Live Free, Pay Less: NH Ranked #1 For Lowest Tax Burden In Lower 48

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Just days after being ranked #1 for best taxpayer return on investment, New Hampshire is back on top again: The lowest overall tax burden in the continental U.S.

Geographic extremes make Hawaii (the highest tax burden) and Alaska (the lowest) economic extremes as well. But among the contiguous 48 states, New Hampshire ranks as the best state for low taxes — nearly an entire percentage point lower than Tennessee, the closest contender.

(For an explanation of why Alaska’s unique state revenue system makes it a tax-burden outlier, click here.)

The analysis from WalletHub “compared all 50 states by examining three major types of state tax burdens—property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes—and calculating their cost as a percentage of total personal income in each state,” they report.

New Hampshire’s low-tax performance is particularly notable given its geography, sharing a border with two of the top five highest tax-burden states among the lower 48: Vermont (#2) and Maine (#4).

Rhode Island has the 9th highest tax burden, Connecticut is 16th and Massachusetts is #20 among the lower 48 states.

And it’s an improvement over last year when the Granite State was edged out by Wyoming for the top spot.

Click on map below to see state rankings.

Source: WalletHub

The report comes as April 15th, aka “Tax Day,” looms for American taxpayers.

“It’s easy to be dismayed at tax time when you see just how much of your income you lose,” said Wallethub analyst ChipLupo, “Living in a state with a low tax burden can alleviate some of that stress. Some states charge no income tax or no sales tax, although all states have some form of property taxes and excise taxes.”

“It’s easy to be dismayed at tax time when you see just how much of your income you lose,” said Wallethub analyst ChipLupo, “Living in a state with a low tax burden can alleviate some of that stress. Some states charge no income tax or no sales tax, although all states have some form of property taxes and excise taxes.”

New Hampshire is currently debating whether to create an income tax in order to shift the state funding burden for local schools from property taxes. The WalletHub analysis ranks the state’s property tax burden as the third highest in the nation.

“New Hampshire is showing America that you can do more with less,” said Greg Moore with Americans for Prosperity. “At our nation’s 250th birthday, it’s great that one state is working to reclaim the ideals on which our country was founded. The good news is that people in Concord are making the Granite State even better. Low taxes, limited government and more freedom are why we so many people want to come here.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.