WASHINGTON — Taxes are part of the American experience, but not all states are taxed the same, nor are those taxes used the same.
WalletHub took a look at tax burdens for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to rank the return on investment (ROI) for school systems, roads and bridges, hospitals, violent crime, safety, water quality, home prices, pollution and others.
D.C. came in at the bottom of the list for both roads and bridges and violent crime rates. It was tied for 48th with Alabama on quality of hospital systems. For pollution, D.C. took the 50th spot.
Virginia school systems are the third best according to WalletHub. For the economy, it nabbed the eighth spot and 11th for violent crime. But for pollution the Commonwealth came in at 29.
Overall, Maryland came in at 22 for government services and 33 for ROI. But school systems for the state were ranked sixth.
Here’s the full breakdown for Maryland, Virginia and D.C.
D.C.
- Overall ROI: 48
- Roads and bridges: 51
- Infrastructure: 34
- Schools: 38
- Hospitals: 48
- Violent crime: 51
- Safety: 27
- Economy: 29
- Pollution: 50
Virginia
- Overall ROI: 14
- Infrastructure: 24
- Schools: 3
- Violent crime: 4
- Safety: 11
- Economy: 8
- Pollution: 29
Maryland
- Overall ROI: 33
- Infrastructure: 28
- Schools: 6
- Health: 35
- Safety: 15
- Economy: 13
- Pollution: 45
Drag your cursor over the map to see individual state ROI rankings.
The chart below shows tax rate ranks based on for Republican and Democrat states.
For more information and methodology, visit WalletHub.
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