California does rank 4th in corporate income tax collections, however, the state's relatively high corporate tax burden is offset by a lower than average property tax burden. States with a higher state tax burden include those often cited as competitors with California in the battle for jobs and economic development. New Mexico, North Carolina, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada all have a higher tax burden than California. Similarly, a number of major industrial states impose a higher state tax burden including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. States with a higher combined state and local tax, fee, and assessment burden include both traditional industrial states such as Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Washington, and Michigan and those often cited as California's competitors for jobs including New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, and Idaho.
States vary greatly in the mix of taxes, fees, and assessments used to fund public services.
States also differ in the relative burden of state taxes as compared to those levied by local government. While California's ranking for individual taxes varies, in any comprehensive measure of taxation, California typically ranks near the middle of all states. The figures cited in the chart below include the impact of the tax increases enacted in 1991, but not the corporate tax reductions enacted in 1993 or the expiration of the top rates on high income individuals at the end of 1995. Prior to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, California was a high tax state. California fell to 24th in 1978-79 as a result of Proposition 13 where it remains today.