West Virginia has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 2.11 percent to 4.58 percent. West Virginia has a flat 6.50 percent corporate income tax rate, a 6.00 percent state sales tax rate, and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 6.59 percent. West Virginia has a 0.51 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value. West Virginia does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. West Virginia’s gas tax is 35.7 cents per gallon, and its cigarette excise tax is $1.20 per pack of 20 cigarettes.
West Virginia raises tax revenue primarily through other taxes (30.7 percent of total state and local tax revenue), individual income taxes (26.6 percent), and property taxes (19.4 percent). West Virginia collects $5,710 in state and local tax collections per capita, carries $13,438 in state and local debt per capita, and has a 100 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. West Virginia’s tax system ranks 32nd overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and West Virginia is no exception. Use the tabs below to compare West Virginia taxes with other states and to see how West Virginia raises tax revenue. You can also browse our tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2026: How Does Your State Compare?
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The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
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Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
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Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
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Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for nearly a quarter of combined state and local tax collections.
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Forty-four states levy a corporate income tax, with top rates ranging from a 2 percent flat rate in North Carolina to an 11.5 percent top marginal rate in New Jersey. Four states—Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania—reduced their corporate income tax rates effective January 1, 2026.
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Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services.
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In the United States, taxes are the single most expensive ingredient in beer. The tax burden accounts for more of the final price of beer than labor and materials combined—the many different layers of applicable taxes combining to total as much as 40.8 percent of the retail price.
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Policies that increase the tax burden on high earners makes states less competitive, increase revenue volatility, discourage investment, and risk accelerating outmigration of talent and capital. Many top-earners are already leaving high-tax states for Florida, North Carolina, and other low-tax jurisdictions.
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The significant disparity in tax rates across states underscores the complex tax and regulatory environment governing distilled spirits.
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A well-designed tax trigger can be a highly valuable tool for lawmakers seeking both tax reform and revenue stability. States should embrace established baselines adjusted for inflation, use collections instead of projections as benchmarks, and prioritize contributions to their rainy day funds.
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Tax collections vary widely by state, making per capita collections figures—a measure of collections per person—especially useful, as they allow comparisons across differences in tax rates and bases, economic capacities, and policy decisions that impact the size and scope of government.
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Rental cars are some of the most heavily taxed transactions in the US. Rather than levying additional taxes on rental cars by trying to export the tax burden to nonresidents, municipalities should enact principled, neutral transportation tax policy that is unlikely to discourage visitors, tourists, and other economic activity.
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From coast to coast, lawmakers are embracing wealth and millionaires’ taxes. Many of these proposals will face their ultimate test at the ballot box this November, and we should be rooting for these measures to fail.
Millions of Americans, along with significant amounts of income and economic activity, are moving from high-tax states to those with more competitive tax systems and lower overall costs of living.
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Nearly half of US states regulate and tax recreational markets, and only 10 states still lack a comprehensive medical marijuana program.
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Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
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