Alaska Has Highest State, Local Taxes, Survey Finds; Mississippi Has Lowest

Residents of Alaska pay the most in state and local taxes on a per-capita basis, and Mississippians the least, a survey found.

Commerce Clearing House reported in its State Tax Review that per-capita tax burdens rose in the District of Columbia and 47 states in fiscal 1988--the last year for which data were available--and declined in only three states: Oregon, West Virginia and Wyoming.

California collected the most tax money--$55.2 billion--followed by New York, $52.5 billion; Texas, $25.2 billion; Illinois, $20.7 billion; Pennsylvania, $19.5 billion, and Florida, $18.8 billion.

Alaskans were burdened with the highest per-capita tax bill--$3,605--with property taxes accounting for $1,263 of that figure.

District of Columbia taxpayers had the second-highest tax burden, $3,339, followed by New York, $2,934, and Connecticut, $2,281.

Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota and Tennessee all had tax burdens of less than $1,300.

The median burden for all states was $1,627, up $97 from 1987, while the average was $1,772, up $107. The Commerce Clearing House determined the average burden in each state by dividing total tax collections by the population.

Mississippi reported the lowest per-capita tax burden, $1,088.

Per capita increases in 1988 ranged from $443 in Alaska to $22 in California. The tax burden fell $10 in Oregon, $5 in West Virginia and $247 in Wyoming.