State Tax Comparison Calculator - 2025 State Taxes
Use this state tax comparison calculator to compare 2025 wage-tax estimates across all 50 states plus DC by filing status, deductions, dependents, and rates.
State income-tax rankings
50 states + DC| Rank | State | State tax | Taxable income | Effective rate | Top rate | Savings vs CA |
|---|
States with no modeled wage income tax
This list covers ordinary wages in the shared rules. Washington's separate capital-gains tax is outside this comparison.
What Is a State Tax Comparison Calculator?
A state tax comparison calculator is a planning view of annual state tax on ordinary wages. This page runs the same income and filing-status assumptions through the shared 2025 state rules, then ranks the resulting state tax, effective rate, top marginal rate, and difference against a selected baseline.
It is an estimate, not tax-return preparation. The model assumes a full-year resident and focuses on wage income. It does not allocate income for a midyear move, calculate withholding, or decide whether you qualify for a state-specific credit.
When this comparison helps
- Relocation screening: compare a prospective destination with the state you may leave before housing and pay decisions are final.
- Remote-work planning: separate the state-income-tax question from federal tax, payroll tax, and employer withholding questions.
- Offer comparison: treat the annual tax difference as one input when comparing compensation in different states.
- Retirement location review: start with wage treatment, then investigate retirement and investment-income rules separately.
Use the ranking to narrow a question, not to settle it by itself. A destination with a lower modeled state bill may offer a different salary, housing market, insurance cost, or local tax structure. If you are considering a move, run the same income through several likely states, save the assumptions, and then check the state agency's residency and income definitions.
For a focused estimate in one jurisdiction, State Tax Calculator provides a state-level view before you compare several destinations.
How the Calculator Works
Every row receives the same annual wages, filing status, additional deductions, and dependent count. The imported 2025 engine selects that state's income base, applies its brackets or flat rate, subtracts modeled deductions and exemptions, applies eligible credits and special computations, and returns comparable outputs.
Variables
- W
- Annual ordinary wage income in USD.
- F
- Single, married filing jointly, or head of household.
- D
- Optional additional deductions in USD.
- N
- Whole-number dependents used by supported state rules.
- B
- Selected baseline state's returned state tax.
Worked example: $100,000 married filer in Illinois
Enter $100,000 of wages, married filing jointly, $5,000 of additional deductions, and two dependents. The Illinois rule subtracts the $5,000 deduction, $5,700 married personal exemption, and two $2,850 dependent exemptions, leaving $83,600 taxable. At 4.95%, the modeled tax is $4,138.20 and the effective rate is 4.14%.
A marginal rate applies only to the slice of income in its bracket. The effective rate divides the full modeled state tax by gross wages, so it is usually lower than the top marginal rate. A zero-income result has a zero effective rate rather than a division error.
The table does not average rates from a national chart. It also shows each rule engine's taxable-income base so a deduction or exemption is visible rather than hidden. It calls the state rule for each row, which matters when a state uses a flat rate but still has exemptions, a federal-deduction starting point, or a credit. Read the notes attached to rows with special treatment, and compare both dollars and percentages before drawing a conclusion about a destination.
Taxable income is not the same as gross wages. For example, a state's rule may begin with wages and subtract a standard deduction, while another may tax the full wage base but apply an exemption or credit later. Additional deductions and dependents follow the same state-specific path, so two states with similar published rates can produce different annual dollar results.
The IRS 2025 inflation-adjustment guidance lists standard deductions of $15,750 for single filers, $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, and $23,625 for heads of household. The shared state rules use those federal values only where a state rule specifies that income base.
If you want a smaller side-by-side set of destinations, Income Tax Comparison by State complements this all-jurisdiction ranking.
Key State Income-Tax Concepts
These terms explain why a state can have a high published top rate but a different annual result for a particular household.
Progressive brackets
Income is divided into layers, with each layer taxed at its own rate. Crossing a threshold does not apply the highest rate to every dollar.
Flat-rate system
One stated rate applies to the modeled taxable base, although exemptions, credits, or a different starting base can still change the bill.
Effective versus marginal rate
The effective rate is actual modeled tax divided by wages. The top marginal rate is the highest schedule rate, not the average rate on the whole amount.
No wage-income tax
A zero row means the shared rules model no tax on ordinary wages. It does not mean the state has no sales, property, local, or investment-related taxes.
The Tax Foundation's 2025 state individual income-tax table distinguishes graduated and flat-rate systems and identifies states with no individual income tax. The table here keeps that distinction visible through the tax, effective-rate, and top-rate columns.
Use the California Tax Calculator when California's brackets and state-specific assumptions need a closer review.
