Report: Average Hawai‘i Tax Rates Compared with Nation

BIg Island Now stock photo. Feb. 2016

Hawai‘i residents pay among the highest taxes in the nation on fuel and cigarettes, according to a Tax Rates by State report released by the online finance website WalletHub.

The report compares the cost of the average taxpayer’s various obligations in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. According to the results, states with no income tax are not necessarily cheaper as they tend toward higher sales and property taxes.

Hawai‘i ranked 20th in the nation for state taxes in the report, placing the Aloha State in the top half of more favorable states when it comes to tax obligations. The report also found that Hawai‘i residents pay an effective total state and local tax rate of 10.33 percent based on the median U.S. household average. The annual state and local taxes were reported as $5,762 for Hawai‘i, also based on the median U.S. household average. On the median state household average, annual state and local taxes in Hawai‘i amounted to $8,277.

Graphic courtesy of WalletHub.

In specific categories, Hawai‘i ranked first in the nation for its effective real-estate tax rate of .90 percent. The effective income tax rate in Hawai‘i was reported as 3.85 percent, placing Hawai‘i at 47th in the nation. Hawai‘i ranks 46th in the nation for sales and excise taxes, which amount to 5.59 percent effectively.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household pays more than $5,700 in federal income taxes. When it comes to state-to-state comparisons of tax obligations, the average can vary widely.