How Illinois’ Tax Burden Compares With Other States

Don't look now, but on the 18th of this month, Uncle Sam, on both the state and federal levels, will be looking for his cut of your earnings. If you've ever had the feeling that a bigger piece of your pie gets taken here in Illinois than in many other states--you're right.

Which brings us to something called a "Tax Burden." Not to be confused with tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s particular circumstances, tax burden measures the exact proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes. And it isn’t uniform across the U.S., either.

The personal finance site WalletHub took a look at the tax burdens faced by residents of all 50 states and the District of Columbia to see which state's citizens are shouldering the biggest burden. Here's what they looked at:

To determine which states’ residents bear the biggest tax burdens, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across the three tax types that make up state tax burden — property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes — as a percentage of total personal income in the state.

The good news is that Illinoisans are not carrying the biggest tax burden, but we're a long way from having the smallest.

First, the top 5 states with the biggest tax burden:

1) New York

2) Hawaii

3) Vermont

4) Maine

5) Minnesota

And, the top 5 states with the least tax burden:

50) Delaware

49) Alaska

48) Tennessee

47) Oklahoma

46) New Hampshire

As for us, the taxpayers of the Land of Lincoln, we face the 9th largest tax burden in the country. Illinois' numbers:

Tax Burden in Illinois (1=Highest, 25=Avg.):
9th – Overall Tax Burden (10.00%)
9th – Property Tax Burden (4.14%)
10th – Individual Income Tax Burden (2.66%)
29th – Total Sales & Excise Tax Burden (3.20%)

To read WalletHub's full piece on tax burdens by state in the US, click here.