Talking Points

The bad news? The tax-filing deadline is quickly approaching.

The good news? South Carolina residents will pay less in taxes than most of the country.

Though it make not feel like it, our state has one of the lowest tax burdens.

Tax burden measures the proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes. It’s different from tax rates which vary widely based on an individual’s circumstances.

Research website WalletHub compared the 50 states across the 3 tax types of state tax burdens — property taxes, individual income taxes and sales and excise taxes — as a share of total personal income in the state.

South Carolina has the 11th lowest tax burden.

Residents here pay 7.55% of their income to taxes. That includes 2.89% in property taxes, 1.94% in individual income taxes, and 2.72% in total sales and excise taxes.

For the average Lexington County resident earning $57,000 per year, that’s just over $4,300 in total tax burden.

The ugly? New York residents pay nearly 13% of total income in taxes. Just in case you needed another reason to be thankful you don’t live there.

Find the full report at https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494/ .