last updated May 28, 2010

How do we stack up?
Average unemployment tax rate as a percent of taxable wage base, per state

Of course, average rates vary dramatically from one type of business to another, according to conditions affecting that type of business. And the same tax rate in two different states may be applied to two very different taxable wage bases, resulting in very different costs. Finally, the same tax rate will yield different costs depending on turnover, since the tax will be paid over again for each employee who fills the same position.

Here, nevertheless, are the average rates1 per state in 2009, the last year for which data was generated. But note these options:

  1. To sort this list alphabetically by state, click on the link "state" below.
  2. To sort this list by taxable wage base, low to high, click on "wage base" below.
  3. To sort this list by the assigned tax rate as applied to the taxable wage base, click on "tax rate" below.
  4. To sort this list by the effective tax rate (called "wage rate" here) as applied to all the wages paid, not just the taxable wage base, click on "wage rate" below.
  5. To sort this list by the average dollar cost of this tax per employee, click on "cost per empl;oyee" below.
Rank State Wage Base Tax Rate Wage Rate Cost Per Employee2
1 $22,200 0.18% 0.10% $35
2 Oklahoma $14,900 0.57% 0.22% $82
3 Utah $28,300 0.71% 0.40% $152
4 New Hampshire $10,000 1.24% 0.26% $119
5 Nevada $27,000 1.25% 0.71% $290
6 Alaska $34,100 1.31% 1.00% $0
7 North Dakota $24,700 1.41% 0.33% $122
8 New Mexico $20,800 1.43% 0.74% $273
9 North Carolina $19,700 1.51% 0.64% $281
10 South Dakota $10,000 1.51% 0.47% $151
11 Virginia $8,000 1.56% 0.31% $147
12 Louisiana $7,000 1.63% 0.36% $151
13 Minnesota $27,000 1.64% 0.78% $359
14 Mississippi $7,000 1.73% 0.45% $148
15 Hawaii $34,100 1.89% 0.68% $255
16 Montana $26,000 1.93% 1.18% $335
17 Arizona $7,000 2.00% 0.42% $171
18 Missouri $13,000 2.14% 0.67% $278
19 Washington $36,800 2.17% 1.26% $602
20 Colorado $10,000 2.18% 0.56% $268
21 Georgia $8,500 2.25% 0.51% $215
22 South Carolina $7,000 2.25% 0.52% $185
23 Wyoming $22,800 2.31% 1.10% $477
24 Alabama $8,000 2.39% 0.60% $291
25 Illinois $12,520 2.39% 0.69% $320
26 New Jersey $29,700 2.41% 1.05% $589
27 Iowa $24,500 2.43% 1.28% $470
28 District of Columbia $9,000 2.49% 0.38% $282
29 Delaware $10,500 2.60% 0.63% $0
30 Maine $12,000 2.68% 0.96% $331
31 Oregon $32,100 2.71% 1.66% $660
32 Texas $9,000 2.81% 0.63% $295
33 Idaho $33,300 2.82% 1.92% $647
34 Ohio $9,000 2.92% 0.64% $316
35 West Virginia $12,000 2.97% 0.93% $337
36 Indiana $7,000 2.98% 0.63% $242
37 Arkansas $12,000 3.03% 0.96% $335
38 $7,000 3.17% 0.99% $247
39 Nebrasa $9,000 3.23% 0.87% $313
40 Tennessee $9,000 3.25% 0.70% $287
41 Vermont $10,000 3.52% 0.86% $334
42 Kentucky $8,000 3.60% 0.88% $329
43 Wisconsin $12,000 3.65% 1.12% $435
44 Florida $7,000 3.68% 0.76% $287
45 Rhode Island $19,000 3.74% 1.37% $576
46 Connecticut $15,000 3.76% 0.96% $583
47 Kansas $8,000 4.02% 0.94% $320
48 New York $8,500 4.58% 0.74% $458
49 Maryland $8,500 4.79% 0.86% $442
50 Massachusetts $14,000 4.89% 1.26% $695
51 California $7,000 4.96% 0.86% $444
52 Michigan $9,000 5.30% 1.21% $535
53 Pennsylvania $8,000 5.78% 1.17% $529
  1. states ranked by average rate, low to high
  2. cost per employee = total taxes for the state divided by total number of workers
data from DOL