Between tax year 2022 and tax year 2026, 20 of the 51 US income tax jurisdictions cut their
top marginal personal income tax rate. Three raised theirs. Twenty-eight left it unchanged —
and nine of those have no personal income tax to change.
Every figure below is computed directly from the rate tables that power the TaxMath calculator,
so you can check any row against that jurisdiction's tax table page yourself. For
an independent count of the same period, the NCSL tracks
enacted state tax changes session by session, and the Tax
Foundation publishes an annual
fifty-state rate comparison.
The 20 states that cut
Ranked by the size of the cut, in percentage points.
| State | 2022 top rate | 2026 top rate | Change | 2026 data |
|---|
| Iowa | 8.53% | 3.80% | −4.73 | provisional |
| Nebraska | 6.84% | 4.55% | −2.29 | final |
| Arkansas | 5.70% | 3.70% | −2.00 | provisional |
| West Virginia | 6.50% | 4.58% | −1.92 | final |
| Kentucky | 5.00% | 3.50% | −1.50 | final |
| South Carolina | 6.50% | 5.21% | −1.29 | final |
| Louisiana | 4.25% | 3.00% | −1.25 | final |
| Ohio | 3.99% | 2.75% | −1.24 | final |
| Montana | 6.75% | 5.65% | −1.10 | final |
| Mississippi | 5.00% | 4.00% | −1.00 | final |
| North Carolina | 4.99% | 3.99% | −1.00 | final |
| Georgia | 5.75% | 4.99% | −0.76 | final |
| Idaho | 6.00% | 5.30% | −0.70 | provisional |
| Missouri | 5.30% | 4.70% | −0.60 | final |
| Arizona | 2.98% | 2.50% | −0.48 | final |
| Utah | 4.85% | 4.45% | −0.40 | final |
| North Dakota | 2.90% | 2.50% | −0.40 | final |
| Indiana | 3.23% | 2.95% | −0.28 | final |
| Oklahoma | 4.75% | 4.50% | −0.25 | final |
| Kansas | 5.70% | 5.58% | −0.12 | provisional |
Iowa is the outlier. Its top rate fell from 8.53% to 3.80%, a drop of nearly five percentage
points, as the state collapsed a graduated schedule into a single flat rate. No other state moved
even half that far.
At the other end, several of these "cuts" are small enough to be invisible on a real return.
Kansas trimmed 0.12 of a point. On $100,000 of income that is a difference of roughly $120 —
real money, but not the sort of change anyone relocates over.
The three states that raised
| State | 2022 top rate | 2026 top rate | Change | 2026 data | What happened |
|---|
| Massachusetts | 5.00% | 9.00% | +4.00 | provisional | The "Fair Share Amendment," approved November 2022, added a 4% surtax on income above $1M, effective TY2023 |
| Maine | 7.15% | 9.15% | +2.00 | final | LD 2212, signed 2026-04-09 and retroactive to 1 January 2026, adds a 2% surcharge on taxable income above $1M (single) |
| Maryland | 5.75% | 6.50% | +0.75 | provisional | New top brackets effective TY2025 |
All three increases are surcharges at the very top, not broad-based rate hikes. A
Massachusetts filer earning $150,000 pays the same 5% flat rate they paid in 2022; the 9% figure
applies only to the portion of income above $1 million. This is the single most common way the
"top rate" number misleads.
Four states abandoned graduated brackets
Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, and Louisiana all replaced graduated bracket schedules with a single flat
rate during this window. Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, and Utah were already flat in 2022 and
stayed flat while cutting.
The practical argument for a flat rate is that lowering one number is politically and
administratively simpler than restructuring an entire schedule — which is why states pursuing
gradual elimination tend to flatten first. The practical objection is that a flat rate removes the
mechanism by which a graduated system asks more of higher incomes.
What the top rate does not tell you
The top marginal rate is the most-quoted and least-useful number in state taxation. Four reasons:
- It may apply to almost nobody. Maine's 9.15% and Massachusetts' 9% both begin above $1
million of taxable income. For the overwhelming majority of filers in those states, the
relevant rate is 7.15% and 5%.
- Where the bracket starts matters more than where it ends. A 5% rate that begins at the
first dollar costs a middle-income filer far more than a 9% rate that begins at $1 million.
- Deductions and exemptions move the whole curve. Two states with identical rate schedules
can produce very different bills depending on the standard deduction, personal exemption, or
exemption credit each applies first.
- Capital gains are often treated separately. Several states exclude part of long-term
gains, and Washington taxes gains above a threshold while having no income tax at all. See
Capital Gains Tax: A State-by-State Patchwork.
If you want the number that actually matters — what a specific income owes in a specific state —
the calculator computes it from these same tables, and the
fleet ranking does it for all 51 jurisdictions at once.
That ranking makes the point better than any argument. California has the highest top marginal
rate in the country at 13.30%, and for a $65,000 single filer it sits in the
middle of the pack — cheaper than Oregon, whose top rate is 9.90%, by a
factor of more than two and a half.
Data note
Rates shown are the top marginal rate on ordinary income for a single filer, taken from the
TaxMath rate tables for tax years 2022 and 2026. Local income taxes (New York City, for example)
are not included. Payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes are not included — a complete
picture of what a state costs you requires all of them, and income tax alone is not a
burden ranking.
The “2026 data” column. TaxMath marks a jurisdiction's figures provisional when the enacted
law is known but the revenue department has not yet published its official tables for that year.
Arkansas is a good illustration: its 3.70% top rate comes from Act 2 of the
2026 First Extraordinary Session, retroactive to 1 January 2026, but the state's own TY2026 tables
are still pending. The rate is very likely correct; it is not yet confirmed by the primary source.
Across all 51 jurisdictions, 28 carry final 2026 figures
and 23 are still provisional — the live board is at
2026 data status.
One figure changed for a reason that is not a law change. California's top rate appears in
TaxMath's tables as 12.3% for 2022–2024 and 13.3% for 2025–2026. California's law did not change:
the 13.3% has been the true top rate since 2004, combining the 12.3% top bracket with the 1%
Mental Health Services Tax on income above $1 million. Earlier TaxMath tables omitted the 1%
surtax, and that omission was corrected. California is therefore counted as unchanged above,
not as an increase. See Corrections.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Consult a
qualified tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.