Tax

The best states to be middle class

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Has the middle class been forgotten? Not when it comes to taxes. 

The middle class typically give a large portion of their paychecks to the government, along with low-income residents, but these tax burdens vary state by state. WalletHub recently ranked all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to determine where people in different income brackets hand over the most and least on sales and excise taxes, property taxes, and income taxes, measuring the share of a resident's income that is contributed to taxes.

Read more: The 20 best states to be poor

"There has been significant opposition to state and local income taxes. This has especially been the case lately, in part due to states and localities amassing significant savings from better-than-expected recovery from the pandemic and federal pandemic aid," Iuliia Shybalkina, assistant professor at the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, such reforms are likely to result in public service cuts that tend to affect low-income families more than high-income ones. To avoid cuts, places would need to increase other taxes, such as sales taxes that are considered less fair."

Middle-income earners in the top state of this ranking have a 4.98% total tax rate as a percentage of income. 

Scroll through to learn more about the states with the lowest tax burden on middle class residents.

Source: WalletHub

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Rhode Island ranked 20th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.37%.
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Michigan ranked 19th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.35%.
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Colorado ranked 18th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.30%.
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Georgia ranked 17th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.16%.
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Massachusetts ranked 16th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.14%.
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Florida ranked 15th with a middle class income tax burden of 9.03%.
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North Carolina ranked 14th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.80%.
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Vermont ranked 13th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.62%.
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Minnesota tied for 10th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.47%.
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Nevada tied for 10th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.47%.
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South Carolina tied for 10th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.47%.
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South Dakota ranked 9th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.41%.
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Montana ranked 8th with a middle class income tax burden of 8.13%.
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North Dakota ranked 7th with a middle class income tax burden of 7.92%.
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Missouri ranked 6th with a middle class income tax burden of 7.84%.
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Idaho ranked 5th with a middle class income tax burden of 7.79%.
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Wyoming ranked 4th with a middle class income tax burden of 7.69%.
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Delaware ranked 3rd with a middle class income tax burden of 7.41%.
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New Hampshire ranked 2nd with a middle class income tax burden of 7.04%.
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Alaska ranked 1st with a middle class income tax burden of 4.98%.
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