The biggest bang for your tax buck

What do you want for your taxes? And are you getting it?

The answer will vary from person to person (and state to state), but the calculation is likely to balance how much you pay against the range and quality of services your state provides.

That's exactly how WalletHub calculated its 2026 rankings of the best and worst states for taxpayer ROI, combining total tax rates with individual state performance on a number of metrics — including quality of schools, roads and bridges, violent crime rate, water quality and many more — to produce an overall score for return on tax investment.

"There can be a tradeoff between how much tax you pay and what you receive in return from the government," explained WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "Several of the states with the best taxpayer ROI don't charge any income tax, and residents pay less at tax time while receiving good-quality (though not necessarily the best) government services. At the same time, while people pay more in states that do charge income tax, they may benefit from better infrastructure, education, safety or public health as a result."

Interestingly, only three of the states with high ROI made WalletHub's list of the 10 worst or the 10 best states in terms of overall tax burden.

Below are the 10 best states for ROI, which represent an interesting mix of high- and low-tax states.