How to Use This Calculator
Use a consistent income assumption when comparing destinations. Add deductions and dependents only when they describe the household scenario you want to screen, and change one input at a time so the movement in the table has an identifiable cause.
This state tax comparison calculator is most useful when you hold income, filing status, and optional adjustments constant while testing one destination against another.
- 1Enter annual wages. Use ordinary annual wage income before the deductions represented by the rule table.
- 2Choose filing status. Select single, married filing jointly, or head of household.
- 3Add optional adjustments. Enter additional deductions and a whole-number dependent count when they apply.
- 4Select a baseline. Choose the state used in the savings column.
- 5Choose the ranking. Sort by annual tax, effective rate, top rate, or state name.
- 6Read the rows and scope. Review the tax amount, taxable income, rates, and notes, then confirm residency and local-tax details with official guidance.
For a detailed New York scenario after screening the rankings, New York Tax Calculator separates state assumptions from this national table.
Benefits of a Ranked State-Tax View
The table is useful when a decision needs a comparable annual number rather than a list of published rates.
- One consistent scenario: the same wages and filing status run through every row.
- Rate context beside dollars: tax, effective rate, and top rate appear together.
- Baseline differences: a selected state gives the savings column a concrete reference.
- Filing-status sensitivity: switching status shows how schedules and deductions alter the comparison.
- Special-rule notes: rows can carry notes about local taxes, capital-gains exclusions, or schedule fallbacks.
- Decision-ready scope: the wage boundary keeps the state-income-tax question separate from broader cost-of-living analysis.
A lower state-income-tax row is not automatically a lower-cost place to live. Pair this output with housing, insurance, sales tax, property tax, and salary differences before accepting an offer or planning a move.
Use this state tax comparison calculator as the state-income-tax part of that review, not as a complete household budget.
When the question is take-home pay rather than annual state tax alone, Paycheck Tax Calculator adds paycheck and withholding context.
Factors That Affect Results
Several inputs and policy choices shape a state result. These are the largest sources of movement in the ranking. Keep the scenario consistent while testing one factor at a time, and remember that the full-year resident assumption does not allocate income for a midyear move.
Annual wage income
Progressive schedules can move into higher layers as income rises; flat schedules change more linearly unless a threshold applies.
Filing status
Married and head-of-household schedules can use different brackets, deductions, exemptions, or a documented fallback.
Additional deductions and dependents
These optional inputs lower taxable income or tax only where the imported state rule defines the relevant deduction, exemption, or credit.
Local and other taxes
City, county, sales, property, capital-gains, and payroll taxes can change the total cost beyond this state wage-tax screen.
Limitations to keep in view
- This is a wage-income estimate for a full-year resident, not tax-return preparation. The imported engine accepts a residency flag for explanatory notes, but this page keeps it fixed at full-year and does not calculate filing obligations, withholding, estimated payments, or residency allocation for a move during the year.
- The comparison excludes local income taxes, non-wage income, itemized deductions outside the optional input, taxpayer-specific credits, and every state-specific return nuance. Confirm a decision with the relevant revenue department or a qualified tax professional.
For a relocation decision, compare the same salary in the states you would genuinely consider, then add local tax and housing assumptions. If your pay would change after moving, model the new salary as a separate scenario rather than treating the tax difference as a raise.
The Tax Foundation reported that 39 states began 2025 with notable tax changes, including nine states that cut individual income taxes. This is why the page names its tax year and why a later-year result should not be assumed from this one.
To add a major housing-cost dimension to the income-tax screen, compare the result with Property Tax Comparison by State.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states have no income tax in 2025?
For ordinary wage income, the shared 2025 rules show Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming with zero modeled state tax. Washington's separate capital-gains treatment is outside this wage-income comparison.
Which state has the highest individual income tax rate?
The highest top rate in the shared schedule is California's 13.3% top marginal rate. A top rate applies only to the relevant upper slice of income, so it should not be read as the effective rate on an entire salary.
How much state income tax would I pay on my salary?
Enter your annual ordinary wage income and filing status to see a modeled annual state amount for every state and DC. The result excludes local income taxes, itemized deductions, taxpayer-specific credits, and non-wage income.
What is the difference between marginal and effective state tax rates?
The marginal rate is the highest rate in the applicable schedule. The effective rate is the modeled state tax divided by total wage income. Progressive brackets mean the effective rate can be lower than the top marginal rate.
Does Washington have a wage income tax?
The shared 2025 rules model Washington at zero for ordinary wage income. This page does not evaluate Washington's separate capital-gains tax, so investment income needs a different analysis.
Are city and county income taxes included?
No. The table is limited to state-level wage-income estimates so each row uses a comparable boundary. Local taxes, such as city or county income taxes, can change the amount owed and should be reviewed separately.