Tax burden composite — relative comparison only. Combined burden = top marginal income tax + effective property tax + state sales tax. Local taxes (NYC, OH municipal, PA EIT, county sales) are NOT included. This is a quick relative ranking — for policy-grade analysis, consult Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. Last verified against Tax Foundation Jan 2025 data on 2026-04-19.
Most state-tax conversations start and stop at the income-tax line. That misses about half the picture. Texas brags about no income tax — and then collects 1.68% of every home’s value every year. Tennessee charges no wage tax — and then layers a 9.55% combined sales tax on every grocery run. The map below sums the three taxes any household actually pays — top marginal income, effective property, average state sales — so you can see the full burden in one color. It’s deliberately a quick composite, not the academically perfect effective rate (Tax Foundation does that better with income-share weighting). Click any state to open its full state-detail page with components broken down + state-specific edge cases + neighbor comparison; deeper tax guides exist for CA, FL, GA, IL, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TX.
The lowest combined burden (income + property + sales) sits among the no-income-tax states with low property taxes — Wyoming, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Alaska all run well under 8% combined. New Hampshire is the lowest of the income-tax-light states because it has no broad sales tax to offset the higher property burden.
California ranks highest by this composite (top income marginal 13.3% + property 0.71% + sales 7.25% ≈ 21.3%). New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii follow closely. The composite over-weights top marginal vs effective; Tax Foundation's effective-burden study uses income shares and ranks differently.
CalcFi's composite is a quick "where am I" sum of three rates — not the academically correct effective burden. Tax Foundation's methodology weights by income shares and includes corporate tax. Use this map for relative comparison; use Tax Foundation's annual State Business Tax Climate Index for policy-grade analysis.
No — only state-level rates. Local sales tax (often 1-3%) and city/county income tax (NYC, OH municipal, PA EIT) are not added. Add ~2-3% to combined burden in major metros for a closer real-world figure.
Reviewed by CalcFi Editorial · Last verified against Tax Foundation State Individual Income Tax Rates on 2026-04-19. Methodology + sources at /about/editorial.