A $100,000 salary is taxed identically by the federal government whether it is earned in Nashville, Springfield or Sacramento. What the state adds on top ranges from nothing in Tennessee to more than 9% at the margin in California. That spread is wide enough to move a relocation decision on its own. Reading income tax rates by state well means reading the structure behind each number, and that is what this guide does, region by region.
The map is less tidy than the headline numbers suggest. A high top rate can start so far up the income scale that it never touches an ordinary salary, and a low flat rate can bite from the first dollar. The guide opens with the three systems states use and how many run each one. It then works through the country by region and explains where the no-tax states find their revenue. It separates the states with the highest and lowest rates from the ones that merely look that way. The later sections cover what each state counts as taxable income, the agreements that decide which state a cross-border commuter pays, and the changes already scheduled for next year. A closing routine turns any state rate into a monthly figure.
Three Systems and How Many States Run Each
Every state falls into one of three groups. Nine charge no tax on wage income at all. Fifteen charge a single flat rate on taxable income, however high it climbs. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia charge graduated rates, with brackets that step up as income rises, the same way federal tax does. The numbers matter because the group a state belongs to tells you more about your bill than its top rate does.
A flat state’s headline rate is close to its effective rate for most earners, since there is no lower band to soften it. A graduated state’s top rate can be almost meaningless: New York’s 10.90% applies only to income above $25,000,000, and California’s 13.30% starts at $1,000,000, so a salaried employee in either state pays a marginal rate several points below the figure that gets quoted. At the other extreme, some graduated states reach their top bracket within a few thousand dollars, which makes them flat taxes wearing a different label. Alabama hits 5.00% at $3,000 of taxable income and Oklahoma hits 4.50% at $7,200.
The third thing to know about any state is what it lets you deduct before the rate applies. Two states with identical rates can produce different bills if one exempts the first $10,000 and the other exempts nothing, and that difference is covered in its own section below.
State Income Tax Rates by Region
Below, every state and DC is listed by census region. Each row gives the system the state uses, the top marginal rate on wage income and the taxable income at which that rate begins for a single filer. Rates are those in force for the current tax year, including the cuts several legislatures backdated to January during their spring sessions. Local income taxes are not included.
| Region | State | System | Top rate | Top rate starts (single) |
| Northeast | Connecticut | Graduated | 6.99% | $500,000 |
| Northeast | Maine | Graduated plus surcharge | 7.15%, 9.15% above $1,000,000 | $64,849 |
| Northeast | Massachusetts | Flat plus surtax | 5.00%, 9.00% above $1,083,150 | $1,083,150 |
| Northeast | New Hampshire | No income tax | 0% | none |
| Northeast | New Jersey | Graduated | 10.75% | $1,000,000 |
| Northeast | New York | Graduated | 10.90% | $25,000,000 |
| Northeast | Pennsylvania | Flat | 3.07% | all income |
| Northeast | Rhode Island | Graduated | 5.99% | $186,450 |
| Northeast | Vermont | Graduated | 8.75% | $249,700 |
| Midwest | Illinois | Flat | 4.95% | all income |
| Midwest | Indiana | Flat | 2.95% | all income |
| Midwest | Iowa | Flat | 3.80% | all income |
| Midwest | Kansas | Graduated | 5.58% | $23,000 |
| Midwest | Michigan | Flat | 4.25% | all income |
| Midwest | Minnesota | Graduated | 9.85% | $203,150 |
| Midwest | Missouri | Graduated | 4.70% | $9,436 |
| Midwest | Nebraska | Graduated | 4.55% | $24,760 |
| Midwest | North Dakota | Graduated | 2.50% | $244,825 |
| Midwest | Ohio | Flat | 2.75% | above $26,050 |
| Midwest | South Dakota | No income tax | 0% | none |
| Midwest | Wisconsin | Graduated | 7.65% | $332,720 |
| South | Alabama | Graduated | 5.00% | $3,000 |
| South | Arkansas | Graduated | 3.70% | $4,600 |
| South | Delaware | Graduated | 6.60% | $60,000 |
| South | District of Columbia | Graduated | 10.75% | $1,000,000 |
| South | Florida | No income tax | 0% | none |
| South | Georgia | Flat | 4.99% | all income |
| South | Kentucky | Flat | 3.50% | all income |
| South | Louisiana | Flat | 3.00% | all income |
| South | Maryland | Graduated | 6.50% | $1,000,000 |
| South | Mississippi | Flat | 4.00% | all income |
| South | North Carolina | Flat | 3.99% | all income |
| South | Oklahoma | Graduated | 4.50% | $7,200 |
| South | South Carolina | Graduated | 5.21% | $30,000 |
| South | Tennessee | No income tax | 0% | none |
| South | Texas | No income tax | 0% | none |
| South | Virginia | Graduated | 5.75% | $17,000 |
| South | West Virginia | Graduated | 4.58% | $60,000 |
| West | Alaska | No income tax | 0% | none |
| West | Arizona | Flat | 2.50% | all income |
| West | California | Graduated | 13.30% | $1,000,000 |
| West | Colorado | Flat | 4.40% | all income |
| West | Hawaii | Graduated | 11.00% | $325,000 |
| West | Idaho | Flat | 5.30% | above $4,811 |
| West | Montana | Graduated | 5.65% | $47,500 |
| West | Nevada | No income tax | 0% | none |
| West | New Mexico | Graduated | 5.90% | $210,000 |
| West | Oregon | Graduated | 9.90% | $125,000 |
| West | Utah | Flat | 4.45% | all income |
| West | Washington | No wage tax, capital gains only | 7% to 9% on gains | $1,000,000 of gains |
| West | Wyoming | No income tax | 0% | none |
Regional patterns are visible at a glance. The Northeast holds most of the double-digit top rates and no flat states apart from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The Midwest is flat-tax country, with five of its twelve states on a single rate and North Dakota’s graduated system topping out at 2.50%. The South mixes three no-tax states with a cluster of low flat rates in the 3% to 4% band. The West contains both ends of the scale, with four no-tax states sitting alongside California, Hawaii and Oregon.
