State Income Tax Rates by State
Reviewed by the ClearTally editorial team · Last updated July 4, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Income tax varies enormously by state. 9 states charge no income tax at all, 16 apply a single flat rate, and 27use progressive brackets (including Washington, DC). Search your state below to see its brackets and estimate what you'll owe.
These state figures are being re-verified
We found our state bracket data lagging behind the current tax year, so the state figures on this page may be out of date — where they're wrong, they tend to overstate the tax owed. We're re-sourcing all 51 schedules against each state's published rates. Federal figures were re-verified and corrected and are current. Until this notice goes, treat the state number as indicative and check your state's department of revenue before relying on it.
| State | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Progressive | Up to 5% |
| Alaska | No income tax | None |
| Arizona | Flat | 2.5% |
| Arkansas | Progressive | Up to 4.4% |
| California | Progressive | Up to 12.3% |
| Colorado | Flat | 4.4% |
| Connecticut | Progressive | Up to 6.99% |
| Delaware | Progressive | Up to 6.6% |
| District of Columbia | Progressive | Up to 10.75% |
| Florida | No income tax | None |
| Georgia | Progressive | Up to 5.49% |
| Hawaii | Progressive | Up to 11% |
| Idaho | Flat | 5.8% |
| Illinois | Flat | 4.95% |
| Indiana | Flat | 3.05% |
| Iowa | Flat | 3.8% |
| Kansas | Progressive | Up to 5.7% |
| Kentucky | Flat | 4% |
| Louisiana | Progressive | Up to 4.25% |
| Maine | Progressive | Up to 7.15% |
| Maryland | Progressive | Up to 5.75% |
| Massachusetts | Flat | 5% |
| Michigan | Flat | 4.25% |
| Minnesota | Progressive | Up to 9.85% |
| Mississippi | Flat | 4.7% |
| Missouri | Progressive | Up to 4.7% |
| Montana | Flat | 5.9% |
| Nebraska | Progressive | Up to 5.64% |
| Nevada | No income tax | None |
| New Hampshire | No income tax | None |
| New Jersey | Progressive | Up to 10.75% |
| New Mexico | Progressive | Up to 5.9% |
| New York | Progressive | Up to 10.9% |
| North Carolina | Flat | 4.5% |
| North Dakota | Flat | 1.95% |
| Ohio | Progressive | Up to 3.5% |
| Oklahoma | Progressive | Up to 4.75% |
| Oregon | Progressive | Up to 9.9% |
| Pennsylvania | Flat | 3.07% |
| Rhode Island | Progressive | Up to 5.99% |
| South Carolina | Progressive | Up to 5.21% |
| South Dakota | No income tax | None |
| Tennessee | No income tax | None |
| Texas | No income tax | None |
| Utah | Flat | 4.65% |
| Vermont | Progressive | Up to 8.75% |
| Virginia | Progressive | Up to 5.75% |
| Washington | No income tax | None |
| West Virginia | Flat | 4.7% |
| Wisconsin | Progressive | Up to 7.65% |
| Wyoming | No income tax | None |
How many states have no income tax?
Nine states levy no personal income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Live in one of them and your paycheck is reduced only by federal income tax and FICA — there's no state return to file on what you earn.
Two of the Nine come with an asterisk worth knowing before you compare them. New Hampshire taxed interest and dividends until that tax was repealed in 2025, so it now has no individual income tax of any kind. Washington taxes large long-term capital gains, and a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million is scheduled for 2028 — though a repeal measure goes to voters in November 2026, so it may never take effect. The Washington page covers both in full.
The trade-off is the part comparison articles skip: the revenue has to come from somewhere. States without an income tax lean harder on sales and property taxes, so whether you actually come out ahead depends on what you spend and what you own, not only on what you earn. A high earner who rents usually gains far more from the move than a modest earner who buys a house.
How states tax income
No income tax (9):wages aren't taxed at the state level at all, so there's no schedule to apply and no state return to file on what you earn.
Flat tax (16):every dollar of taxable income is taxed at one rate, from Arizona's 2.5% to Idaho's 5.695%. Simple to estimate: multiply your taxable income by the rate.
