US States - Tax Burden Ranking

[Danny]

My state of Minnesota is high, but I have no complaint - I feel we get our money's worth. Good schools and they clear the snow real quick, could be worse - low taxes and poor to no services...

http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=101919

 

[Martha]

No complaint here either.

 

[Brat]

Interesting comment by the CA economist about US tax rates: A tax reduction is when spending does not exceed revenue.  The current situation is tax deferral.

Residents of my state, WA, are reluctant to pay for services they want. I forsee tolls on major road ways.

 

[REWahoo]

"The Census report covered only taxes imposed by states, not local governments."

Not a meaningful comparison IMHO. When you add in the local property taxes we pay in Texas (funding for local schools), I'd estimate the per capita amount more than doubles.

 

[2B]

I live in Texas and I've never had snow build up on the roads. The State must be doing a great job.

 

[Outtahere]

I'm in Mass, it could be better but we do get a lot from the state. On thing you don't want to happen to you is to live in NH but work in MA, state tax in MA, high prop tax in NH, Although you do make out that way if you get laid off, in MA you could live off unemployment in NH you would starve. My husband makes about the same as one of the seasonal guys at my company, he gets $494 a week in unemployment, my husband was going to get $53 a week, he didn't bother.

 

[Danny]

"The Census report covered only taxes imposed by states, not local governments."

Not a meaningful comparison IMHO. When you add in the local property taxes we pay in Texas (funding for local schools), I'd estimate the per capita amount more than doubles.

Ooops - try this one on for size.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/taxesbystate2005/index.html

 

[2B]

The problem that arises is that property tax doesn't end in Texas for ER's.  Income tax would.

 

[samclem]

The page below shows the per capita taxes and the tax burden per dollar of income (taxes of all kinds). I think the tax burden per income amount is a little more useful in gauging the true tax bite.
http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxburdens.html

Maine had the highest tax burden, then New York, Hawaii, and Rhode Island. I was surprised to see Minnesota at number 10, and Massachusetts at 32.

Another page shows the types of taxes each state imposes. Tax treatment of retirement "wealth" is important to a lot of folks who read this board--surprisingly, Hawaii comes out very well (Nords, your planning pays off again!).

http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html
****************************************
According to Bloomberg Wealth Manager:
For 2005, the top 10 states for retirement were: (1) Hawaii, (2) Wyoming, (3) Delaware, (4) Alabama, (5) Louisiana, (6) Nevada, (7) Alaska, (8) Colorado, (9) Washington, and (10) Arizona.

The worst states were: (51) Wisconsin, (50) Nebraska, (49) Kansas, (48) Idaho, (47) New York, (46) Maine, (45) Illinois, (44) Minnesota, (43) Missouri, and (42) Texas.

***************************

So, yes, Texas is tough, but not quite the worst.

 

[Outtahere]

Humm now I don't feel so bad about planning on staying in MA for my retirement.

 

[Cool Dood]

Dang, Wisconsin must've been pretty awful to come in 51st!

 

[samclem]

CoolDood,
They probably ranked DC in there to give 51 total slots. DC counts as a state when it is handy (but not when handing out senators--thank goodness.) (here come the flame-o-grams!).

 

[JPatrick]

The page below shows the per capita taxes and the tax burden per dollar of income (taxes of all kinds).  I think the tax burden per income amount is a little more useful in gauging the true tax bite.
http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxburdens.html

Maine had the highest tax burden, then New York, Hawaii, and Rhode Island.  I was surprised to see Minnesota at number 10, and Massachusetts at 32. 

Another page shows the types of taxes each state imposes.  Tax treatment of retirement "wealth" is important to a lot of folks who read this board--surprisingly,  Hawaii comes out very well  (Nords, your planning pays off again!).   

http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html
****************************************

From the research I've done, the info that samclem provides above is the most accurate.  Granted, I've only really dug into about 10 states total.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Fun little spreadsheet with the source data for each state broken down by each individual tax, total and per capita.

I guess if you wanted to, you could wire this into your budget spreadsheet to see how expensive it would be, tax-wise, for you to live in each state. At least from a relative perspective.
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/statetax05.html

 

[73ss454]

Wait a second, Kansas is a state?

I thought is was some place in that yellow brick road movie.

 

[Danny]

Sam - I gotta hand it to you I couldn't have done it better - infact I had just googled the same stuff when your stuff showed up. I think this is another sign of my slowing down since I retired either that or I'm getting older than I think I am.
Rats!

 

[farmerEd]

Humm now I don't feel so bad about planning on staying in MA for my retirement. 

Its quite humourous really, when you hear the rednecks from Texas bitching about states like "Taxachusetts"...and the reality of it is that for somone making $100K, in Texas the state is going to take $9300 and in "Taxachusetts" they are going to take $9800....a difference of 1/2 of 1%...not a meaniful difference at all; and for somone making an average salary the difference is probably $100-$150...

 

[REWahoo]

... when you hear the rednecks from Texas bitching about states like "Taxachusetts"...

You give Texas rednecks way too much credit. Most of us can't even spell "Taxachusetts".

 

[2B]

At the moment (the Texas legislature is in session so things may change), Texas is a low tax state except for property tax. If you don't own a significant property, you pay only sales tax. The strategy used by many retirees is to rent a PO Box somewhere in Texas which is where they get their auto registrations and "official" mail. They can then move, live anywhere else they want free of state income tax. By renting they avoid the easy ways for a state to find someone with only passive income.

 

[youbet]

Its quite humourous really, when you hear the rednecks from Texas bitching about states like "Taxachusetts

You should hear what it sounds like here in the Heartland.  The Texans "bitching" and the MA folks "whining!"  Here in the middle, we have to listen to the crap coming from both directions.  No wonder we have so much chatter about retiring offshore going on! 

 

[Nords]

You should hear what it sounds like here in the Heartland.  The Texans "bitching" and the MA folks "whining!"  Here in the middle, we have to listen to the crap coming from both directions.  No wonder we have so much chatter about retiring offshore going on! 

It's always a pleasure to watch you Mainlanders sniping at each other (and on both sides of the border).

Just kidding...