Sales Tax Rates by State: Complete 2024 Guide
Every US state's sales tax rate plus average local taxes, no-sales-tax states, and what you need to know about collecting and remitting.
Sales tax in the United States is anything but simple. There’s no federal sales tax - instead, 45 states and DC impose their own rates, and thousands of local jurisdictions add their own on top. Here’s what you need to know.
States With No Sales Tax
Five states charge zero sales tax:
- Oregon - No sales tax at any level
- Montana - No sales tax (some resort areas charge a local resort tax)
- Delaware - No sales tax (but does charge a gross receipts tax on businesses)
- New Hampshire - No sales tax (but charges a 9% prepared meals tax)
- Alaska - No state sales tax, but local municipalities can charge up to 7.5%
Alaska is the tricky one. While there’s no state-level tax, cities like Juneau (5%), Kodiak (7%), and others levy their own sales taxes.
Complete State Sales Tax Rates
| State | State Rate | Avg. Local Rate | Combined Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 4.00% | 5.24% | 9.24% |
| Alaska | 0.00% | 1.82% | 1.82% |
| Arizona | 5.60% | 2.80% | 8.40% |
| Arkansas | 6.50% | 2.97% | 9.47% |
| California | 7.25% | 1.57% | 8.82% |
| Colorado | 2.90% | 4.87% | 7.77% |
| Connecticut | 6.35% | 0.00% | 6.35% |
| Delaware | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Florida | 6.00% | 1.02% | 7.02% |
| Georgia | 4.00% | 3.38% | 7.38% |
| Hawaii | 4.00% | 0.50% | 4.50% |
| Idaho | 6.00% | 0.02% | 6.02% |
| Illinois | 6.25% | 2.57% | 8.82% |
| Indiana | 7.00% | 0.00% | 7.00% |
| Iowa | 6.00% | 0.94% | 6.94% |
| Kansas | 6.50% | 2.20% | 8.70% |
| Kentucky | 6.00% | 0.00% | 6.00% |
| Louisiana | 4.45% | 5.10% | 9.55% |
| Maine | 5.50% | 0.00% | 5.50% |
| Maryland | 6.00% | 0.00% | 6.00% |
| Massachusetts | 6.25% | 0.00% | 6.25% |
| Michigan | 6.00% | 0.00% | 6.00% |
| Minnesota | 6.875% | 0.66% | 7.54% |
| Mississippi | 7.00% | 0.07% | 7.07% |
| Missouri | 4.225% | 4.06% | 8.29% |
| Montana | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Nebraska | 5.50% | 1.44% | 6.94% |
| Nevada | 6.85% | 1.38% | 8.23% |
| New Hampshire | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| New Jersey | 6.625% | -0.03% | 6.60% |
| New Mexico | 5.125% | 2.69% | 7.82% |
| New York | 4.00% | 4.52% | 8.52% |
| North Carolina | 4.75% | 2.23% | 6.98% |
| North Dakota | 5.00% | 1.96% | 6.96% |
| Ohio | 5.75% | 1.49% | 7.24% |
| Oklahoma | 4.50% | 4.47% | 8.97% |
| Oregon | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Pennsylvania | 6.00% | 0.34% | 6.34% |
| Rhode Island | 7.00% | 0.00% | 7.00% |
| South Carolina | 6.00% | 1.46% | 7.46% |
| South Dakota | 4.20% | 1.90% | 6.10% |
| Tennessee | 7.00% | 2.55% | 9.55% |
| Texas | 6.25% | 1.95% | 8.20% |
| Utah | 6.10% | 1.09% | 7.19% |
| Vermont | 6.00% | 0.38% | 6.38% |
| Virginia | 5.30% | 0.46% | 5.76% |
| Washington | 6.50% | 2.67% | 9.17% |
| West Virginia | 6.00% | 0.50% | 6.50% |
| Wisconsin | 5.00% | 0.44% | 5.44% |
| Wyoming | 4.00% | 1.44% | 5.44% |
| DC | 6.00% | 0.00% | 6.00% |
Note: New Jersey’s negative average local rate reflects Urban Enterprise Zones where reduced rates apply.
