Georgia's Flat Rate Is Higher Than Illinois's, and It Charges a $65,000 Earner Less

Georgia taxes wages at 4.99% for tax year 2026, the return filed in 2027, and Illinois at 4.95%. A single filer with $65,000 of wages owes Georgia $2,495 and Illinois $3,073. The state with the higher rate sends the smaller bill, because Georgia subtracts $15,000 before the rate applies and Illinois subtracts $2,925.

Fifteen states charge one rate on wage income for 2026. A flat rate fixes only the last step of the return. What a state subtracts first, and which line of the federal return it starts from, moves the bill as much as the rate does, and the fifteen states disagree on both.

Every single-rate state, ranked by one filer's bill

The filer is TaxMath's first persona: single, one W-2, $65,000 of wages, and the standard deduction or whatever the state uses in its place. Each figure is that filer's 2026 state tax, computed from TaxMath's rate tables with the same arithmetic the calculator runs. A state counts as single-rate here when every dollar it taxes is taxed at the same rate, even if the first dollars are taxed at zero; Idaho, Mississippi and Ohio write that zero band into the schedule itself.

The federal standard deduction is $16,100 for a single filer in 2026, so the four states that take it whole (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Iowa) start our filer at $48,900 of taxable income, and the other eleven start somewhere else. Ohio is ranked from its statute and Utah is not ranked at all; both are explained below, because in each case our tables leave out an amount that changes the order.

Massachusetts is not in the list. Its 2026 return taxes most income at one rate, but the Department of Revenue adds a 4% surtax on taxable income above $1,107,750 for tax year 2026, so the state has two rates.

Georgia and Illinois: rates four hundredths apart, deductions five times apart

Illinois taxes "4.95 percent of net income," a rate in force since July 1, 2017. Against it, Illinois allows a personal exemption, which the Department of Revenue says rises to $2,925 for tax year 2026, and no standard deduction. Our filer's Illinois tax base is $62,075.

Georgia cut its rate for 2026 and raised its deduction in the same act. The Department of Revenue's summary of the change says the rate "has been reduced to a flat rate of 4.99%" and that the standard deduction "has been increased to $15,000 for single taxpayers" (Georgia DOR). Our filer's Georgia base is $50,000. Georgia's rate is the higher of the two, and Georgia taxes $12,075 less of the same paycheck.

Colorado and Utah: a deduction against a credit

Colorado's 4.40% and Utah's 4.45% sit five hundredths of a point apart. The two states treat the federal deduction in opposite ways.

Colorado's return "is based generally on federal taxable income," the line after the federal standard deduction, according to the Department of Revenue's guide. Our filer reaches Colorado with $48,900 and owes $2,152. The same guide lists 4.4% as the rate for 2025; our 2026 Colorado row is provisional and carries that rate forward.

Utah starts from federal adjusted gross income and subtracts no deduction. Rate times wages is $2,893 at the 4.45% that S.B. 60 set with retrospective operation to January 1, 2026. Utah then subtracts the taxpayer tax credit under §59-10-1018, and the TC-40 instructions lay it out line by line: 6% of the federal standard or itemized deduction, reduced by 1.3% of Utah taxable income above a base phase-out amount that the Tax Commission sets each year.

For the 2025 return, the base amount for a single filer was $18,213. On that year's figures our filer's tax before the credit is $2,925’25 prov.Utah: tax before credits, 2025×$2,925Single filer, $65,000 of wages, standard deduction, full-year residentFederal starting figure line 4$65,000Additions line 5$0Subtractions line 8$0State income line 9$65,000Deduction—Exemptions line 11$0Taxable income line 9$65,000Tax before credits line 10$2,925This is one line of the Utah return, not its total.Built on figures the state has not finalized.Utah State Tax Commission, Form TC-40Open the full Utah return at 4.5%. The credit starts at 6% of the $15,750 federal deduction, $945, and loses 1.3% of the $46,787 above the base, $608.23. The credit is $336.77, and the 2025 Utah tax is $2,588 or less’25 prov.Utah income tax, 2025×$2,588 or lessSingle filer, $65,000 of wages, standard deduction, full-year residentFederal starting figure line 4$65,000Additions line 5$0Subtractions line 8$0State income line 9$65,000Deduction—Exemptions line 11$0Taxable income line 9$65,000Tax before credits line 10$2,925Nonrefundable credits$337Total tax line 27$2,588Everything this calculator leaves out could only lower this figure, so the true amount is this or less.Not modeled: Municipal bond interest addback (TC-40A Part 1); TC-40A Part 2 subtractions — U.S. obligations, railroad retirement, previously-taxed retirement income; The other TC-40A Parts 3 and 4 nonrefundable credits — child tax credit, at-home parent, my529, military retirement, health benefit plan and the rest; and the earned income credit where no W-2 reports Utah wages in box 16 or the federal credit is undetermined; and 1 more.Built on figures the state has not finalized.Utah State Tax Commission, Form TC-40Open the full Utah return.

