The 25 lowest tax cities in the USA.

The full tax index.

Ranked on the everycity tax index for May 2026: the state income rate, the combined state and local sales tax, and the effective property tax rate.

The index rewards the city where a household keeps the most across all three major taxes, not the one that markets a single zero. The three numbered columns below carry the top state income rate, the combined sales tax, and the effective property tax as a share of home value. The score in the final column is the composite, with green marking a tax index of 8.0 or above and amber marking 6.0 to 7.9. Every city in the top 25 sits in a state with no tax on wage income, which is why every score lands in the green band; the income tax states with low rates sit in the honorable mentions below.

The nine states with no tax on wage income, Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and New Hampshire, supply every city in the top 25. They fund themselves differently, Texas and New Hampshire on property, Washington and Tennessee on sales, Nevada and Florida on tourism, which is why the sales and property columns vary so widely across a list that shares a single zero on income.

The migration data tells the story behind the table. The states on this list have gained residents from the high tax coasts for a decade, and the flows are largest where the tax gap is widest: California to Las Vegas, New York to Miami, and Illinois and the northeast to the Texas metros of Houston, Dallas, and Austin. The mover keeps a larger share of the same salary, and a remote worker on a coastal paycheck keeps the most of all. The remote work ranking carries the location independent angle, and the cities for jobs ranking sets the local market behind the move.

Read the table by column to match it to your household. The property column favors the Nevada and Florida cities of Las Vegas, Reno, and Orlando, where the rate sits near or below 0.9 percent; the sales column favors Alaska and New Hampshire, which charge no state sales tax at all, and Florida, where the rate stays near 7 percent; and the income column is a clean zero across the entire list, the single feature every city shares.

The single most useful pattern is the trade between sales and property. Texas and New Hampshire fund the missing income tax through high property rates, so a homeowner in Houston, Dallas, or El Paso pays more on the house than a renter does. Washington and Tennessee fund it through high sales taxes, so a heavy spender in Seattle, Tacoma, or Memphis pays more at the register. A renter who saves should favor the property tax states; a buyer who spends little should favor the sales tax states. The lowest tax cities ranking carries the global field.

The second pattern is that no income tax is not the same as low cost. Seattle charges no income tax but carries one of the highest costs of living on the list, while Memphis and El Paso pair the zero rate with a genuinely cheap housing market. A mover chasing a low tax bill should set it against the cost of living, because a tax saving swallowed by rent is no saving at all. The cheapest US cities ranking and the cost of living calculator turn the two into one monthly figure.

The third pattern is what the missing income tax does not buy. A state with no income tax still has to fund schools, roads, and services, so the money comes from somewhere, the high property rate in Houston, the high sales tax in Seattle, or a thinner service base in the smaller states. A mover should read the no income tax label as a shift in where the tax falls, not a free ride, and should check the quality of the local schools and roads that the tax funds. The best cities for families ranking weights the school quality that the property tax pays for, and the safest suburbs in Texas ranking shows where the Texas property tax buys the strongest districts.

How the tax index works.

The tax index is a composite of three measured inputs plus a total burden check, weighted to reward the smallest combined bite on a real household.

The index refreshes quarterly. The income and sales rates draw on the Tax Foundation state and local tax data for 2025 and 2026, the property rates on county assessor effective rate studies, and the total burden is modeled for a representative household. Where a city sits in a state with no wage income tax but a tax on interest and dividends, as New Hampshire historically applied, we note the distinction rather than ignore it. A city without reliable local rate data is excluded rather than estimated.

This ranking is general information, not tax advice. A real household tax bill depends on income level, whether you rent or buy, how much you spend, and personal deductions, and the figures here are representative rates that will not match every case. A mover should confirm the position against a qualified adviser and against the specific county and city rates, and should weigh the saving against the cost of living and insurance, which the cost of living calculator and the tax calculator turn into a monthly number. For an international mover, SafetyWing covers health insurance until a domestic plan begins.

One limit of the method is worth stating. A state rate is a starting point, but cities and counties add their own sales and property levies, so two cities in the same no income tax state can differ by more than a point of total burden. We hold the three measured axes as the comparable spine and leave the local rate to the county detail, which a buyer should confirm before a purchase. The cost converter and the value cities ranking set the tax saving against the full cost of a life in each city.

The same list, reordered by household.

A low tax city means different things to a renter, a homebuyer, a retiree, and a high earner. The same 25 cities reorder depending on what you own and what you spend.

For the renter who saves, the property tax states win without the property tax bill. A high earner renting in Houston, Dallas, or Austin keeps the full salary at the state line and never pays the high Texas property rate, the best math on the list for a saver. The highest paying US cities ranking sets the income, and the tax calculator confirms the take home.

For the homebuyer, the low property states reorder up. Las Vegas, Reno, Nashville, and the Florida cities pair no income tax with property rates near or below 0.9 percent, which keeps the annual bill on a house low. A buyer should avoid the high property states unless renting, and should price insurance separately, a cost the Miami versus Tampa comparison flags for the Florida coast.

For the retiree on a fixed income, Florida and the desert win. Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Las Vegas pair no income tax, including no tax on retirement income, with warm winters and a large established retiree base. The best cities for retirees ranking and the retirement ranking carry the field, and the cost converter prices a fixed income against the local cost.

For the heavy spender, the sales tax column matters most. A household that spends most of its income should avoid the high sales tax cities of Seattle, Tacoma, and Memphis and favor the low sales states, with Anchorage charging no state sales tax at all. The cheapest US cities ranking sets the total cost, and the cost of living calculator prices a full basket.

One closing reorder, for the mover relocating a whole family across the country. The total cost, not the tax alone, decides the winner, and the safest suburbs in Texas and best cities for families rankings weigh schools and safety alongside the rate. A scouting trip to test neighborhoods before a lease is cleanest booked through Booking.com, and the relocation checklist sets out the order of operations for the move itself.

For the high earner with stock income, the no income tax states win twice. A capital gain realized while resident in Miami, Austin, or Las Vegas escapes the state tax that a coastal state would levy on the same gain, which for a founder selling a company or an investor taking profits can dwarf the saving on salary. The timing of the move matters as much as the destination, because residency on the day a gain is realized decides the state bill, a point the no income tax ranking expands on. The tax calculator and a qualified adviser should confirm the residency date before any large realization, because the saving and the risk both turn on it.