Rankings highlight the differences among states in state tax burden versus local tax burden.
Colorado, with its high rank in local taxes and low rank in state taxes, provides an excellent example of the variation in state and local tax burden. Rankings also point out differences among states in their reliance on specific taxes, whether they are state taxes or local taxes. New Hampshire, for example, leads the nation in local property taxes, but has no local sales tax. This issue brief examines Colorado's ranking in a number of state and local tax categories. This statistic is used to rank states because it provides a more accurate measure of the ability of taxpayers to pay taxes than, for example, tax collections per capita.