States With No State Tax: The Full List, and What "No Tax" Really Means

Short answer

• No US state levies no tax at all. Every state collects revenue from some combination of taxes and fees. A state with no personal income tax still taxes something else.
• Nine states levy no broad personal income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Washington is the partial exception: it taxes no wages, but it does tax certain large long term capital gains.
• Eight of those nine levy no individual income tax of any kind in the Tax Foundation's 2026 classification. Washington is listed separately because its tax applies to capital gains income of high earning individuals, not to wages.
• Only two states have neither a broad personal income tax nor a general statewide sales tax: Alaska and New Hampshire. Even that pair is not tax free. Alaska allows local sales taxes, and New Hampshire collects other state taxes, including a meals and rooms tax and local property taxes.
• The taxes that replace income tax are mainly sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes on specific goods, business taxes, and taxes on natural resource extraction. Which one dominates depends on the state.
• Federal income tax still applies in every state. Living in a state with no state income tax does not change what is owed to the federal government.

Introduction

Search for states with no state tax and you will find a confident list, followed by a quiet correction. The list is real, but the label is not quite what it seems. Most pages that use that phrase are really talking about states with no personal income tax, and that is a narrower claim. A state can leave wages untaxed and still collect sales tax, property tax, excise taxes, and fees, sometimes at high rates.

This article keeps those two ideas apart. First, it gives the full list of states with no broad personal income tax. Then it explains what “no state tax at all” would actually require, and why no state meets that test. Finally, it shows how the nine states on the income tax list raise money instead, how to compare their total tax picture, and which questions to check before treating any headline rate as a saving. Figures in this article were checked on 24 October 2026 and are cycle tagged, because tax law changes and a rate that is correct today can be out of date after the next legislative session.

This is general tax information only. It is not personal tax advice, and it does not replace guidance from a qualified tax professional or from the tax agency in the state concerned.

“No Income Tax” Is Not the Same as “No State Tax”

The confusion starts with shorthand. In everyday speech, “no tax state” usually means “no state income tax state.” Tax agencies and researchers use narrower words for a reason, because the broader claim falls apart on inspection.

A personal income tax is a tax on what people earn, including wages and, in some states, investment income. A state without one still needs money for roads, schools, courts, and police, so it uses other tools instead, at the checkout, in a property tax bill, in fuel or tobacco prices, or in fees.

“No state tax at all” would mean no state income tax, no state sales tax, no state excise taxes, no state business taxes, and no fees that function as taxes. No state comes close to that. Property tax is mainly local, so a state can levy no statewide property tax while homeowners still receive a substantial local bill.

That distinction matters in practice: a high earner who spends little may feel no income tax more strongly than a homeowner with a large property tax bill, while a household that spends most of its income on taxable goods may feel a high sales tax most.

The Full List: Nine States With No Personal Income Tax

The Tax Foundation’s 2026 state individual income tax table lists eight states under “States with No Income Tax”: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. It lists Washington separately, under graduated rate taxes, with a note that its tax applies to capital gains income of high earning individuals. In plain language, the working list that most readers want is nine states long, with Washington carrying an asterisk.

State	Tax on wages	Note
Alaska	None	No statewide sales tax, but local sales taxes apply in many places
Florida	None	See the brief cross reference below
Nevada	None	Tourism, gaming, and sales taxes are major revenue sources
New Hampshire	None	Interest and dividends tax repealed for periods from 1 January 2025
South Dakota	None	Sales taxes and fees are central to state revenue
Tennessee	None	Former tax on interest and dividends ended in 2021
Texas	None	Sales and property taxes carry much of the load
Washington	None on wages	Capital gains tax on certain large long term gains
Wyoming	None	Mineral and energy extraction revenue is important

Two cautions belong with this table. First, the table describes state level personal income tax only. It does not describe local income taxes, business taxes, or the federal return, all of which are covered later in this article. Second, tax law changes. A state on this list today could change its law, and a state off the list could cut its rate to zero in a future session. Check the state revenue department for the tax year that applies to you, not only for the year in which an article was written.

Alaska

Alaska levies no broad personal income tax and no statewide sales tax, the closest combination in the country to a “no tax” state. Cities and boroughs may levy their own sales taxes, so the checkout total depends on the locality, and state revenue rises and falls with natural resource prices.

Florida

Florida levies no personal income tax. For the Florida specific detail, including how Florida funds services without an income tax, see the companion article on Florida (AMB-169). This article keeps Florida to that cross reference on purpose, so the two articles do not repeat each other.

