Question 1

What is total tax burden?

Accepted Answer

Total tax burden is the share of state personal income that residents pay in combined state and local taxes. It captures income tax, sales tax, property tax, and excise taxes in one number. Tax Foundation publishes the canonical estimate annually.

Question 2

Which states have no state income tax?

Accepted Answer

Nine states have no broad state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Washington still tax certain interest/dividends and capital gains respectively. "No income tax" doesn't always mean "low total tax" — these states often compensate with higher sales or property taxes.

Question 3

Why does my state's burden rank seem unintuitive?

Accepted Answer

Burden is per-capita as a share of state personal income. A wealthy state with high taxes (California, New York) can rank higher than expected because the denominator is large. A poor state with modest tax rates can rank surprisingly high in burden because residents pay a larger share of their income to government.

Question 4

Where does the property tax rate come from?

Accepted Answer

Property tax is the effective rate as a percentage of home value. Tax Foundation publishes a state-average figure that combines local jurisdictions. Mubboo cross-references HUD/Zillow housing data when the Tax Foundation value is missing.

Factor	Weight	Direction	Data source
Low Total Tax Burden	35%	Lower = better	Tax Foundation state and local tax burden (% of personal income)
No State Income Tax	20%	Higher = better	Tax Foundation state income tax flag (has_income_tax = false scores higher)
Low Income Tax Rate	15%	Lower = better	Tax Foundation state income tax top marginal rate
Low Combined Sales Tax	15%	Lower = better	Tax Foundation combined state + local average sales tax rate
Low Property Tax	15%	Lower = better	Tax Foundation effective property tax rate (% of home value) — housing context

#	State	Low Total Tax Burden	No State Income Tax	Low Income Tax Rate	Low Combined Sales Tax	Low Property Tax	Overall
1	Alaska	100	100	100	82	71	93
2	Tennessee	85	100	100	5	88	79
3	Wyoming	73	100	100	45	78	79
4	South Dakota	65	100	100	40	82	76
5	Florida	62	100	100	31	86	74
6	Nevada	56	100	100	18	89	71
7	New Hampshire	58	100	100	100	6	71
8	Texas	67	100	100	19	47	68
9	Washington	42	100	100	6	72	61
10	Idaho	55	0	100	40	85	53
11	Indiana	60	0	100	31	78	52
12	Montana	47	0	56	100	71	51
13	Colorado	53	0	100	22	87	50
14	Kentucky	51	0	100	41	76	50
15	Arizona	56	0	100	16	79	49
16	Delaware	34	0	50	100	93	48
17	Michigan	53	0	100	41	58	48
18	North Dakota	58	0	81	30	77	48
19	District of Columbia	37	0	100	41	83	47
20	Louisiana	62	0	77	0	94	47
21	North Carolina	53	0	68	31	87	46
22	Alabama	59	0	62	6	93	45
23	Mississippi	56	0	67	30	69	45
24	Oklahoma	63	0	64	10	81	45
25	South Carolina	58	0	53	26	86	45
26	West Virginia	49	0	64	35	89	45
27	Utah	38	0	100	27	81	44
28	Georgia	60	0	59	26	61	43
29	Missouri	60	0	65	17	63	43
30	Ohio	48	0	74	28	69	42
31	Arkansas	45	0	71	6	85	40
32	Oregon	29	0	26	100	75	40
33	Virginia	38	0	57	43	75	40
34	Iowa	37	0	100	31	42	39
35	New Mexico	43	0	56	24	79	39
36	Pennsylvania	44	0	77	37	36	38
37	Nebraska	40	0	61	31	56	36
38	Kansas	47	0	58	14	45	34
39	Maine	30	0	46	46	63	34
40	Rhode Island	33	0	55	31	62	34
41	Wisconsin	40	0	42	43	41	33
42	Massachusetts	40	0	32	38	51	32
43	Illinois	35	0	100	11	15	31
44	Maryland	27	0	57	41	45	31
45	Hawaii	12	0	17	55	100	30
46	Connecticut	20	0	47	37	45	26
47	Minnesota	22	0	26	19	63	24
48	Vermont	26	0	34	37	23	23
49	California	23	0	0	11	75	21
50	New Jersey	27	0	19	35	0	18
51	New York	0	0	18	16	26	9

States with the Lowest Total Tax Burden

How we scored each state

Full 51-State Ranking

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