StateMaster - Total tax burden (per capita) (most recent) by state

Rank	States	Amount (top to bottom)
#1	Hawaii:	$3,050.03
#2	Wyoming:	$2,973.87
#3	Connecticut:	$2,941.21
#4	Minnesota:	$2,890.90
#5	Delaware:	$2,862.03
#6	Vermont:	$2,844.96
#7	Massachusetts:	$2,628.26
#8	New Jersey:	$2,415.82
#9	California:	$2,391.65
#10	Michigan:	$2,381.34
#11	New York:	$2,376.77
#12	Wisconsin:	$2,296.20
#13	Washington:	$2,238.66
#14	Rhode Island:	$2,230.43
#15	Maryland:	$2,214.49
#16	Maine:	$2,202.86
#17	New Mexico:	$2,102.88
#18	Nebraska:	$2,082.27
#19	West Virginia:	$2,067.85
#20	Pennsylvania:	$2,045.09
#21	Kentucky:	$2,043.31
#22	Alaska:	$2,034.51
#23	Nevada:	$2,031.24
#24	Arkansas:	$2,029.34
#25	Illinois:	$2,005.24
#26	North Carolina:	$1,971.48
#27	Ohio:	$1,962.93
#28	Kansas:	$1,932.58
#29	North Dakota:	$1,932.22
#30	Indiana:	$1,920.26
#31	Virginia:	$1,902.56
#32	Idaho:	$1,898.06
#33	Oklahoma:	$1,823.70
#34	Louisiana:	$1,781.78
#35	Mississippi:	$1,766.54
#36	Florida:	$1,756.36
#37	Montana:	$1,753.71
#38	Iowa:	$1,741.66
#39	Utah:	$1,733.15
#40	Oregon:	$1,699.55
#41	Arizona:	$1,673.57
#42	Georgia:	$1,633.84
#43	South Carolina:	$1,620.67
#44	Tennessee:	$1,617.03
#45	Missouri:	$1,583.28
#46	Alabama:	$1,550.99
#47	New Hampshire:	$1,543.79
#48	Colorado:	$1,532.26
#49	South Dakota:	$1,378.37
#50	Texas:	$1,368.45
	Weighted average:	$2,049.20

DEFINITION: Per capita tax burden in US dollars, does not include local and federal tax. The data in this statistic is a survey of state government tax collection.

SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2004

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COMMENTARY

Jason, Jackson Hole WY 7th April 2006	Tax Freedom Day is the day when Americans finally have earned enough money to pay off their total tax bill for the year. But the date changes for every state. Wyoming has to wait longer than most states for Tax Freedom Day. In 2005, Wyoming taxpayers had to work until April 24th to cover all taxes for that year, a date which ranks 5th in the nation. This is seven days after national Tax Freedom Day (April 17th). The Tax Freedom Days of neighboring states were: Montana, April 9th (ranked 41st nationally); South Dakota, April 7th (ranked 47th nationally); Nebraska, April 13th (ranked 27th nationally); Colorado, April 18th (ranked 14th nationally); Utah, April 14th (ranked 25th nationally); and Idaho April 9th (ranked 42nd nationally). Hopefully, Wyoming will rethink its tax structure soon and bring real relief to it's citizens.
Deb (Houston) 18th April 2006	Texas ranks dead last in total tax burden per capita, so it's no surprise we rank dead last in percentage with a high school diploma or higher, as well as last in operating expenditures for public libraries. I don't think Texans should be taxed to death like northern states, but if we are to maintain a high standard of living, and ensure the best future for our children, we should refocus our energies on things like education and health.
Tom (Beaumont Texas) 19th April 2006	Texas healthcare is actually one of the best in the United States, and that is because the healthcare system is not tied down by government intervention, and is able to remain competitive and cutting-edge. It's a virtue we don't have such high taxes in our state, and I look at a statistic like this with pride. Get the government out of our pockets and let citizens run their own lives.
Steadman Smith (Austin) 6th May 2006	One reason why texas has a low tax burden compaired to other states is that there is no state income tax. Also I wonder if property taxes was factored too.
Clay (Tyler, TX) 6th May 2006	Texas has such a low tax burden mainly because we don't require business to pay it's fair share of taxes. Granted, business taxation is onerous in some states, but is almost non-existent in Texas (in comparison). I'm sure if real living costs were factored in, such as insurance, power, real estate, and health care cost Texas wouldn't look so attractive. I too am curious if the property taxes are figured in. School property taxes are running lower income residents out of their homes, as are MUD taxes. If a few special interest fund bases, such as transportation districts were distributed or used for the public interest rather than to benefit the few wealthy developers a different picture would emerge.
David (Texas) 6th May 2006	Deb - a huge percentage of Texans who don't have high school diplomas were not born or raised here. Aliens, both legal and illegal, skew this statistic to the point where it's virutally meaningless. I can't say much for the public library expenditures, but my town has a perfectly functional, nice library. When I lived in Wisconsin, I didn't notice that the libraries were particularly any better - and the same could be said for the schooling that my children got, our police and fire protection, garbage pickup, water service, etc. etc. For the taxes that I paid there, I would expect to see a huge difference. Nothing wrong with Wisconsin, it's a great place - it's just that higher taxes don't translate into higher quality of life, from my experience.
Yo ( Texas) 6th May 2006	Hey, Deb, I'm sure that free-flowing border with a Third World country (Mexico, not Arkansas) has NOTHING to do with the ranking of dead last with a high school diploma... Think before you write.
Tommy Jefferson (Austin, Texas) 7th May 2006	Note their definition of "Tax Burden": "DEFINITION: Per capita tax burden in US dollars, includes local and federal tax." It is erroneous to assume that a state will have more and better public services when the State forcibly takes MORE of the wealth of the people and redistributes it.
Deb (Houston) 10th May 2006	Listen, when tax revenue is low, states tend to cut education and arts first, and healthcare second. Along with the LOWEST tax rate in the nation, Texas is also a very big state with major urban areas, a relatively young population and a rapidly shifting demographic. How about the fact that our state ranks 3rd to the last in number of four year institutions? How can we blame that one on Mexico? What I am saying is the state of our education suffers in Texas because citizens are not willing to invest in it. The politicians take their cue and cut taxes to the bone, and throw the bone to our kids. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.
Christopher (Washinton, DC) 10th May 2006	This data is actually for the amount of taxes the state governments collect. It does not cover total tax burden, so no local taxes and no federal taxes. Just the taxes that the states collect.
Andrew (Washington, D.C.) 9th June 2006	These are not "tax burdens". They are tax collections. The difference is that collections represent just the legal incidence of taxes, or who remits tax payments to state treasuries. But economists teach that economic incidence, not legal incidence, is what matters when measuring the economic impact of taxes. To get from collections to tax burdens, you've got to do incidence analysis (such as that done by the Tax Foundation -- www.taxfoundation.org). This table should be re-titled "State Tax Collections, 2004"
Al (MD (from PLano)) 12th June 2006	Deb, It looks like we're doing okay in math at least: http://www.statemaster.com/graph/edu_ass_of_stu_abo_bas_gra_4_mat-above-basic-grade-4-math This is despite Mexico.

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