Nevada

Nevada levies no personal income tax. Sales, gaming, and tourism linked taxes bring in money from visitors as well as residents, but residents still pay sales and other consumption taxes on their own spending.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is the most recent addition to the full list. It never taxed wages, but it did tax interest and dividend income until the Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed for tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025, according to the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. Earlier periods remain subject to the old rules. New Hampshire also has no general statewide sales tax, but its local property taxes and meals and rooms tax still apply.

South Dakota

South Dakota levies no personal income tax. Sales taxes and fees do much of the work instead, so total tax paid depends more on spending than on salary alone.

Tennessee

Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, and its former Hall tax on interest and dividends ended in 2021. Its replacement tax is highly visible: the Tax Foundation’s midyear 2026 data put its average combined state and local sales tax rate at 9.61 percent, among the highest in the country, though the rate in a particular town will differ.

Texas

Texas levies no personal income tax. Sales and property taxes carry much of the load, and property taxes are set locally, so two homes of the same value in different Texas localities can carry different bills. Renters do not receive the bill directly, but property tax costs can still affect rent over time.

Washington

Washington is the asterisk on the list. It taxes no wages, but it imposes a capital gains excise tax on certain long term capital gains: 7 percent above approximately 262,000 dollars and 9.9 percent above 1 million dollars, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2026 Washington page, with thresholds subject to inflation adjustment. The same page gives a 6.50 percent state sales tax rate, a 9.51 percent average combined rate, a Business and Occupation gross receipts tax, and an estate tax.

Washington also shows why cycle tagging matters: the same Tax Foundation page notes a recently enacted 9.9 percent tax on household income above 1 million dollars going into effect in 2028. That is a future change, not a current wage tax, and its details should be checked with the Washington Department of Revenue.

Wyoming

Wyoming levies no personal income tax. Mineral and energy extraction revenue is important, alongside property taxes, sales taxes, and fees, and resource linked revenue moves with commodity markets.

The Overlap: States With Neither Income Tax Nor a Statewide Sales Tax

A smaller group sits inside the nine state list. Five states levy no general statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. They are sometimes called the NOMAD states, from the first letters of their names. Only two of those five are also on the no personal income tax list: Alaska and New Hampshire.

That overlap is the closest any state comes to a “no tax state,” and it still falls short. Alaska allows local sales taxes, and New Hampshire levies other taxes, including substantial local property taxes. Delaware, Montana, and Oregon have no statewide sales tax but do levy personal income tax.

“No sales tax” and “no income tax” are two separate tests. Only Alaska and New Hampshire pass both at the state level, and both still fail a test of “no tax at all” once local, excise, business, and fee payments are counted.

What Every State Still Collects

If no state levies no tax at all, what does the full tax picture actually contain? The categories below cover the main tools. Not every state uses every tool at the state level, and local governments add their own layer, but a reader who checks each category for a given state will have a far more complete picture than a reader who checks only the income tax rate.

Sales tax

A sales tax is charged on goods and, in many states, some services. The combined state plus local rate is what appears on a receipt. In a no income tax state, sales tax often carries a larger share of revenue, which is why Tennessee and Washington rank near the top for combined rates despite levying no tax on wages. Exemptions for groceries or prescription drugs also vary by state.

Property tax

Property tax is usually levied locally, based on assessed property value, and it funds schools, roads, police, and fire services in many places. Because it is local, it varies widely within a state, so a useful comparison needs the county or city rate and any primary home exemption.

Excise taxes and fees

Excise taxes are taxes on specific goods or activities, such as gasoline, tobacco, alcohol, and hotel stays, often set per unit rather than as a percentage of price. Fees for vehicle registration, licenses, and permits are compulsory payments too, and they form part of the total cost of living.

Business taxes

Some states levy a corporate income tax; Washington levies a gross receipts tax, the Business and Occupation Tax, instead. A state with no personal income tax is not necessarily a state with no business tax.

Estate, inheritance, and transfer taxes

Some states levy estate, inheritance, or real estate transfer taxes, which apply only in particular circumstances but can be large. Washington has an estate tax despite having no tax on wages.

Local taxes

Cities, counties, and school districts may add sales, property, and in some states local income taxes. The household total is the state total plus the local total, so check the county or city tax authority for the local layer.

How the Nine States Replace Income Tax Revenue

States do not simply do without the money. They replace it, and the replacement mix explains much of the variation in total tax burden. Four patterns cover most of the nine states, and most states use more than one.

