 2024 tax season.

How much income tax you pay depends on many factors, including your income, filing status, and number of children or dependents. In addition, most states require state income, sales, and property taxes.

State Income Taxes

Surprisingly, some states have very low or no income taxes. While not having to pay income taxes or low-income taxes to the state may sound appealing, many of these states have higher sales taxes or property taxes to offset the lack of income tax. In addition, these low-percentage or zero-percentage states may have state-specific taxes. You’ll want to investigate all taxes per state to see the big picture of setting your budget.

The top three states for income taxes include:

  • California: If you earn more than $1 million, you’ll pay up to 13.3% taxes if you’re filing as an individual.
  • Hawaii: If you’re making over $200,000 and couples over $400,000, you’ll pay up to 11% state income tax.
  • New York: If you’re an individual making over $1,077,550 or a married couple filing jointly, you’ll pay 10.9% income taxes.

The three states with lowest income tax include:

  • Vermont: If you’re filing jointly and make over $243,750 or an individual with an income over $204,000, you’ll pay 8.75% income tax.
  • Iowa: If you’re an individual who earn more than $75,420, you’ll pay 8.53% income taxes.
  • Wisconsin: Individuals who earn over $263,480 and joint filers over $351,310 pay 7.65% in income taxes.

On the flip side, these states have no income taxes:

  • Alaska.
  • Florida.
  • New Hampshire.
  • Wyoming.
  • Tennessee.
  • South Dakota.
  • Nevada.
  • Texas.
  • Washington.

Keep in mind that some of these no-income tax states have high property or sales taxes.

Sales Taxes

Except for a few states, you pay a tax percentage for goods or services. The amount you pay on these taxes can impact your day-to-day, weekly, or monthly expenses. In addition, some regions or communities can have local taxes, increasing your overall sales tax.

The top three states with high sales taxes include:

  • Tennessee: In this state, you’ll pay 9.55% on sales and local taxes.
  • Louisiana: Your combined sales tax for this state is 9.52%.
  • Arkansas: This state has a 9.47% on sales tax.

Having low or no sales taxes can have a huge impact on big-ticket items such as vehicles, appliances, or luxury goods. The states with the lowest combined sales taxes are:

  • Delaware: 0%.
  • Montana: 0%.
  • New Hampshire: 0%.
  • Alaska: depending on the region in Alaska, you can pay up to 1.76%.
  • Hawaii: 4.4%.
  • Wyoming: 5.34%.
  • Wisconsin: 5.43%.
  • Maine: 5.50%.
  • Virginia: 5.65%.

Property Taxes

When you own a property, land, or building, you have to pay a yearly tax that can impact your homeownership budget. The state of New Jersey, for instance, has the highest property tax rate of 2.2% on the value of the property. However, the following states have the lowest property rates:

  • Hawaii: Under 0.30%.
  • Alabama: Around 0.40%.
  • Colorado: Around 0.51%.
  • Louisiana: Around 0.55%.
  • District of Colombia: About 0.55%.
  • South Carolina: Averages around 0.57%.
  • West Virginia: Around 0.59%.
  • Nevada: Averages around 0.60%.
  • Wyoming: About 0.61%.
  • Utah: Around 0.62%.

The Overall Lowest Tax Rates in America

Tax rates, often referred to as tax burdens, vary with the combination of income, sales, and property taxes. When you look at how much or how little income tax you have to pay, the amount of property and sales tax per state will change the overall tax burden and the impact on your budget. Also, keep in mind that tax rates and brackets can vary from year to year, so the tax percentages will change.

The three states with the highest tax burden include:

  • New York: This state has a whopping 12.47% tax burden. 
  • Hawaii: While property taxes are low in Hawaii, the higher income and sales taxes increase the tax burden to 12.31%.
  • Maine: This state has fairly low sales taxes, but the overall tax burden to live in Maine is 11.14%.

The states with the lowest tax burdens include:

  • Alaska: 5.06%.
  • Delaware: 6.12%.
  • New Hampshire: 6.14%.
  • Tennessee: 6.22%.
  • Florida: 6.33%.
  • Wyoming: 6.42%.
  • South Dakota: 6.69%.
  • Montana: 6.93%.
  • Missouri: 7.11%.
  • Oklahoma: 7.12%.

Understanding tax rates and tax burdens can help you plan on the best states or regions to raise your family or retire to. A lighter tax burden can help you save money overall. Even though knowing the overall tax burden may not be the sole reason you choose to live in a state, you can decide whether or not they can help you improve or stabilize your financial health.

Get Professional Help  With Your Taxes

Taxes are an important part of life, and the federal government requires most citizens to pay taxes based on income. No matter if you have a corporation with complex taxes or relatively simple taxes from a fixed income, our team at Pasquesi Sheppard LLC in Lake Forest can help you plan, execute, and file your taxes. To get started on understanding your taxes and personal finance, use our online tax calculator tools  forms or our personal finance tools forms. Contact us with any questions about your personal and income taxes, and for further information on our services and resources.

a calculator and a pen sitting on top of a piece of paper  by Aaron Lefler is licensed with Unsplash License