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Overview
This historical dataset of state tax rates includes data on top personal income tax rates, top corporate income tax rates, and sales tax rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, back to the adoption of modern forms of state taxation at the start of the 20th century.
The data make clear that state tax systems have undergone significant changes over time. At the start of the 20th century, broad-based and state-administered taxes on income and sales did not exist and states tended to rely largely on property taxes instead. While a few states implemented income taxes prior to adoption of the federal income tax in 1913, more state income taxes were enacted in the years that followed and even more were created during the Great Depression both to fund essential services and tether state tax systems more closely to households’ ability to pay. By 1940, two thirds of states had corporate and personal income taxes and half levied general sales taxes. States continued to adopt these taxes through the early 1970s, but for the last 50 years the number of states with each type of tax has remained nearly unchanged. Instead, the most important developments of the last few decades have had more to do with changing taxes already on the books, rather than creating or eliminating major taxes in their entirety.
While these data can shed light on how state taxes have changed over time, it is important to note that they illuminate just one aspect of that evolution: changes in headline tax rates. Users of these data should be aware that the definition of the tax base—or what is subject to tax—also matters when seeking to compare tax rates across states and over time. The broadening of many state tax bases in the wake of the federal Tax Reform Act of 1986, for example, represents a particularly important development in the history of state taxation. There are numerous other instances throughout history where state tax bases have changed in significant ways and users will need to look elsewhere to find information on those developments. For personal and corporate income taxes, it is also important to emphasize that the rates reported here are top marginal rates, and in states with graduated bracket structures many taxpayers with more modest levels of net income do not pay tax at these rates.
Data sources and methods
Much of the information in this file comes from two organizations that have spent considerable time tracking state tax developments: the now-defunct Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) for data spanning the 1950s to early 1990s, and the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) for 2000 onward. Both bodies were, and are, widely respected for their impartiality and attention to detail. These data are supplemented with information from the Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation under the Auspices of the National Tax Association, the Council of State Governments’ Book of the States, the U.S. Census Bureau’s State Tax Collection reports, and state agency reports on historic tax rates. Finally, the remaining data are extracted directly from state statues and tax forms. When information from the multistate sources named above conflicts with information published by state agencies or in state statutes, we default to relying on the in-state information source.
This file includes data on broad-based, centrally collected, state-level taxes. Local taxes are excluded, though a portion of California’s local sales tax is categorized as a state tax in this file as it is mandated, uniform across the state, and centrally collected. Personal and corporate income taxes are defined to include those levies applying to broad categories of net income. For states with graduated personal or corporate income tax rates, only the top rate is reported. When states apply different rates to earned income and investment income, this file displays the rate on earned income. Narrow taxes applying only to certain forms of income are excluded, such as investment income taxes and payroll taxes on earned income. Corporate tax structures applying to capital value or some other base that is not net income are similarly excluded. For sales taxes, we typically include only those general sales taxes that are assessed on the purchaser, with Hawaii and New Mexico being notable exceptions as the seller is liable for those taxes. Other gross receipts taxes, margins taxes, and gross income taxes are sometimes described in cell notes but are not included in the core data as the structure of those levies is sufficiently different from more traditional state taxes on corporate net income, personal income, and sales.
Throughout history states have sometimes used surcharges to respond to revenue downturns or fund a specific program. Our data on top personal and corporate income tax rates include all applicable surcharges to calculate a true top rate. For those years when a surcharge was in effect, or when tax liability was calculated as a percentage of federal liability, that calculation is displayed transparently via a formula in the file.
In the case of changes taking effect partway through a calendar year, we report the rate in effect as of December 31st of that year.
Tax rate data for 2026 are those rates in effect as of January 21, 2026. Tax rate changes enacted during 2026 legislative sessions are not reflected here as of this writing, but will be reflected in future updates to these data.
To request assistance in using this data or to report errors
Please contact Sarah Austin with any questions, comments, or corrections. While every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of these data, it is likely that some of the more than 11,000 datapoints found in this file could benefit from revision.
Suggested citation
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, “Historical State Tax Rate Data,” File Version 2026.1, January 2026, ITEP.org/historical-state-tax-rate-data.”