First, consumption: sales, excise, and tourism linked taxes, used heavily by Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, and Washington. Visitors help pay, but residents still pay on their own spending, and the tax does not track income in the same way.

Second, property: local property taxes, used heavily by Texas and New Hampshire. The tax is relatively stable, but the bill arrives whether income has risen or not.

Third, natural resources: severance and related charges on oil, gas, coal, and minerals, used heavily by Alaska and Wyoming. Revenue can fall sharply when resource prices fall.

Fourth, business activity: gross receipts, franchise, and other business taxes. Every state on the list uses some form of business taxation, even without a personal income tax.

No state relies on only one pattern, and the balance shifts over time, which is another reason to check current figures rather than one year’s list.

Total Tax Burden: The Number That Matters More Than the Headline

If the income tax rate is not the whole story, what should a reader compare instead? The useful concept is total tax burden: the total amount of state and local taxes paid, compared with income, spending, or property value, depending on the question being asked. Researchers measure it in different ways, so a single ranking should not be treated as final, but the concept itself is the right one.

A total burden comparison needs three inputs: income, spending, and property. A household with high income, low spending, and no property will experience a no income tax state very differently from a household with modest income, high spending, and a valuable home.

That is why “cheapest state” claims need care. A retiree living mainly on income that would be taxed elsewhere may benefit more than a family spending most of its income on taxable goods while paying a large property tax bill, and a renter is affected differently from a homeowner in the same town.

The honest comparison is a small personal checklist: the taxes that would actually apply, checked at the specific locality, then repeated for the comparison state. It is less catchy than “no tax state,” but far closer to what a household would actually pay.

Federal Taxes Still Apply in Every State

A state with no income tax does not remove the federal return. Federal income tax is levied by the United States government and applies in every state, and federal payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare are withheld from wages in every state as well. State and federal returns are separate systems, handled by different agencies, with different rules and deadlines, even though tax software often presents them together.

For residents of the nine states, the federal return remains the main income tax return. A person who lives and works only in a no income tax state will generally have no state personal income tax return for wage income, but may still have a filing obligation in another state where income was earned.

Residency, Moving, and Income Earned in Another State

Moving to a no income tax state does not automatically change the tax treatment of all income, and the rules depend on residency, source of income, and the laws of each state involved. In general, a state can tax income earned within its borders even if the earner lives elsewhere, and a home state can tax its residents on income earned elsewhere, subject to credits and to the rules of each state. Part year residents, people who move mid year, and people who work remotely for an employer in another state can face more than one state’s rules for the same year.

Residency is not decided by a single test, although days present, domicile, and permanent home are all relevant in many states. Check residency and source rules with the tax agencies of both states before assuming a move changes the treatment of every dollar of income. Remote work makes this more common: an employee living in a no income tax state but working for an employer in another state may still face source questions, depending on the states involved.

How to Compare Two States Without Being Misled

The following checklist brings the article together into a practical comparison. It is general information, not a recommendation to move or to stay, and it is designed to prevent the most common mistakes.

1. Start with the income tax question, and be precise. Does the state levy a broad personal income tax, a tax on investment income only, a capital gains tax only, or no personal income tax at all? Washington and New Hampshire show why precision matters.
2. Add the sales tax question, at the combined rate. What is the state rate, what do local governments add, and what is exempt? Check groceries, clothing, and services separately if they matter to the household budget.
3. Add the property tax question, at the local rate. What would the bill be for a home of the value concerned, in the specific county and school district, after any exemptions?
4. Add excise taxes and fees. What are the gasoline, tobacco, alcohol, vehicle, and licensing costs that the household would actually incur?
5. Add business and transfer taxes if they apply. Does the household run a business, hold significant investment assets, or expect a property transfer that could trigger estate, inheritance, or transfer tax?
6. Add the local layer. What do the city and county levy on top of the state figures?
7. Add the federal layer. Remember that federal income tax and payroll taxes apply in every state, and that they are separate from the state figures.
8. Check the tax year. Confirm each figure for the tax year that applies, and note any enacted future changes, such as Washington’s 2028 change noted above.
9. Check the source. Prefer the state revenue department and the Tax Foundation’s current tables over secondary lists, and be cautious about articles that do not give a tax year for their figures.

A comparison built this way avoids the most expensive mistake in this area: assuming that a zero in one column means a zero in every column.

