Federal tax gets the headlines, but your state often decides whether a salary is actually competitive. Two jobs offering the same $75,000 can differ by over $4,000 a year in take-home pay depending on which side of a state line the desk sits on. Here is the full 2026 map — and where our own computed numbers fit in.
The nine states with no wage income tax
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (wages only — interest and dividends were taxed until 2025), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming take nothing from your paycheck for state income tax. (New Hampshire and Washington tax some investment income; neither taxes wages.) For a $75,000 earner, these states cluster at the very top of our take-home rankings — see the full computed table in our State Tax Burden Study.
The flat-tax states
A growing group applies one rate to all taxable income: Arizona (2.5%), Colorado (4.25%), Georgia (5.09%), Idaho (5.3%), Illinois (4.95%), Indiana (2.95%), Michigan (4.25%), North Carolina (3.99%), Pennsylvania (3.07%), Utah (4.55%) and others. Flat does not mean simple — deductions and exemptions still change the effective rate. Illinois, for example, shelters a personal exemption before its 4.95% applies.
The graduated states
The rest use brackets like the federal system. Hawaii runs twelve brackets up to 11%; California reaches 13.3% at the top; New York tops out above 10% for high earners; most Midwestern and Southern states stay under 6%. The bracket you see quoted is almost never the rate you pay — only the slice above each threshold pays the higher rate.
Deductions and exemptions change the math
Most states offer their own standard deduction — Georgia's is $12,000 single, Maryland's ranges up to $2,550, several states conform to the federal $16,100 — and many add a personal exemption per filer and dependent. Two states with identical top rates can produce very different bills once these are applied, which is why our state pages show the computed result rather than just the bracket table.
The local layer most guides skip
New York City adds up to 3.876% on residents. Every one of Indiana's 92 counties levies its own rate (roughly 1% to 3%). Most Ohio municipalities tax where you work; Pennsylvania has thousands of local earned-income jurisdictions around 1%. Add Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, Wilmington and Birmingham, and "state tax" quietly becomes "state plus local." Our city guides load the correct 2026 local rate automatically.
How to use this
Find your state below, then run your salary through its calculator — the same engine powers every page, so the number you see is the one this reference describes. Considering a move? The compare-states tool puts two states side by side on your exact salary, and the State Tax Burden Study ranks all 51 jurisdictions on the same $75,000 earner.
Sources
- State revenue and taxation departments — 2026 individual income tax schedules (linked per state).
- Tax Foundation, 2026 State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets.
- PayrollTaxCalc.com 2026 State Tax Burden Study — computed take-home pay for all 51 jurisdictions.