Figure 5

Revenue from graduated income taxes doesn’t help fiscal health

Per taxpayer surplus (+) or liability (−), by income tax structure in 2023

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Sources: Author; Truth in Accounting, 2025.

Note: Truth in Accounting divides the money a state has available to pay its bills, minus what it owes, by the number of taxpayers. A negative figure (taxpayer burden) is each taxpayer’s share of the shortfall; a positive one (taxpayer surplus) is the leftover funds. The outliers—Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming—rely more heavily on severance taxes than other states.