Where your paycheck goes furthest in 2026

State taxes change what lands in your account. Prices change what it buys. We ran the same salary through every state's 2026 withholding formula, then adjusted the take-home pay for each state's price level. On $60,000, taxes move take-home pay by $4,394 from the best state to the worst. Prices move its real value by $14,085, about 3 times as much.

Published October 12, 2026 · Download the data (CSV)

Key findings

South Dakota ranks first. $50,390 of take-home pay on $60,000 buys what $56,882 buys in a typical state. The top five are South Dakota, North Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Hawaii ranks last at $60,000, with take-home pay worth $42,798. At $100,000, California falls to the bottom. The bottom five at $60,000 are Hawaii, District of Columbia, California, New York, and New Jersey.
The same salary is worth 33% more at the top than at the bottom, a gap of $14,085 a year in national-average dollars.
No income tax is not a guarantee. South Dakota, which has no wage income tax, ranks first. Washington, also free of wage income tax, ranks 42nd of 51 because of its prices.

Full ranking: all 50 states and DC

Single filer, paid biweekly, standard federal W-4, each state form's default allowances, no pre-tax deductions, no local taxes. "Worth" is take-home pay divided by the state's price level, in national-average dollars.

Rank	State	Take-home on $60,000	Price level (US = 100)	Worth	Rank at $100,000
1	South Dakota	$50,390	88.6	$56,882	1
2	North Dakota	$50,344	89.0	$56,592	2
3	Mississippi	$48,722	87.0	$56,032	3
4	Arkansas	$48,657	86.9	$55,969	4
5	Louisiana	$48,934	88.2	$55,476	5
6	Iowa	$48,644	87.8	$55,427	6
7	Oklahoma	$48,235	87.8	$54,911	8
8	Tennessee	$50,390	91.9	$54,849	7
9	Wyoming	$50,390	92.7	$54,363	9
10	West Virginia	$48,524	89.5	$54,218	11
11	Alabama	$47,881	88.8	$53,906	10
12	Kentucky	$48,408	90.2	$53,691	12
13	Nebraska	$48,266	90.1	$53,567	13
14	Missouri	$48,507	90.8	$53,412	14
15	Kansas	$47,842	90.1	$53,117	15
16	Ohio	$48,977	92.8	$52,792	16
17	New Mexico	$48,357	92.2	$52,441	19
18	Indiana	$48,649	93.3	$52,127	17
19	Texas	$50,390	97.1	$51,918	18
20	North Carolina	$48,457	94.3	$51,372	20
21	South Carolina	$48,106	93.7	$51,314	21
22	Montana	$48,327	94.6	$51,061	23
23	Wisconsin	$47,625	94.1	$50,614	24
24	Nevada	$50,390	100.0	$50,401	22
25	Idaho	$48,063	95.5	$50,331	25
26	Georgia	$48,144	96.3	$49,998	28
27	Michigan	$48,091	96.2	$49,981	26
28	Pennsylvania	$48,506	97.6	$49,713	27
29	Vermont	$48,692	98.0	$49,707	32
30	Alaska	$50,119	102.4	$48,964	29
31	Maine	$47,499	97.0	$48,942	35
32	Arizona	$49,190	100.7	$48,859	30
33	Florida	$50,390	103.4	$48,726	31
34	New Hampshire	$50,390	104.2	$48,375	33
35	Utah	$47,720	98.9	$48,268	34
36	Minnesota	$47,209	98.6	$47,869	37
37	Delaware	$47,497	99.8	$47,588	38
38	Illinois	$47,565	100.0	$47,585	36
39	Virginia	$47,754	101.1	$47,233	39
40	Rhode Island	$47,517	102.3	$46,458	41
41	Colorado	$47,728	103.1	$46,314	42
42	Washington	$49,558	107.0	$46,310	40
43	Connecticut	$47,772	103.6	$46,108	44
44	Maryland	$47,853	105.0	$45,592	43
45	Massachusetts	$47,434	105.8	$44,852	45
46	Oregon	$45,996	103.4	$44,501	46
47	New Jersey	$47,994	108.8	$44,110	48
48	New York	$47,478	107.9	$43,993	47
49	California	$47,806	110.7	$43,178	51
50	District of Columbia	$47,160	109.9	$42,911	50
51	Hawaii	$47,056	110.0	$42,798	49

How we calculated it

Take-home pay comes from the same engine as our state calculators: 2026 federal withholding under IRS Publication 15-T, Social Security and Medicare, each state's official 2026 employer withholding formula, and state payroll premiums such as paid leave and disability insurance. The methodology page documents every formula and source.

Price levels are the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024 (all items), released in February 2026 and the most recent available. We divide take-home pay by the price level and multiply by 100, which expresses each state's take-home pay in national-average dollars.

Limits worth knowing: withholding approximates tax owed but is settled on the annual return; price levels are statewide averages, so a big city usually costs more than its state figure and a rural area less; and city or county income taxes, which apply in a handful of states, are left out so every state is measured the same way.

Use this data

You are welcome to republish these figures with credit and a link to this page. The full dataset includes both salary levels and the housing price index. Suggested citation: PaycheckState, "Where your paycheck goes furthest in 2026," paycheckstate.com, using BEA Regional Price Parities. Questions or a custom cut of the data: [email protected].

FAQ

In which state does a paycheck go the furthest?

South Dakota. A $60,000 salary leaves $50,390 after 2026 federal, FICA, and state withholding, and with prices at 88.6% of the national average that take-home pay buys what $56,882 buys in a typical state. North Dakota and Mississippi follow.

Where does a paycheck go the least far?

Hawaii at $60,000 and California at $100,000. In Hawaii, $47,056 of take-home pay is worth $42,798 in national-average prices, $14,085 less than the same salary in South Dakota.

Do states with no income tax leave you the most money?

They keep more of each paycheck, but prices decide the ranking. Among the states with no income tax on wages, South Dakota ranks first and Washington ranks 42nd of 51 at $60,000. Several states with an income tax but low prices finish ahead of high-cost no-tax states.

What is a Regional Price Parity?

A price index from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that compares the cost of goods and services in each state to the national average, set at 100. A value of 90 means prices are 10% below average. This study uses the 2024 all-items values, the latest available, published in February 2026.

Run your own numbers

Your salary, filing status, and deductions change the picture. The take-home pay by state tool ranks any salary across all 50 states and DC, and each state calculator shows a full paycheck breakdown.