On a $75,000 salary, the gap between the best and worst state for take-home pay is $4,683 a year, or about $180 per biweekly paycheck, for the identical job. Wyoming keeps the most. Oregon keeps the least. 8 states tie for first because they do not tax wages at all. A ninth, Washington, does not tax wages either and still finishes $425 behind.
Most "best states for taxes" lists compare headline rates. Headline rates are close to useless on their own, because what you actually keep depends on the deductions and exemptions that come first, and on payroll withholding that is not income tax at all and rarely gets counted.
So we ran the same worker through all 50 states and the District of Columbia using 2026 federal brackets and 2026 state tax data. Same salary, same 401(k) contribution, same health premium. The only variable is where they live.
The setup
- Salary: $75,000
- Filing status: single
- 401(k): 5% of salary, $3,750
- Health premium: $150/month, pre-tax
Federal tax uses the 2026 brackets and the $16,100 standard deduction. Social Security is 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, Medicare 1.45% with no cap. Both exclude the pre-tax health premium but not the 401(k), which is the rule most calculators get backwards.
What $75,000 actually leaves you, everywhere
| # | State | Take-home | State income tax | Other payroll withholding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 2 | Texas | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 3 | Tennessee | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 4 | South Dakota | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 5 | New Hampshire | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 6 | Nevada | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 7 | Florida | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 8 | Alaska | $57,401 | $0 | None |
| 9 | North Dakota | $57,306 | $95 | None |
| 10 | Washington | $56,977 | $0 | $425 (WA Cares long-term care) |
| 11 | Ohio | $56,274 | $1,128 | None |
| 12 | Arizona | $55,874 | $1,528 | None |
| 13 | Louisiana | $55,704 | $1,697 | None |
| 14 | Iowa | $55,414 | $1,987 | None |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $55,414 | $1,988 | None |
| 16 | Indiana | $55,382 | $2,019 | None |
| 17 | Missouri | $55,377 | $2,024 | None |
| 18 | Mississippi | $55,355 | $2,046 | None |
| 19 | New Mexico | $55,303 | $2,098 | None |
| 20 | Vermont | $55,278 | $2,124 | None |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $55,269 | $2,132 | None |
| 22 | Utah | $55,242 | $2,159 | None |
| 23 | Arkansas | $55,228 | $2,173 | None |
| 24 | Connecticut | $55,156 | $2,245 | None |
| 25 | North Carolina | $55,139 | $2,262 | None |
| 26 | Nebraska | $55,121 | $2,280 | None |
| 27 | New Jersey | $55,110 | $2,291 | None |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $55,101 | $2,300 | None |
| 29 | Kentucky | $55,088 | $2,313 | None |
| 30 | Colorado | $55,054 | $2,347 | None |
| 31 | West Virginia | $54,989 | $2,413 | None |
| 32 | Montana | $54,838 | $2,563 | None |
| 33 | Idaho | $54,829 | $2,573 | None |
| 34 | Oklahoma | $54,821 | $2,580 | None |
| 35 | Michigan | $54,700 | $2,701 | None |
| 36 | Alabama | $54,491 | $2,910 | None |
| 37 | Maryland | $54,466 | $2,935 | None |
| 38 | Georgia | $54,420 | $2,982 | None |
| 39 | South Carolina | $54,391 | $3,010 | None |
| 40 | District of Columbia | $54,333 | $3,068 | None |
| 41 | Kansas | $54,326 | $3,076 | None |
| 42 | New York | $54,248 | $3,153 | None |
| 43 | Virginia | $54,222 | $3,179 | None |
| 44 | Minnesota | $54,202 | $3,199 | None |
| 45 | Delaware | $54,158 | $3,243 | None |
| 46 | Illinois | $54,108 | $3,293 | None |
| 47 | California | $54,106 | $2,344 | $952 (State Disability Insurance (SDI)) |
| 48 | Maine | $53,895 | $3,506 | None |
| 49 | Massachusetts | $53,812 | $3,252 | $337 (Paid Family and Medical Leave) |
| 50 | Hawaii | $53,653 | $3,748 | None |
| 51 | Oregon | $52,718 | $4,683 | None |
Four things worth noticing
Nine states have no income tax. Only 8 of them tie
Wyoming, Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Florida and Alaska levy nothing on wages, so they land on precisely the same figure: $57,401. Washington levies nothing on wages either, and does not join them. It withholds 0.58% for its WA Cares long-term care program, which is not income tax and almost never appears in a paycheck calculator. A Washington worker on $75,000 keeps $56,977, which is $425 less than an otherwise identical worker in New Hampshire. Two famously income-tax-free states, and they are not the same.
The headline rate lies
Louisiana charges a flat 3%. Mississippi charges a flat 4%. Arkansas tops out at 3.9%. You would expect that order. What actually comes out is Louisiana $1,697, Mississippi $2,046, Arkansas $2,173. Arkansas has a lower top rate than Mississippi and takes more of it, because Arkansas gives a single filer a $2,470 standard deduction while Louisiana gives $12,875. The deduction matters more than the rate.
Alabama does something almost no other state does
Alabama lets you deduct the federal income tax you paid from your state taxable income. That is a large deduction and it grows with your income. Alabama still takes $2,910, more than Louisiana, because its top 5% rate begins at $3,000 of taxable income. A 5% rate that starts almost immediately beats a generous deduction.
California's biggest paycheck deduction is not income tax
California withholds State Disability Insurance at 1.3% for 2026 with no wage ceiling. On $75,000 that is $952, on top of $2,344 in income tax. That SDI figure alone exceeds the entire state income tax bill in more than a dozen states. Most calculators leave it out.
What this does not tell you
Take-home pay is one input and it is not the important one. This comparison excludes property tax, sales tax, housing, insurance, and every other cost of actually living somewhere. Texas and New Hampshire pair no income tax with some of the highest property taxes in the country. A state can take nothing from your paycheck and more than make it up when you buy a house or a car.
It also excludes local income taxes, which eleven states levy and which can add a full percentage point or more, and the disability and family leave withholding in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Hawaii, where we do not yet have a sourced 2026 rate.
Treat the table as the paycheck half of the picture, not the whole one.
Paycheck Calculator
Run your own salary, 401(k) rate and health premium through any state, with the same 2026 brackets used here.
Use the calculatorMethod and sources
Federal brackets, standard deduction and the Social Security wage base come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and Notice 2025-67. State brackets, deductions and exemptions come from the Tax Foundation's 2026 state individual income tax dataset. Louisiana's figures are additionally cross-checked against the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
Every number in this article is computed from the same code that runs our calculators, so the table and the tool cannot disagree. If you find an error, tell us and we will fix it and say what changed.