By now you’ve probably heard the news that Sarah Palin has endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. It was big news in Iowa yesterday and the reaction has been pretty deafening.
Trump even made it very clear that, should he be elected, Palin would “certainly” have a place in his administration.
So while all the hullabaloo is about what Palin and Trump have in common — and we’ll leave those opinions up to you — we weren’t surprised to find out that there are more than a few things about the politicians / reality TV stars that are, well, different.
One of the biggest differences is where they come from. Seriously — and literally — there are hardly two places in America more different than Alaska and the Big Apple.
Can you imagine a Trump casino in Wasilla (pop. 7,831)? How about seeing a bear on Wall Street, at least one unrelated to the stock market?
One other way the two are different: taxes.
New York and Alaska are the #1 and #50 states, respectively, for how much of each paycheck goes to state and local taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. In 2012, New Yorkers paid almost double the state and local taxes of residents of Alaska.
Curious about which state is paying the “right” amount of taxes? Check out our guide to Taxes and Taxpayer Rights here.
Speaking of differences, can you imagine if a politician in Alaska said they wanted to ban Big Gulps? That probably wouldn’t go over too well with the “Deadliest Catch” crew…
What were we saying? Oh yes, taxes. Check out the map below of the state and local tax burden for all 50 states. How does your state stack up?
Courtesy the Tax Foundation
State-Local Tax Burdens by State, Fiscal Year 2012
| State | State-Local Tax Burden as a Percent of State Income |
Rank |
| U.S. Average | 9.9% | |
| Alabama | 8.7% | 39 |
| Alaska | 6.5% | 50 |
| Arizona | 8.8% | 36 |
| Arkansas | 10.1% | 17 |
| California | 11.0% | 6 |
| Colorado | 8.9% | 35 |
| Connecticut | 12.6% | 2 |
| Delaware | 10.2% | 16 |
| Florida | 8.9% | 34 |
| Georgia | 9.1% | 32 |
| Hawaii | 10.2% | 14 |
| Idaho | 9.3% | 26 |
| Illinois | 11.0% | 5 |
| Indiana | 9.5% | 22 |
| Iowa | 9.2% | 31 |
| Kansas | 9.5% | 23 |
| Kentucky | 9.5% | 24 |
| Louisiana | 7.6% | 45 |
| Maine | 10.2% | 13 |
| Maryland | 10.9% | 7 |
| Massachusetts | 10.3% | 12 |
| Michigan | 9.4% | 25 |
| Minnesota | 10.8% | 8 |
| Mississippi | 8.6% | 41 |
| Missouri | 9.3% | 29 |
| Montana | 8.7% | 38 |
| Nebraska | 9.2% | 30 |
| Nevada | 8.1% | 43 |
| New Hampshire | 7.9% | 44 |
| New Jersey | 12.2% | 3 |
| New Mexico | 8.7% | 37 |
| New York | 12.7% | 1 |
| North Carolina | 9.8% | 20 |
| North Dakota | 9.0% | 33 |
| Ohio | 9.8% | 19 |
| Oklahoma | 8.6% | 40 |
| Oregon | 10.3% | 10 |
| Pennsylvania | 10.2% | 15 |
| Rhode Island | 10.8% | 9 |
| South Carolina | 8.4% | 42 |
| South Dakota | 7.1% | 49 |
| Tennessee | 7.3% | 47 |
| Texas | 7.6% | 46 |
| Utah | 9.6% | 21 |
| Vermont | 10.3% | 11 |
| Virginia | 9.3% | 27 |
| Washington | 9.3% | 28 |
| West Virginia | 9.8% | 18 |
| Wisconsin | 11.0% | 4 |
| Wyoming | 7.1% | 48 |
| DC | 10.6% | (10) |
| Note from the Tax Foundation: As a unique state-local entity, DC’s rank does not affect other states’ rankings, but the figure in parentheses indicates where it would rank if included. The U.S. average is a population-weighted average (weighted by state population). DC is excluded from population-weighted averages. | ||
