15 Cities Where Workers Pay the Most in Taxes

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Flippa.

The annual tax filing season began again in late January, and over the next few months, tax burdens will be top of mind for many Americans as they prepare their 2023 returns.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a sharp disruption in state and local tax revenue due to the closure of many parts of the economy. Since mid-2022, however, the economy has remained resilient and produced strong state and local tax collections.

Residents in the U.S. are subject to vastly different tax liabilities depending on where they live.

For high earners, these variations can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in savings — or additional costs — on an annual basis.

The following is a breakdown of state and local taxes paid by households earning more than $200,000 for major U.S. metropolitan areas.

The analysis was conducted by Flippa — a marketplace for buying and selling digital businesses — using data from the IRS. For more information, see the methodology at the end.

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $53,463
• Income taxes paid per household: $44,365
• Property taxes paid per household: $8,779
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 8.3%
• Average income: $647,185
• Number of households: 389,190

2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $50,564
• Income taxes paid per household: $41,900
• Property taxes paid per household: $8,362
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 7.4%
• Average income: $687,356
• Number of households: 204,910

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $48,845
• Income taxes paid per household: $39,761
• Property taxes paid per household: $8,651
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 8.2%
• Average income: $593,982
• Number of households: 461,620

4. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $43,213
• Income taxes paid per household: $34,693
• Property taxes paid per household: $8,412
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 6.9%
• Average income: $622,156
• Number of households: 854,680

5. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $34,190
• Income taxes paid per household: $26,979
• Property taxes paid per household: $6,848
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 7.0%
• Average income: $489,788
• Number of households: 136,200

6. Fresno, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $26,805
• Income taxes paid per household: $22,390
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,074
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.9%
• Average income: $457,969
• Number of households: 14,650

7. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

• State & local taxes paid per household: $26,440
• Income taxes paid per household: $21,689
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,653
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.9%
• Average income: $446,058
• Number of households: 107,630

8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

• State & local taxes paid per household: $24,635
• Income taxes paid per household: $18,821
• Property taxes paid per household: $5,429
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.4%
• Average income: $455,752
• Number of households: 360,970

9. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

• State & local taxes paid per household: $24,215
• Income taxes paid per household: $19,749
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,222
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.1%
• Average income: $476,932
• Number of households: 141,490

10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL

• State & local taxes paid per household: $24,061
• Income taxes paid per household: $14,398
• Property taxes paid per household: $8,396
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 2.5%
• Average income: $967,055
• Number of households: 181,950

11. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

• State & local taxes paid per household: $24,002
• Income taxes paid per household: $17,925
• Property taxes paid per household: $5,880
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 4.1%
• Average income: $578,748
• Number of households: 286,190

12. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $23,345
• Income taxes paid per household: $18,468
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,540
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.8%
• Average income: $401,597
• Number of households: 79,210

13. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $23,058
• Income taxes paid per household: $17,580
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,945
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 5.9%
• Average income: $388,611
• Number of households: 73,600

14. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

• State & local taxes paid per household: $22,265
• Income taxes paid per household: $17,349
• Property taxes paid per household: $4,690
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 4.8%
• Average income: $463,849
• Number of households: 88,930

15. Salt Lake City, UT

• State & local taxes paid per household: $21,538
• Income taxes paid per household: $18,012
• Property taxes paid per household: $3,371
• State & local taxes as a share of household income: 3.7%
• Average income: $587,115
• Number of households: 33,140

Methodology

The statistics shown are derived from IRS individual income tax data aggregated by the principal residence of filers with $200,000 or more in adjusted gross income for tax year 2020, the most recent year available.

As such, the data represents the total amount of state and local taxes paid by residents of each location (regardless of where the tax was actually paid).

To determine the locations where high-income residents pay the most in taxes, researchers at Flippa calculated the total amount of state and local taxes paid by high-income filers divided by the total number of high-income filers. These taxes include income, sales, real estate, and personal property taxes.