States With No State Tax: The 9 Income-Tax-Free States
Nine states charge no state income tax on your wages, but none charges no tax at all. Here is the full list, what each state taxes instead, and how to judge whether a move would actually leave you better off.
Key takeaways
- Nine states levy no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming.
- “No state tax” means no income tax. Federal, sales, and property taxes still apply.
- New Hampshire joined the nine in full in 2025, when its interest-and-dividends tax was repealed.
- Judge a move on total burden and living costs, not one rate alone.
What “no state tax” usually means
Search results for states with no state tax mix up two ideas. Most people asking mean states with no state income tax: states taking nothing from your paycheck at the state level. That is the question answered here. A smaller group means states with no sales tax, covered below.
The distinction matters because no state is tax-free: states without an income tax still fund schools, roads, and services through sales, property, tourism, or natural-resource taxes. And federal income tax, plus Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, still apply wherever you live.
The 9 states with no state income tax
As of 2026, nine states levy no broad-based personal income tax: wages escape state tax entirely, and in most so does investment income. Tennessee completed the list when its Hall tax was repealed from 2021; New Hampshire followed when its interest-and-dividends tax was repealed in 2025.
| State | State income tax | What it taxes instead |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | None | Local sales taxes; oil revenue |
| Florida | None | 6% sales tax; tourism |
| Nevada | None | 6.85% sales tax; gaming |
| New Hampshire | None since 2025 | No sales tax; high property taxes |
| South Dakota | None | 4.5% sales tax |
| Tennessee | None since 2021 | 7% sales tax |
| Texas | None | 6.25% sales tax; high property taxes |
| Washington | None on wages | 6.5% sales tax; capital gains tax |
| Wyoming | None | 4% sales tax; mineral revenue |
Two footnotes. Washington taxes no wages or retirement income, but levies a capital gains tax on high earners: 7% above the annual threshold, rising to 9.9% on very large gains. Texas and Florida go further: both constitutions bar a personal income tax, needing a constitutional amendment to change. Our paycheck tax calculator Florida guide shows take-home pay there.
No income tax is not the same as no sales tax
Only five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Just Alaska and New Hampshire appear on both lists; the other seven no-income-tax states charge sales tax, and Delaware, Montana, and Oregon charge income tax.
Even Alaska has a caveat: many towns and boroughs levy their own local sales taxes. So when someone promises a “tax-free state,” ask tax-free what: income, sales, and property are separate bills, and no state zeroes all three.
Does moving to a no-tax state actually save you money?
Sometimes, by a lot. Sometimes, barely at all. It depends on earnings, home ownership, taxable spending, and everyday costs in the new state.
High earners gain the most in absolute dollars, and renters often come out ahead, avoiding property tax directly. Homeowners in Texas or New Hampshire can see the saving partly eaten by property taxes among the country's highest.
A move must be genuine: a new home, driver’s license, and voter registration, with part-year rules in the move year. High-tax states audit high-income departures, and income tied to the old state, like rent from property there, can stay taxable.
A worked example: a $100,000 earner in Texas vs California
Take a single earner on $100,000 of wages, ignoring deductions. In Texas, state income tax is $0; in California, an illustrative effective rate of 5.5% gives $5,500. That headline saving is illustrative, not a tax calculation: real California tax depends on brackets, deductions, and filing status, so run your own numbers in our salary calculator first.
Now add property tax on a $300,000 home, again illustratively: roughly 1.40% in Texas, about $4,200 a year; 0.75% in California, about $2,250. That gap of about $1,950 cuts the $5,500 headline saving to roughly $3,550, before sales tax or housing differences. The federal SALT deduction only helps if you itemize, and it is capped: our guide to SALT deductions explains the cap, and our guide to how much tax is deducted from a paycheck in NY shows a high-tax paycheck breakdown.
Who benefits most, and who should think twice
The clearest winners are high earners, remote workers who can genuinely relocate, and retirees drawing pensions or retirement income, untaxed here. Investors should check the fine print: Washington’s capital gains tax shows “no income tax” has not always meant no tax on investments.
Think twice if buying an expensive home in Texas or New Hampshire, spending heavily on taxable goods in Tennessee or Washington, or having job and family rooted where you are. A move saving $3,000 in tax but costing $10,000 in housing and disruption is not a saving.
Bottom line
States with no state tax means, in practice, the nine no-income-tax states listed above. The saving is real, especially for higher earners, but never the whole story: check sales and property taxes, compare living costs, and make sure the move is genuine first.
Sources & further reading
- Tax Foundation, State Income Tax RatesThe nine states (curl: 200, 29 Oct 2026).
- Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax RatesSales tax rates (curl: 200, 29 Oct 2026).
- NerdWallet, Moving to a State Without Income TaxThe nine states; moving trade-offs (curl: 200, 29 Oct 2026).
- NH Department of Revenue Administration, Repeal of NH Interest and Dividends Tax Now in EffectRepeal eff. Jan 1, 2025 (page text verified 29 Oct 2026; curl bot-blocked).
- MTAS Tennessee, State-Shared Income Tax (Hall Income Tax)Hall tax repealed eff. Jan 1, 2021 (curl: 200, 29 Oct 2026).
- Washington Department of Revenue, Capital Gains TaxCapital gains excise tax (curl: 200, 29 Oct 2026).
General information only, not tax advice. State rules change, and your bill depends on income, home, and filing status, so check your state revenue department or a tax professional before acting.