Money
The 10 Richest Counties in America Will Surprise You
The 10 Richest Counties in America Will Surprise You
The richest counties in America by median income are not located near Silicon Valley or adjacent to Wall Street. They are not in oil rich Texas either.
If you guessed that they are surrounding the D.C. Metro Area, you are correct. Six of ten of the richest counties by median income are based just outside of Washington D.C.: five in Virginia, and one in Maryland. This includes the number one ranked county in all of the United States, Falls Church City in Virginia, which has a median income of $121,250 and where half of homeowners own houses worth more than $500k. In case you are wondering, Falls Church City is less than a 10 mile commute from the nation’s capital.
Two counties that made the top ten richest counties list are in New Jersey: Hunterdon (#6) and Somerset (#10) Counties, respectively. Both are about an hour and change away from Manhattan by car.
Rounding out the list, we go west. Los Alamos County (#3) in New Mexico is 30 miles out of Sante Fe, and Douglas County (#8) in Colorado is on the south side of Denver. Interestingly Los Alamos is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which gets $2.2 billion of government funding and has 9,000 employees.
Original graphic by: Timothy Sykes
Wealth
Visualizing the Tax Burden of Every U.S. State
Tax burden measures the percent of an individual’s income that is paid towards taxes. See where it’s the highest by state in this graphic.
Visualizing the Tax Burden of Every U.S. State
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
This map graphic visualizes the total tax burden in each U.S. state as of March 2024, based on figures compiled by WalletHub.
It’s important to understand that under this methodology, the tax burden measures the percent of an average person’s income that is paid towards state and local taxes. It considers property taxes, income taxes, and sales & excise tax.
Data and Methodology
The figures we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below.
| State | Total Tax Burden |
|---|---|
| New York | 12.0% |
| Hawaii | 11.8% |
| Vermont | 11.1% |
| Maine | 10.7% |
| California | 10.4% |
| Connecticut | 10.1% |
| Minnesota | 10.0% |
| Illinois | 9.7% |
| New Jersey | 9.5% |
| Rhode Island | 9.4% |
| Utah | 9.4% |
| Kansas | 9.3% |
| Maryland | 9.3% |
| Iowa | 9.2% |
| Nebraska | 9.2% |
| Ohio | 8.9% |
| Indiana | 8.9% |
| Arkansas | 8.8% |
| Mississippi | 8.8% |
| Massachusetts | 8.6% |
| Virginia | 8.5% |
| West Virginia | 8.5% |
| Oregon | 8.4% |
| Colorado | 8.4% |
| Pennsylvania | 8.4% |
| Wisconsin | 8.3% |
| Louisiana | 8.3% |
| Kentucky | 8.3% |
| Washington | 8.0% |
| New Mexico | 8.0% |
| Michigan | 8.0% |
| North Carolina | 7.9% |
| Idaho | 7.9% |
| Arizona | 7.8% |
| Missouri | 7.8% |
| Georgia | 7.7% |
| Texas | 7.6% |
| Alabama | 7.5% |
| Montana | 7.5% |
| South Carolina | 7.5% |
| Nevada | 7.4% |
| Oklahoma | 7.0% |
| North Dakota | 6.8% |
| South Dakota | 6.4% |
| Delaware | 6.4% |
| Tennessee | 6.1% |
| Florida | 6.1% |
| Wyoming | 5.7% |
| New Hampshire | 5.6% |
| Alaska | 4.9% |
From this data we can see that New York has the highest total tax burden. Residents in this state will pay, on average, 12% of their income to state and local governments.
Breaking this down into its three components, the average New Yorker pays 4.6% of their income on income taxes, 4.4% on property taxes, and 3% in sales & excise taxes.
At the other end of the spectrum, Alaska has the lowest tax burden of any state, equaling 4.9% of income. This is partly due to the fact that Alaskans do not pay state income tax.
Hate Paying Taxes?
In addition to Alaska, there are several other U.S. states that don’t charge income taxes. These are: Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
It’s also worth noting that New Hampshire does not have a regular income tax, but does charge a flat 4% on interest and dividend income according to the Tax Foundation.
Learn More About Taxation From Visual Capitalist
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic which ranks the countries with the lowest corporate tax rates, from 1980 to today.
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