Highest and Lowest Combined Rates
Highest combined state + local averages:
- Louisiana - 9.55%
- Tennessee - 9.55%
- Arkansas - 9.47%
- Alabama - 9.24%
- Washington - 9.17%
Lowest (among states that charge sales tax):
- Hawaii - 4.50% (technically a general excise tax, not sales tax)
- Wisconsin - 5.44%
- Wyoming - 5.44%
- Maine - 5.50%
- Virginia - 5.76%
What’s Taxable (and What’s Not)
Sales tax doesn’t apply uniformly to all purchases. Common exemptions vary by state:
Groceries
- Fully exempt: Most states exempt unprepared food (California, New York, Texas, Florida, and roughly 30 others)
- Taxed at reduced rate: Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia
- Fully taxed: Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota
Clothing
- Fully exempt: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, New York (items under $110)
- Taxed: Most other states
Digital Products
This is the messiest category. Some states tax streaming subscriptions, digital downloads, and SaaS products. Others don’t. The trend is toward taxing digital goods - roughly 30 states now tax at least some digital products.
Services
Historically, most states only taxed tangible goods. That’s changing. States are increasingly taxing services like landscaping, cleaning, and IT consulting. Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, and South Dakota have particularly broad service taxation.
Economic Nexus: When You Must Collect Sales Tax
Since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require remote sellers to collect sales tax even without a physical presence. Most states have adopted thresholds:
- Common threshold: $100,000 in sales OR 200 transactions in the state
- Some states use only dollar thresholds: $100,000 (California, Texas, New York)
- Some have lower thresholds: $50,000 (Oklahoma), $10,000 (Pennsylvania - proposed changes pending)
If you sell online across state lines, you need to track where your customers are and register for sales tax collection in states where you exceed the threshold.
Marketplace Facilitator Laws
If you sell through Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, or similar platforms, the marketplace itself is responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax in most states. This is a major simplification for sellers - you don’t need to register separately in those states for marketplace sales.
However, if you also sell through your own website, you’re still responsible for direct sales tax collection where you have nexus.
Sales Tax Holidays
Several states offer temporary sales tax holidays, typically in late summer for back-to-school shopping:
- Texas: August - clothing, footwear, school supplies, backpacks (items under $100)
- Florida: Multiple throughout the year - back-to-school, disaster preparedness, recreation
- Massachusetts: One weekend in August - items under $2,500
- Ohio, Missouri, Virginia, South Carolina: Similar back-to-school holidays
Check your state’s department of revenue for specific dates and eligible items.
How to Stay Compliant
For brick-and-mortar businesses
- Charge the rate for your physical location (state + county + city)
- File returns on the schedule your state requires (monthly, quarterly, or annually based on volume)
- Most states offer a small vendor discount (1–3%) for timely filing
For e-commerce businesses
- Determine where you have nexus (physical or economic)
- Register for sales tax permits in those states
- Use tax automation software (TaxJar, Avalara, or similar) - manual calculation across thousands of jurisdictions is impractical
- Charge the rate based on the destination (where the buyer is), not your location - most states are destination-based
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Not registering before collecting - collecting sales tax without a permit is illegal in most states
- Collecting but not remitting - this is considered tax fraud
- Ignoring economic nexus - states are actively auditing remote sellers
- Using zip codes for rate lookup - zip codes can span multiple tax jurisdictions; use full street addresses
The Trend: Rates Are Rising
Over the past decade, the trend has been toward higher combined rates, primarily driven by local jurisdictions adding or increasing their taxes. States rarely raise their base rates (it’s politically unpopular), but cities and counties quietly add 0.25–1% increments for transit, infrastructure, or general fund purposes.
If you’re budgeting for a business, assume your effective sales tax rate will be 0.1–0.25% higher within a few years.
Try the calculator: sales tax calculator