With the tax deadline for most Americans fast approaching and low- and middle-income families expected to pay higher effective tax rates than the wealthy, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best States to Be Rich or Poor from a Tax Perspective, as well as expert commentary, to help people find the states that will save them the most money on taxes.
In order to identify the states where people in different income brackets spend the most and least on taxes, WalletHub calculated the share of a resident’s income that they contribute toward sales and excise taxes, property taxes and income taxes.
| Lowest Tax Burden for High-Income Residents | Highest Tax Burden for High-Income Residents |
| 1. Alaska | 47. District of Columbia |
| 2. New Hampshire | 48. New Jersey |
| 3. North Dakota | 49. Connecticut |
| 4. Wyoming | 50. Hawaii |
| 5. Florida | 51. New York |
| Lowest Tax Burden for Low-Income Residents | Highest Tax Burden for Low-Income Residents |
| 1. Alaska | 47. Louisiana |
| 2. Montana | 48. Pennsylvania |
| 3. Vermont | 49. Hawaii |
| 4. Minnesota | 50. Washington |
| 5. Delaware | 51. Illinois |
Key Stats:
- The overall tax burden for low-income earners is two times higher in Illinois than in Alaska.
- The overall tax burden for middle-income earners is 2.7 times higher in Hawaii than in Alaska.
- The overall tax burden for high-income earners is 3.4 times higher in New York than in Alaska.
