Finance

State income tax rates across America, ranked from highest to lowest

  • Taxes are due on April 15, 2020. Many Americans will file a state income tax return in addition to a federal income tax return.
  • US states have either a flat income tax, a progressive tax, or no income tax.
  • The top income tax rate in the country is 13.3%, in California.
  • Read more personal finance coverage.

Tax day 2020 is Wednesday, April 15.

Many Americans will file both a federal tax return and state income tax return. You can do that through an online service like H&R Block or TurboTax — both of which offer free tax filing for eligible taxpayers — or an accountant.

When it comes to state income tax, the amount you pay varies depending on where you live. Seven US states have no income tax — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Tennessee don’t have a state income tax either, but they do tax interest and dividends at 5% and 2%.

The rest of the states either have a flat income tax — meaning everyone, regardless of how much they earn, pays the same percentage of their income to the government — or a progressive income tax, which means the tax rate is determined by income.

Among the 41 states that tax income, North Dakota has the lowest maximum rate at 2.9%. California has the highest top tax rate, topping out at 13.3%, but isn’t the only one with a double-digit maximum.

Below, we’ve created a ranking of states from the highest state income tax rate to the lowest income tax rate. For states that have a range of tax rates based on income, we used the highest rate to determine the ranking. All figures are sourced from the Tax Foundation.

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