March 23, 2007
Tax Foundation Publishes Most Detailed Estmiates on Federal Taxes
For immediate release
Full study | Data sets
The three counties with the highest federal tax burdens pay roughly eight percent of the nation's total federal taxes, though they represent only five percent of the U.S. population.
The residents of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional district pay nearly two and a half times the federal taxes of residents in Minority Leader John Boehner's district.
Six of the top ten major U.S. city areas with the highest federal tax burdens lie within 50 miles of New York City.
These statistics are part of a new Special Report by the Tax Foundation that represents its most detailed analysis of federal taxes to date. It provides estimates of all federal taxes paid by major city areas, counties, congressional districts and states.
"With this data, taxpayers can compare their federal tax burdens in a way that we have not been able to show before," said co-author Gerald Prante.
For example, when comparing major city areas (or metropolitan statistical areas, MSAs), we find that the area with the highest federal tax burden, Stamford-Norwalk, CT, pays more than the combined average federal tax burdens of the next two cities, San Francisco and San Jose, CA.
At the bottom of the list, the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX area pays less than one-tenth the federal tax burden of Stamford-Norwalk.
"Household income is the key factor in the difference in federal tax burdens," says Prante, "The progressivivity of the tax code will drive up the tax burden in high-income areas."
Six of the top ten congressional districts with the highest federal tax burdens are represented by Democrats, though an analysis of all the districts shows no significant difference between the average federal tax burdens of the two major parties.
An analysis comparing members on the Senate Finance Committee with senators not serving on the committee shows the states represented by committee members pay on average $722 less in taxes. The state of Montana, represented by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, is near the bottom at 46th highest.
Among states, Connecticut is again at the top, with New Jersey and Massachusetts close behind. At the bottom are West Virginia, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
See the full results of the study here.
Full data sets:
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