For 2026 the credit starts at 6% of $16,100, which is $966. The 2026 base phase-out amount appears with the 2026 TC-40 instructions, which had not been published when we checked, so we print no after-credit figure for 2026 and do not rank Utah. Our rate tables carry no credit for Utah, which is why the table above shows the figure before the credit. Colorado subtracts the whole federal deduction before applying its rate; Utah gives back 6% of it, phased down as income rises.

Kentucky's rate is lower than Iowa's, and its bill is higher

Kentucky cut to 3.5% under HB 1 of 2025, "for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026" (HB 1). It allows its own standard deduction, set each year under KRS 141.081: "the standard deduction for 2026 is $3,360" (Kentucky DOR).

Iowa's rate is three tenths of a point higher. Since Senate File 2442, "Iowa law provides for a flat tax rate of 3.8 percent," and "in 2026, all levels of taxable individual income will be subject to this rate" (Iowa DOR). Iowa's tax base is "the taxable income as properly computed for federal income tax purposes under section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code" (Iowa Code §422.7), so the $16,100 federal deduction comes off first.

Kentucky taxes $61,640 of our filer's wages and Iowa taxes $48,900. Kentucky's bill is $2,157; Iowa's is $1,858.

Mississippi, North Carolina and Iowa: three rates near 4%

North Carolina's rate "for Taxable Years after 2025" is 3.99% (N.C. DOR), and its standard deduction for a single filer is a fixed figure in the statute, $12,750 (G.S. 105-153.5). Our filer owes $2,085.

Mississippi's rate is one hundredth of a point higher and its bill is lower. The Department of Revenue lists a $2,300 standard deduction and a $6,000 personal exemption for a single filer, and for tax year 2026 taxes only the excess of $10,000 of taxable income, at 4%. Our filer has $56,700 of Mississippi taxable income and pays 4% on $46,700 of it: $1,868. That lands within a few dollars of Iowa's $1,858 at 3.8%.

Pennsylvania subtracts nothing

"The Pennsylvania personal income tax does not provide for a standard deduction or personal exemption," the Department of Revenue says, and it levies 3.07 percent against taxable income. Every dollar of our filer's wages is taxed, which puts Pennsylvania's $1,996 above Indiana's $1,888 at 2.95% and below North Carolina's at 3.99%, although Pennsylvania's rate is closer to Indiana's.

Indiana's own subtraction is small: our tables apply a $1,000 personal exemption. The Department of Revenue confirms the rate "is lowered to 3% for tax year 2025 and 2.95% for tax year 2026" (Indiana DOR tax chapter). The same chapter describes the county local income taxes that every Indiana county levies on top of the state rate; they are outside our tables and every Indiana figure in this article.

Arizona, Louisiana and Michigan

Arizona's rate is the lowest of the fifteen. The Arizona House's bill summary for SB 1318 states that "the individual income tax rate is levied at a single rate of 2.5% beginning with TY 2023" (Arizona House), and the Department of Revenue's 2025 highlights list a single filer's standard deduction of $15,750, the federal figure. Our 2026 row applies the 2026 federal deduction, and our filer owes $1,223.

Louisiana's Department of Revenue states that "for taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, the individual income tax rate is a flat 3%" (LDR). Its own standard deduction, $12,875 in our tables, leaves our filer with $1,564.

Michigan's rate is set each year by a revenue test. On April 15, 2026 the Treasurer and the two legislative fiscal agencies found that general fund revenue fell 1.56% against 2.70% inflation, so "the individual income tax rate for the 2026 tax year will remain at 4.25%" (Michigan Treasury). Michigan subtracts a $5,900 personal exemption, and our filer owes $2,512. Our Michigan row is provisional, as are Colorado, Idaho and Iowa.

Ohio's $332

Ohio's 2026 schedule is one line long. Revised Code §5747.02 imposes no tax on the first $26,050 of Ohio taxable income and, for taxable years beginning in 2026 and after, "$332.00 plus 2.75% of the amount in excess of $26,050." Ohio taxable income is Ohio adjusted gross income less a personal exemption that steps down at $40,000 and at $80,000 of modified adjusted gross income (R.C. §5747.025).

Our Ohio entry carries the 2.75% and the zero band but not the $332. The 2.75% part of our filer's bill computes to $1,012, and the statute adds the $332 on top of it. That sum still ranks second, behind Arizona and ahead of Louisiana. Ohio's municipal and school district income taxes are outside our tables.

What the ranking does not show

Each figure is the state income tax on one wage earner who takes the standard deduction. Local income taxes are excluded everywhere, and so are credits our tables do not carry, which matters for Utah. Four rows (Colorado, Idaho, Iowa and Michigan) are provisional for 2026; across all 51 jurisdictions, 28 carry final 2026 figures in our tables and 23 are still provisional, listed on the 2026 data status board. Seven of the fifteen changed a rate for 2026, and what each 2026 rate cut is worth to this filer is ranked separately.

The Utah row is the one waiting on a document. When the Tax Commission publishes the 2026 TC-40 instructions, line 17 will carry the single filer's base phase-out amount, and our filer's credit will be $966 less 1.3% of every dollar of Utah taxable income above it. Until then, the pair to run is Utah against Colorado in the calculator.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.