How much of a tax burden the wealthiest Americans should shoulder is a hot-button issue and looks to remain so for the foreseeable future as the wealth gap widens and debates over tax ‘fairness’ intensify.
According to a recent study by SmartAsset that breaks down how much of America’s tax burden falls on its wealthiest earners, the top 1% now pay 37% of all U.S. income taxes while earning less than 20% of total income.
In fact, in three states—Wyoming, Florida and Nevada—the top 1% pay more than half of all income taxes collected. New York sits just below that 50% threshold at 46%.
Alaska, at 26.37%, is the state where the top 1% pay the lowest percentage of total income tax collected and is the only state below 30%.
The top 1% in California pays the highest gross income taxes per year—over $122 billion—roughly 39% of the total collected in the state. Alaska’s 1%, unsurprisingly, pay the lowest, at $1,016,945.
Connecticut levies the highest rates on the top 1%, with the average taxpayer forfeiting 28% of their household annual gross income. Wyoming, interestingly, given how much of its total tax collection relies on the top 1%, actually levies the lowest effective income tax rate on this group at 23.1%.
Here are the states where the top 1% pay the most and least taxes.
