Best States for Low Taxes: 50 States Ranked for Taxes, 2019

We rated every state for taxes based on state income taxes, local sales taxes and property taxes. Find out where your state ranks.

drawing of United States outline with state shapes around it
(Image credit: Getty Images)

No two states are alike when it comes to taxes. They all have their own rules, rates and special tax breaks. As a result, your overall state and local tax burden in one state can be thousands of dollars more (or less) than in another.

What about your state? Are you in a high-tax state or a low-tax state (or somewhere in between)? That can be hard to determine. There are so many state and local taxes to worry about, and they're constantly changing. However, we've made it easy. We estimated the tax burden in each state for a hypothetical married couple with a combined earned income of $150,000, $10,000 in dividend income, two dependents and a $400,000 home (with a mortgage). Then we ranked each state according to the total state and local tax bill in each location. Check out the alphabetical list below to see where your state fits in … you might be surprised by what you find!

Disclaimer

States are listed alphabetically. Details on tax data sources and our ranking methodology can be found in the last slide.

Rocky Mengle

Rocky Mengle was a Senior Tax Editor for Kiplinger from October 2018 to January 2023 with more than 20 years of experience covering federal and state tax developments. Before coming to Kiplinger, Rocky worked for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, and Kleinrock Publishing, where he provided breaking news and guidance for CPAs, tax attorneys, and other tax professionals. He has also been quoted as an expert by USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Reuters, Accounting Today, and other media outlets. Rocky holds a law degree from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. in History from Salisbury University.