Wyoming is the answer to that headline, of course, and there are some very specific reasons for this.
The answers are in the annual State Competitiveness Index released by the Tax Foundation. The review looks at all 50 states and the District of Columbia to see how state tax policy affects citizens based on income, sales, excise, property, capital gains, corporate, payroll, estate, and VAT consumption taxes.
The best state for its citizens is, as noted, Wyoming. And the Cowboy State takes that top spot for the fifth year in a row.
The ten best states are as follows:
1). Wyoming
2). South Dakota
3). Alaska
4). Florida
5). Montana
6). New Hampshire
7). Texas
8). Tennessee
9). North Dakota
10). Indiana
The Tax Foundation does note that it would be hard for other states to replicate Wyoming’s success because the state’s tax revenue comes from its great wealth in natural resources. But the success seen in Montana and Idaho can be replicated more easily.
The report notes:
The absence of a major tax is a common factor among many of the top 10 states. Property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes are levied in every state, but there are several states that do without one or more of the major taxes: the corporate income tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax. South Dakota and Wyoming have no corporate or individual income tax; Alaska has no individual income or state-level sales tax; Florida and Texas have no individual income tax; and New Hampshire and Montana have no sales tax, with New Hampshire also only imposing a narrow tax on interest and dividend income.
This does not mean, however, that a state cannot rank well while still levying all the major taxes. Indiana, for example, levies all the major tax types, as do all the other states that rank 11th to 16th: Idaho, North Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, Michigan, and Utah.
The worst ten states are:
41). Massachusetts
42). Hawaii
43). Vermont
44). Minnesota
45). Washington
46). Maryland
47). Connecticut
48). California
49). New Jersey
50). New York
You might notice a major difference between the two groupings of states. All ten of the worst are Democrats, naturally.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
