06/22/2026
📍 Where state income tax hits hardest (and barely at all) in 2026.
These are top marginal rates or the rate that applies to your last dollar of income at your highest bracket, not your effective or average rate. In a graduated-bracket state like California, you only pay 13.3% on income above the top threshold, not on your whole paycheck.
A couple of these top numbers also bake in a “millionaire surtax.” California’s 13.3% = top bracket + a 1% surtax on income over $1M. Massachusetts’s 9% = 5% flat + a 4% surtax on income over ~$1.08M. So in those states, the rate most people in the top bracket actually pay is lower than what’s listed here
On the other end: the 8 states at 0% (AK, FL, NV, NH, SD, TN, TX, WY) don’t tax wage income at all. North Dakota and Arizona round out the low end at 2.5% both flat-tax states, so everyone pays that rate on every dollar.
So a “high-tax state” doesn’t necessarily mean you pay the top number. Property taxes, sales taxes, and where your income lands in the bracket structure matter just as much.
Source:
Tax Foundation 2026 brackets
Kiplinger
Maine Revenue Services
