Best states for take-home pay, 2026
Every state with verified 2026 tax data, ranked by what a $75,000 salary actually takes home after federal and state tax. Same engine, same numbers, as every paycheck calculator page on this site — this page just puts all of them side by side.
Best take-home pay
Alaska
$61,592.50/yr — 17.9% effective rate
Lowest take-home pay
Oregon
$55,588.06/yr — 25.9% effective rate
The gap, same salary
$6,004.44/yr
Purely from where you live — the $75,000 is identical.
Full ranking
Single filer, $75,000 salary, standard deduction, no 401(k) or other pre-tax deductions — held identical across every row so the only thing that changes is the state. Your own number will differ once your actual filing status and deductions are included; use the linked calculator for that.
| Rank | State | State tax | Take-home pay | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 2 | Florida | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 3 | Nevada | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 4 | South Dakota | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 5 | Tennessee | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 6 | Texas | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 7 | Washington | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 8 | Wyoming | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | None | $61,592.50 | 17.9% |
| 10 | North Dakota | $203.29 | $61,389.21 | 18.1% |
| 11 | Ohio | $1,346.13 | $60,246.38 | 19.7% |
| 12 | Arizona | $1,472.50 | $60,120.00 | 19.8% |
| 13 | Louisiana | $1,875.00 | $59,717.50 | 20.4% |
| 14 | South Carolina | $2,160.00 | $59,432.50 | 20.8% |
| 15 | Indiana | $2,183.00 | $59,409.50 | 20.8% |
| 16 | Rhode Island | $2,195.63 | $59,396.88 | 20.8% |
| 17 | Iowa | $2,238.20 | $59,354.30 | 20.9% |
| 18 | Mississippi | $2,268.00 | $59,324.50 | 20.9% |
| 19 | Pennsylvania | $2,302.50 | $59,290.00 | 20.9% |
| 20 | Arkansas | $2,316.41 | $59,276.09 | 21.0% |
| 21 | New Mexico | $2,359.30 | $59,233.20 | 21.0% |
| 22 | North Carolina | $2,483.78 | $59,108.73 | 21.2% |
| 23 | Kentucky | $2,507.40 | $59,085.10 | 21.2% |
| 24 | West Virginia | $2,545.90 | $59,046.60 | 21.3% |
| 25 | Colorado | $2,591.60 | $59,000.90 | 21.3% |
| 26 | Oklahoma | $2,829.50 | $58,763.00 | 21.6% |
| 27 | Montana | $2,876.60 | $58,715.90 | 21.7% |
| 28 | Michigan | $2,936.75 | $58,655.75 | 21.8% |
| 29 | Georgia | $2,994.00 | $58,598.50 | 21.9% |
| 30 | Maryland | $3,350.88 | $58,241.63 | 22.3% |
| 31 | Maine | $3,384.70 | $58,207.80 | 22.4% |
| 32 | Kansas | $3,385.31 | $58,207.19 | 22.4% |
| 33 | District of Columbia | $3,428.50 | $58,164.00 | 22.4% |
| 34 | Massachusetts | $3,530.00 | $58,062.50 | 22.6% |
| 35 | Virginia | $3,551.88 | $58,040.63 | 22.6% |
| 36 | Illinois | $3,567.71 | $58,024.79 | 22.6% |
| 37 | Minnesota | $3,576.61 | $58,015.90 | 22.6% |
| 38 | Delaware | $3,719.00 | $57,873.50 | 22.8% |
| 39 | Hawaii | $4,256.80 | $57,335.70 | 23.6% |
| 40 | Oregon | $6,004.44 | $55,588.06 | 25.9% |
Why nine states are already at the top
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, New Hampshire charge no state income tax on wages at all, so every one of them clusters near the top of this ranking — the only thing separating them here is federal tax and FICA, which are identical nationwide. That does not automatically make them the cheapest place to live: states with no income tax generally collect more through property tax, sales tax, or (Alaska, Wyoming) resource revenue. This page is about payroll tax alone, not cost of living.
What moves a state down this list
The states lowest on this ranking are not necessarily "expensive" in every sense — they are the states whose income tax brackets take the largest bite out of a $75,000 salary specifically. A state with a lower top marginal rate but a higher rate on ordinary middle incomes can rank worse here than a state famous for a steep top bracket that only bites well above $75,000. Use your own salary in the paycheck calculator rather than assuming this ranking holds at every income level — it generally does not, because bracket structures differ, not just top rates.
Methodology
Every figure on this page comes from the same calculatePaycheck
function that powers every state paycheck calculator on this site, run once per
state with identical inputs: $75,000 annual salary, single filer, biweekly pay,
the 2026 federal standard deduction, and no 401(k), health premium or other
pre-tax deductions. Nothing here is hand-typed or estimated separately from the
calculators — this page and the calculators cannot drift out of sync,
because they are the same code.
This ranking currently covers 40 of 51 US jurisdictions. The remaining 11 are left out deliberately rather than filled in with an unverified guess — see the methodology page for exactly which states and why. Each currently ranks by whichever figure its own state page uses, so this table updates automatically the moment a held-back state is verified and published.
What this ranking does not capture
- Cost of living, housing costs, property tax and sales tax — this is payroll tax only
- Local city or county income taxes, which several states levy on top of the state rate shown here
- Any income level other than $75,000 — the ranking is not guaranteed to hold at a different salary
- Filing statuses other than single, and any pre-tax deductions