The consumer finance site Wallethub has ranked the best and worst states across the country where taxpayers can find accountants to help prepare their taxes.
To identify the sweetest spots for tax assistance, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of six key metrics—ranging from the number of accountants per 1,000 people to their average workload and hourly compensation. In some cases, there were ties, indicated by a T followed by the ranking.
Best States for Tax Help
1 North Dakota
2 Massachusetts
3 District of Columbia
4 Minnesota
T-5 Colorado
T-5 Connecticut
7 Oklahoma
8 Washington
9 New York
10 Maryland
Worst States for Tax Help
T-42 Texas
T-42 West Virginia
T-42 Wisconsin
T-45 Florida
T-45 Indiana
47 Louisiana
48 North Carolina
49 Mississippi
50 Arkansas
51 Idaho
WalletHub’s research found that 57 percent of people pay someone to prepare and file their return. There is an average of four accountants per capita in the U.S., with each handling roughly 225 returns. The number of accountants per 1,000 people is 10 times higher in D.C. than in Mississippi. The percentage of filers paying for tax help is 2 times higher in New York than in Washington. The number of returns filed per accountant is seven times higher in Mississippi than in D.C.
The number of accounting job openings per 1,000 people is also 66 times higher in D.C. relative to the Magnolia State. The number of filers who made “math errors” in 2013 was 2.3 million.
For the full report and state rankings,