Where the No Tax States Find the Money
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming levy nothing on wages. Washington does tax large realised capital gains, at 7% and then 9% above $1,000,000. New Hampshire’s old tax on interest and dividends has been repealed. Neither footnote affects an ordinary payslip.
A state without an income tax still runs schools, roads and courts, and the revenue comes from the other two legs of the stool. Texas and New Hampshire are known for property tax bills that can run to 2% of a home’s value each year. Tennessee and Washington rely on sales taxes that reach about 9% once local rates are added. Alaska and Wyoming draw on oil, gas and mineral extraction, which makes their budgets rise and fall with commodity prices rather than with residents’ incomes. Florida adds tourism revenue. It also carries the cost of insuring a home in a hurricane zone, which is a private expense rather than a tax but lands on the same household budget.
Who benefits depends on how the household is built. A renter on a high salary keeps almost the whole saving, because the property tax reaches them only indirectly through rent. A homeowner on a mid salary can pay more in property tax in Austin or Manchester than they would have paid in income tax in Albany. The guide to the no state tax states works the numbers at $80,000, $120,000 and $200,000 for a single filer and puts a house price against them. It also covers the residency audits that follow anyone leaving New York or California with a property or a family still there. The saving is real; whether it survives contact with a mortgage is a separate calculation.
The Highest Income Tax States and Who Pays the Top Rate
California’s 13.30% is the highest statutory rate in the country, and a payroll tax of 1.1% on all wages with no ceiling pushes the all-in top figure to about 14.4%. Hawaii follows at 11.00% from $325,000, with a 13% bracket on income above $1,000,000 already signed into law for next tax year. New York charges 10.90% but only above $25,000,000; its 9.65% and 10.30% bands begin at just over $1,000,000 and at $5,000,000, so even a well-paid professional in Manhattan sits below all three. New Jersey and the District of Columbia both charge 10.75% above $1,000,000.
Two states reach 9% or more through surcharges rather than brackets. Massachusetts charges a flat 5.00% and adds 4% on income above roughly $1,083,000. Maine’s brackets end at 7.15%, and from this tax year a 2% surcharge applies to taxable income above $1,000,000 for a single filer, taking the effective top rate to 9.15%. Oregon’s 9.90% starts at $125,000, and Minnesota’s 9.85% at $203,150, which makes those two the high-rate states most likely to reach a senior salaried employee rather than a millionaire.
The lesson for anyone reading the table is to look at the second column of figures before the first. A rate that begins at $1,000,000 is a tax on founders, partners and athletes. A rate that begins at $125,000 is a tax on engineers, doctors and managers.
The Lowest Income Tax States That Still Charge Something
North Dakota’s graduated system tops out at 2.50%, and its bottom rate of 1.95% covers most salaries, which makes it the lightest income-tax state that has an income tax at all. Arizona’s flat 2.50% is next, followed by Ohio at 2.75%, Indiana at 2.95%, Louisiana at 3.00% and Pennsylvania at 3.07%. Kentucky sits at 3.50%, Arkansas at 3.70%, Iowa at 3.80%, North Carolina at 3.99% and Mississippi at 4.00%.
Low headline rates hide two traps. The first is the absence of a deduction. Pennsylvania offers no standard deduction and no personal exemption, so its 3.07% applies to every dollar of wages and costs a modest earner more than states with higher rates and a generous exempt band. The second is local tax. Pennsylvania municipalities add an earned income tax on top, Indiana’s counties all levy their own rate, and Ohio has hundreds of municipal and school district income taxes. A 2.95% state rate with a 1.5% county rate underneath it is a 4.45% rate in practice.