What Can Change, and Why This Article Is Cycle Tagged

Tax law is not fixed. States change rates, repeal taxes, add taxes, and adjust thresholds, often every year. New Hampshire’s repeal of its Interest and Dividends Tax is a clear example: an article written before 2025 that described New Hampshire as a partial exception would be out of date now. Tennessee’s Hall tax repeal in 2021 is another. Washington’s capital gains tax, with its inflation adjusted thresholds and its enacted 2028 change, is a third.

Cycle tagging means the figures here carry a check date, 24 October 2026, and should be rechecked for a later tax year. The structure and distinctions are durable; the specific figures are starting points for a fresh check with the state revenue department.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any states with no state tax at all?

No. Every state collects revenue from taxes, fees, or both. The phrase “states with no state tax” is shorthand, usually for states with no personal income tax. Even Alaska and New Hampshire, which have neither a broad personal income tax nor a general statewide sales tax, collect other taxes, including local taxes, excise taxes, and fees.

Which states have no state income tax?

Nine states levy no broad personal income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Eight of them levy no individual income tax of any kind in the Tax Foundation’s 2026 classification. Washington taxes no wages, but it does tax certain large long term capital gains.

Does New Hampshire have a state income tax?

No, not for current tax years. New Hampshire never taxed wages, and its tax on interest and dividends was repealed for tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025, according to the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. Tax periods beginning on or before 31 December 2024 remain subject to the old rules.

Does Washington have a state income tax?

Washington taxes no wages or salaries. It does impose a capital gains excise tax on certain long term capital gains, with rates of 7 percent and 9.9 percent at different levels, as described in the Washington section above. For a wage earner, Washington functions as a no income tax state. For a person with a very large long term capital gain, it does not.

Which states have no sales tax?

Five states levy no general statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Only Alaska and New Hampshire are also on the no personal income tax list. Alaska allows local sales taxes, so the checkout total in Alaska depends on the locality.

Do I still pay federal tax if I live in a state with no income tax?

Yes, in general. Federal income tax and federal payroll taxes apply in every state, and the federal return is separate from any state return. Living in a no income tax state changes the state part of the picture, not the federal part. Whether a particular person must file a federal return depends on federal filing rules for that year.

Is it cheaper to live in a state with no income tax?

Not necessarily. It depends on income, spending, property, and locality. A state with no income tax may have higher sales taxes, property taxes, or fees that offset some or all of the income tax saving for a particular household. The total tax burden, not the income tax rate alone, is the right comparison.

Do I still file a state return if my state has no income tax?

For wage income earned only in a no income tax state, there is generally no state personal income tax return to file for that income. Exceptions can apply, for example if the person also earns income in a state that does levy income tax, or if a separate state tax, such as Washington’s capital gains tax, applies. Check the revenue department for each state where income was earned.

Can a state with no income tax add one later?

Yes, in principle, subject to that state’s constitution and legislative process. Some states have constitutional limits that make adding a personal income tax difficult, while others could do so by ordinary legislation. Tax law changes regularly, which is why this article is cycle tagged to 24 October 2026 and should be rechecked for later tax years.

Where should I check the current rate for my state?

Start with the state revenue department or department of taxation for the state concerned, and with the Tax Foundation’s current state tax tables for a cross check. For local property and sales taxes, check the county or city tax authority, because local rates vary within a state.

Sources & references

• Tax Foundation, "2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets": the 2026 classification used for the eight states with no individual income tax, Washington's capital gains note, and the statement that eight states levy no individual income tax at all.
• Tax Foundation, "2026 Washington Tax Rates and Rankings": Washington's capital gains rates, state sales tax rate of 6.50 percent, average combined state and local sales tax rate of 9.51 percent, Business and Occupation Tax, estate tax, and the noted 2028 change.
• New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, "Repeal of NH Interest and Dividends Tax Now in Effect", 23 January 2025: repeal for tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025, prior 3 percent rate and exemption thresholds, and continued obligations for earlier periods.
• Tax Foundation, "State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026" (as summarised in Tax Foundation search listings checked 24 October 2026): Tennessee average combined rate of 9.61 percent and Washington average combined rate of 9.57 percent in the midyear edition, which differs slightly from the 9.51 percent figure on the Washington state page because the editions differ. The article uses the Washington state page figure for Washington and the midyear figure for Tennessee, and flags the edition difference here.
• General federal contrast: federal income tax and payroll taxes apply in every state, as administered by the Internal Revenue Service. Readers should check current IRS filing guidance for the tax year concerned. No specific federal rate or threshold is relied on in this article.