South Carolina residents pay lower taxes
... than residents in many other states. I know everyone thinks that taxes are too high but on a comparable basis, the state and local taxes in South Carolina are lower than most states. According to a study by The Tax Foundation, South Carolina ranks 37th in the country paying just 8.8% of their income in taxes.
The highest tax burden is in the states you probably would think of first, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut while the lowest tax burden is found in Alaska, Nevada and Wyoming. I think high local and state taxes is one of the primary reasons (along with better weather) for the long term migration trend from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Louisiana ranked well in the South along with South Carolina.
Below is a snapshot of the 2008 tax burden by state and a link to the study by The Tax Foundation where not only can you see the statistics a little easier but you can also see how the tax burden by state has changed over the past 30 years.
Interestingly, when you look at the trend, South Carolina has held steady with a ranking of 38th in 1977. New Jersey moved from 7th to 1st but amazingly, Ohio went from 45th to 7th during the past 30 years. That must be why we are seeing so many Ohio license plates here in the Charleston area.
