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How Much the Top 1% Pay in Taxes in the Richest States

April 7, 2025

3 min Read

Written by GOBankingRates Staff

Edited by Chris Cluff

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There is some thought that the top 1% of wealthy Americans do not pay their fair share of taxes. Whether that is true or not — and to what degree — is a debate for another article. What is true is that the wealthy pay billions in taxes in every state.

GOBankingRates looked at tax returns by state and other factors to determine how much the top 1% in the 10 richest states pay in income taxes — here they are listed by highest median income.

Maryland

Median household income: $101,652
Average tax rate: 26.5%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $12.7 billion

Massachusetts

Median household income: $101,341
Average tax rate: 27.3%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $26.6 billion

New Jersey

Median household income: $101,652
Average tax rate: 26.5%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $12.7 billion

Hawaii

Median household income: $101,050
Average tax rate: 27.4%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $26.9 billion

California

Median household income: $93,344
Average tax rate: 27.0%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $122.5 billion

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New Hampshire

Median household income: $95,628
Average tax rate: 25.6%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $3.9 billion

Washington

Median household income: $94,952
Average tax rate: 25.6%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $20 billion

Connecticut

Median household income: $93,760
Average tax rate: 25.7%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $16.3 billion

Colorado

Median household income: $92,470
Average tax rate: 26.0%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $14.9 billion

Utah

Median household income: $91,750
Average tax rate: 24.2%
Total taxes paid by top 1% in the state: $7.5 billion

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed individual tax returns by state to find out how much the top 1% pay in taxes. Using data from the IRS SOI tax stats, the individual tax rates by income percentiles and by state were included. The states were sorted to show the highest to lowest tax share percentage. All data was collected on and is up to date as of March 6, 2025.

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