Progressive (27):higher income is taxed at higher rates through a series of brackets, the same way federal tax works. Top rates range from North Dakota's 2.5% to California's 13.3%. Your effective rate is always lower than the top bracket because your first dollars are taxed at the lower rates.
Figures use the 2026 tax year (PayrollTax API)single-filer schedules. State pages apply the bracket rate to the income you enter and don't model each state's own deductions, exemptions, credits, or local taxes. Estimates for planning only, not tax advice.
Which states have a flat income tax?
16 states tax income at a single flat rate: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia. Every dollar of taxable income is taxed the same, so your effective rate equals your marginal rate at any income — the arithmetic is one multiplication rather than a walk up a bracket table.
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- West Virginia
Flat doesn't mean low, and the distinction changes who carries the bill. Against a progressive state with the same headline rate, a flat state asks less of high earners and more of everyone else, because there are no lower bands sheltering the first slice of income. Several flat states do exempt a low-income band before the rate applies, which softens that — the state's own page says so where it applies.
Does a low income tax mean a low tax bill?
Often not. Income tax is one of three big state and local taxes, alongside sales and property tax, and a state that goes light on one usually leans harder on the others — which is why the ninestates with no income tax at all aren't automatically the cheapest places to live. What you actually pay depends on how much you earn, how much you spend, and what you own, in proportions that differ for every household.
If you're a high earner, the number that matters most is the marginal rate on your top dollars rather than a state's average or headline figure — and in a progressive state that depends entirely on where the top band starts. A state with a high top rate that only bites above $1 million is cheaper for someone on $200,000 than a lower-rate state whose top band starts at $30,000. Run your own figure with the income tax calculator rather than reading it off a ranking.
Total tax burden — every state and local tax as a share of income — is a genuinely different measurement from the income tax rates on this page, and a harder one to source. We don't publish a combined figure rather than invent one; the Tax Foundation's state tax data compares all 50 states across more than 40 such measures.
We don't rank the states by rate yet. A ranking is only as sound as its weakest row, and most of the 51 schedules are still being re-sourced — one stale figure moves every position beneath it. That table follows as the data is verified. For now the states where we currently publish full brackets are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina and District of Columbia.
Common questions about state income tax
As of 2026, 9 states levy no personal income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming. One of those is changing: Washington has passed a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million that would begin in 2028, and a ballot measure to repeal it goes to voters in November 2026, so the count may not hold for high earners beyond then. Either way, no income tax isn't the same as a low overall tax burden — those states raise revenue through sales, property, and industry-specific taxes instead, and some have notably high property taxes. If you're comparing places to live, compare the whole picture rather than the income tax line alone.
Three ways, and which one your state uses matters more than the headline rate. 9 states don't tax income at all. 16 apply a single flat rate, so every dollar of taxable income is taxed the same and the maths is one multiplication. The remaining 27, including Washington DC, use progressive brackets: higher portions of income are taxed at higher rates, exactly like federal tax. Under brackets your effective rate is always lower than your top bracket, because your first dollars are still taxed at the lower rates.
Usually where you live, but both states can have a claim and the rules vary. Your home state generally taxes all your income wherever it's earned; the state you physically work in can also tax the income earned there. Most states resolve the overlap with a credit for tax paid to the other state, and some neighbouring states have reciprocity agreements that exempt commuters entirely. Remote work has made this messier, not simpler — if you live and work across a state line, check both states' rules rather than assuming.
Not necessarily. Federal income tax and FICA apply in every state and are the larger bill for most people, so state income tax is a smaller share of the total than it feels. States without one also have to raise the money elsewhere — typically higher sales or property taxes. The honest comparison is total state and local burden against your own spending and housing situation, not the income tax rate on its own.
Because state tax law changes faster than one site can verify 51 schedules, and we'd rather show nothing than a number that's quietly two years old. South Carolina rewrote its entire rate structure in March 2026, after that year's reference tables had already been published. Pages for states we've verified against two published sources carry the full bracket table, worked examples and an estimator. The rest explain how that state's tax is structured — which doesn't drift year to year — and send you to the state's department of revenue for the current figures.