Nation’s Top 10 Places with Heaviest Income Tax Burdens

Paying too much income taxes?

When it comes to income taxes, not just how much you earn matters, your location also plays a role, a big role. So instead of trying to squeeze a few bucks from various deductions, you may want to consider relocation if you are living in one of the cities in the nation that imposes heavy personal income taxes.

According to a CNNMoney article, people living in Manhattan, New York, pay an average of $25,875 federal personal income taxes, or about 20% of their AGI, the highest in the nation, while residents of Starr County in Texas enjoy a refund of $867, which equals to a negative 4.13% tax burden, from Uncle Sam every year. The article lists top 1o counties in the nation that have the heaviest income tax burdens as:

Rank	County	State	Avg. Tax Liability	Taxes as % of AGI
1	New York (Manhattan)	NY	$25,875	20.0
2	Fairfield	CT	$23,479	19.4
3	Teton	WY	$27,015	18.3
4	Westchester	NY	$19,411	17.8
5	Pitkin	CO	$24,001	17.6
6	Collier	FL	$16,966	17.4
7	Union	SD	$14,006	17.2
8	Marin	CA	$18,365	16.8
9	Somerset	NJ	$16,502	16.8
10	Morris	NJ	$15,296	16.3

Factors that contribute to high income taxes include, but not limited to:

• High personal income: of course, you pay more when you earn more;
• Income from investments: however, if your investment incomes are from long-term capital gains or dividends, the impact is so bad as these distributions are taxed at a lower rate;
• State and local income taxes: since these taxes can be deducted from your federal income taxes, you can get a bigger deduction if you are living in a high income taxes state.

The article also provides a list of top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest income taxes percentage compared with AGI:

Rank	Cities	State	Avg. Tax Liability	Taxes as % of AGI
1	Stamford – Norwalk	CT	$41,496	22.0
2	Naples	FL	$16,849	17.4
3	San Francisco	CA	$14,279	16.0
4	West Palm Beach – Boca Raton	FL	$11,014	15.1
5	Danbury	CT	$12,324	15.0
6	Boston	MA	$10,698	14.7
7	New York	NY	$9,602	14.7
8	Bergen – Passaic	NJ	$10,339	14.4
9	Newark	NJ	$10,146	14.4
10	San Jose	CA	$11,726	14.2

How’s your income taxes compared with others in the nation? I am living in a county that on the top 10 list, which also has the highest property taxes in the nation .

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