How much does the Unemployment Compensation tax cost?

last updated August 13, 2003
Rank	State	Wage Base	Rate	Expense
How's my state stack up? Do we pay more than other states? In a sense, you cannot usefully compare the rate you pay in one state to the rate someone pays in another state, because taxable wage bases differ so widely. A lower rate in one state might be paid on a much higher taxable wage base, yielding a higher expense. So what we do on this table is compare the average tax rates in the different states¹ applied to a complete taxable wage base. Note how the states with higher taxable wages cluster at the high end of this expense table. Raising the taxable wage base is a covert but very effective way to hike your taxes. Many states raise this wage base annually and automatically, so that they never have to take the blame of raising taxes, but taxes are nevertheless raised each year.
1	Utah	$22,000	0.1 %	$22.00
2	Georgia	$8,500	0.3 %	$25.50
3	Oklahoma	$10,500	0.4 %	$42.00
4	South Dakota	$7,000	0.6 %	$42.00
5	Arizona	$7,000	0.8 %	$56.00
6	New Hampshire	$8,000	0.8 %	$64.00
7	Florida	$7,000	1.0 %	$70.00
8	Colorado	$10,000	0.8 %	$80.00
9	Indiana	$7,000	1.2 %	$84.00
10	Mississippi	$7,000	1.3 %	$91.00
11	Missouri	$7,000	1.4 %	$98.00
12	Alabama	$8,000	1.3 %	$104.00
13	Louisiana	$7,000	1.5 %	$105.00
14	Nebraska	$7,000	1.5 %	$105.00
15	South Carolina	$7,000	1.5 %	$105.00
16	Tennessee	$7,000	1.5 %	$105.00
17	North Carolina	$15,500	0.7 %	$108.50
18	Texas	$9,000	1.3 %	$117.00
19	Wyoming	$14,700	0.9 %	$132.30
20	Ohio	$9,000	1.5 %	$135.00
21	Kentucky	$8,000	1.7 %	$136.00
22	Maryland	$8,500	1.6 %	$136.00
23	Virginia	$8,000	1.7 %	$136.00
24	Kansas	$8,000	1.8 %	$144.00
25	Delaware	$8,500	1.8 %	$153.00
26	Arkansas	$9,000	1.9 %	$171.00
27	Washington	$28,500	0.6 %	$171.00
28	New Mexico	$15,900	1.1 %	$174.90
29	California	$7,000	2.6 %	$182.00
30	Illinois	$9,000	2.1 %	$189.00
31	Minnesota	$21,000	0.9 %	$189.00
32	Montana	$18,900	1.1 %	$207.90
33	Connecticut	$15,000	1.4 %	$210.00
34	Michigan	$9,500	2.5 %	$237.50
35	Iowa	$18,600	1.3 %	$241.80
36	North Dakota	$17,400	1.4 %	$243.60
37	Massachusetts	$10,800	2.3 %	$248.40
38	New York	$8,500	3.0 %	$255.00
39	Nevada	$20,900	1.3 %	$271.70
40	Wisconsin	$10,500	2.6 %	$273.00
41	Pennsylvania	$8,000	3.6 %	$288.00
42	Idaho	$27,600	1.1 %	$303.60
43	Vermont	$8,000	3.8 %	$304.00
44	West Virginia	$8,000	3.8 %	$304.00
45	Maine	$12,000	2.8 %	$336.00
46	Rhode Island	$12,000	2.9 %	$348.00
47	Hawaii	$29,300	1.2 %	$351.60
48	New Jersey	$23,500	1.8 %	$423.00
49	Oregon	$25,000	1.8 %	$450.00
rates for District of Columbia and Alaska are not available

How's my state stack up?Do we pay more than other states?

How's my state stack up?
Do we pay more than other states?