The trend in this group runs downward. Indiana is scheduled to reach 2.90% next year, Mississippi’s 4.00% is one step in a phase-down that continues to the end of the decade, and Georgia, at 4.99%, has revenue triggers that could carry it towards 3.99%.
What Counts as Taxable Income Differs by State
A rate is applied to a base, and the base is where states quietly diverge. Most begin with federal adjusted gross income and then apply their own standard deduction, personal exemptions or credits. Some track the federal standard deduction closely; others set an amount a fraction of its size, and Pennsylvania sets none. The result is that two states with the same 4.5% rate can differ by several hundred dollars a year on the same salary.
Retirement income is the next fork. Eight states tax Social Security benefits to some degree, namely Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont, and most of those exempt lower-income retirees. West Virginia completed its phase-out this year and no longer taxes benefits at all. Pension and retirement account withdrawals are treated differently again from state to state. That is why the map of the best states to retire in looks nothing like the map of the best states to earn in.
Investment income is the third. Washington taxes capital gains and nothing else. Missouri has moved to exempt capital gains from its income tax. Maryland adds a 2% surtax on capital gains for filers with adjusted gross income above $350,000, on top of its regular brackets. For an employee paid partly in shares, the state’s treatment of vesting and sale can matter more than its wage rate.
Working Across State Lines, Reciprocity and the Convenience Rule
Someone who lives in one state and works in another usually files in both and claims a credit at home for tax paid to the work state. A set of reciprocity agreements removes that duplication for specific pairs of neighbours, allowing the employee to pay only their home state. Pennsylvania has the widest network, with agreements covering New Jersey, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia form a three-way arrangement that keeps the Washington commuter belt simple. Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio are linked in various pairs across the Midwest. New York has no reciprocity with anyone, so a New Jersey or Connecticut resident commuting into the city withholds in both states and settles the credit at filing time.
Remote work introduced a second rule. New York, Delaware, Nebraska, Alabama and Pennsylvania apply a convenience of the employer test. Under it, a non-resident who works from home is still taxed by the state where the employer’s office sits, unless the employer required the remote arrangement. Connecticut and New Jersey apply the same test in reverse, only to residents of states that impose it on their own residents. An employee who left Manhattan for a no-tax state while keeping a New York employer can therefore keep paying New York on every dollar. The residency audit that follows a move is designed to establish exactly that.
Moving mid-year produces a part-year return in each state, with income allocated by the dates. The rate tables above apply to the portion earned in each place. The state you leave does not stop counting until the home, the driving licence, the doctors and the days spent have all moved with you.
Rate Changes Scheduled for Next Year and Beyond
Several cuts are already written into law. Indiana’s flat rate falls to 2.90% on 1 January. Montana’s top rate drops from 5.65% to 5.40%, and Nebraska’s from 4.55% to 3.99%. Mississippi continues its phase-down from 4.00%, with steps running to the end of the decade. Georgia’s 4.99% is subject to revenue triggers that can lower it further, and the South Carolina package that produced this year’s 1.99% and 5.21% brackets carries triggers of its own.
Increases are rarer but not absent. Hawaii’s 13% bracket above $1,000,000 begins next tax year. Maine’s 2% surcharge above $1,000,000 already applies. Maryland’s upper brackets of 6.25% and 6.50%, and its higher cap on county rates, are recent enough that many published tables still miss them.
The direction of travel is clear. Flat rates keep edging down, graduated states keep consolidating brackets, and the handful of increases are aimed at seven-figure incomes. For a salaried employee, the practical consequence is that a rate table more than a year old is probably wrong in at least five states.
Turning a State Rate Into a Monthly Figure
Begin with the state’s system. Zero is zero. In a flat state, take gross pay, subtract the state’s own standard deduction or exemption if it has one, and multiply by the rate. In a graduated state, tax each slice of taxable income at its bracket rate and add the slices, exactly as with federal tax. The top rate applies only to the slice above its threshold. Add any city, county or school district rate that applies to your address, then divide the annual total by twelve.
The site’s own guide gives a sense of scale for a single filer on $80,000. State tax comes to roughly $2,460 a year in Pennsylvania, about $3,400 in Illinois, around $3,700 in California and close to $4,000 in New York, against nothing in Texas or Florida. Those are state figures only, before local tax and before the property or sales taxes that the no-tax states use instead.
For the federal half, the YourSalaryTax United States calculator works out federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare for any salary and shows the effective and marginal rates. It leaves state tax as a separate line because no single state figure fits everyone. Add the state effective rate from this guide, and the local rate if there is one, to the federal effective rate it reports. Then, before comparing two addresses, put a property tax bill or a rent figure beside each result. The state with the lowest line in the table above is not always the one that leaves the most in the account.
