United States State general sales tax rate
United States State general sales tax rate: no single figure applies. The reason is set out below, cited to the governing instrument. Last checked against the official source on 4 Aug 2026.
The general sales tax rate each US state levies, as that state's own revenue authority publishes it. REFERENCE VALUES ONLY, NOT A TAX DETERMINATION: county, city, transit and special-district rates are not included, and neither are product taxability, exemptions, reduced rates, nexus thresholds or use tax. A caller who bills at the state rate alone will under-collect nearly everywhere — combined rates commonly run 1-3 points higher. Anyone needing a per-transaction figure needs a determination engine, which this is deliberately not.
| Current value | no single figure |
|---|---|
| In force from | 1789-03-04 |
| Official source | Absence of federal statute: no provision of the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26, U.S. Code) imposes a general national sales tax. General consumption taxation in the United States is levied by the states, not the federal government, so the national value is null by construction and the states are carried in subdivisions. |
| Last verified | 2026-08-04 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
STRUCTURAL NULL - deliberate, not missing data. There is no federal general sales tax; the tax exists only at state level, so the per-state rates are in `subdivisions`. PARTIAL COVERAGE: 40 of 51 jurisdictions are populated (phase 1). Eleven states could not be sourced at all because their revenue authorities are unreachable from this service's networks (AZ, FL, ID, KS, MA, MI, MO, MS, NH, RI, TN - re-measured politely 2026-08-05; the earlier wider unreachable count was self-inflicted by request rate, these eleven refuse even a single browser-headed request). New Hampshire is additionally a state with NO sales tax, but is not carried as a null because its authority states that only by omission from a list of the taxes it does levy, and an absence needs an affirmative citation just as a number does. A source that cannot be reached cannot be re-verified either, so those are recorded as gaps rather than filled from secondary sources. A state absent from subdivisions has NOT been researched and must not be read as having no sales tax - the no-sales-tax states are carried explicitly with a null value and a citation for the absence, as Oregon is here.
Get it programmatically
curl https://usaref.dev/v1/us/sales-tax
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://usaref.dev/v1/us/sales-tax/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://usaref.dev/provenance/us/sales-taxBy subdivision
ISO 3166-2:US — 40 subdivisions held. A subdivision that does not appear below has NOT been researched, and must not be read as having no value: where a subdivision genuinely has none, it is listed with an explained null and a citation for the absence.
| Code | Subdivision | Value | Official source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US-AL | Alabama | 4 percent | Alabama Department of Revenue - Sales and Use Tax Rates: the state rate table gi | 2026-08-04 |
| 4% is the general merchandise rate. Alabama levies a reduced 2% state rate on food, not served here. Cities and counties add their own sales taxes and Alabama's combined rates are among the highest in the country, so the state rate alone is an especially poor guide to what is actually charged. Out of scope, as everywhere in this series. | ||||
| US-AK | Alaska | none — see note | Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Division of C | 2026-08-04 |
| READ THIS BEFORE TREATING ALASKA AS TAX-FREE. There is no STATE sales tax, but local sales taxes are widespread: state law authorises both cities and boroughs to levy them (AS 29.45.700 and AS 29.45.650), a city inside a borough that levies one commonly levies its own on top, and the former cap on municipal rates has been removed. A sale in Alaska is therefore frequently taxed, just never by the state. Municipal rates are out of scope here; the Office of the State Assessor publishes them annually in 'Alaska Taxable'. | ||||
| US-AR | Arkansas | 6.5 percent | Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration - State Sales & Use Tax Rates: | 2026-08-04 |
| 6.5% is the general rate, in force since 1 July 2013. Arkansas reduced its state food rate to 0.000% on 1 January 2026 - the reduced rate still exists as a category, it is simply set to zero, which is not the same as food being exempt. Cities and counties levy local option sales taxes on top, out of scope. | ||||
| US-CA | California | 7.25 percent | California Department of Tax and Fee Administration — 'Sales & Use Tax in Califo | 2026-08-04 |
| The 7.25% CDTFA publishes as the statewide rate is NOT purely state-imposed. Its own breakdown gives 6.00% in state components (3.6875% + 0.25% General Fund, 0.50% Local Public Safety Fund, 0.50% Local Revenue Fund, 1.0625% Local Revenue Fund 2011; R&TC 6051, 6201, 6051.15, 6201.15) plus 1.25% MANDATORY LOCAL (0.25% county transportation, 1.00% city or county operations; R&TC 7202, 7203). We serve 7.25% because that is what the authority states; we do not publish a decomposed state-only figure, which would be our arithmetic rather than theirs. District taxes of 0.10%-2.00% (R&TC 7261) sit on top and are out of scope. | ||||
| US-CO | Colorado | 2.9 percent | Colorado Department of Revenue - Taxation: 'The state sales tax rate on tangible | 2026-08-05 |
| 2.9% is the lowest state rate in the United States, and unusually misleading on its own: Colorado has home-rule cities that levy and collect their own sales taxes independently of the state, plus county and special-district rates, so combined rates commonly run four to eight points higher. The Department publishes location rates through its GIS lookup. Out of scope here, as everywhere in this series. | ||||
| US-CT | Connecticut | 6.35 percent | Connecticut Department of Revenue Services - Sales and Use Taxes: 'The sales tax | 2026-08-04 |
| THE STATE RATE IS THE WHOLE RATE: 'There are no additional sales taxes imposed by local jurisdictions in Connecticut.' One of only two states so far in this series where that is true (the other is Kentucky), so 6.35% is what a buyer pays rather than a floor. Connecticut does set several other statutory rates by category - 1% on computer and data processing services, 2.99% on vessels, 7.35% on meals, 7.75% on motor vehicles over $50,000 and certain luxury goods, 9.35% on short-term vehicle rentals - none of which are served here. | ||||
| US-DE | Delaware | none — see note | Delaware Division of Revenue - 'Doing Business in Delaware, Step 4: Gross Receip | 2026-08-04 |
| STRUCTURAL NULL at both state AND local level - Delaware is one of the few states where that is true of local government too. In its place Delaware levies a gross receipts tax on the SELLER, not the buyer, at rates that vary by business activity. That is a different instrument with a different incidence and is not served here. | ||||
| US-DC | District of Columbia | 6 percent | DC Office of Tax and Revenue - Sales and Use Tax FAQs, 'What are the sales tax r | 2026-08-05 |
| The District is not a state but levies its own general sales tax, so it is carried here as US-DC. There is no local layer beneath it - the District is the whole jurisdiction - so 6% is what a buyer pays on general goods. DC does set higher statutory rates by category, including a temporary 15.95% total on transient accommodation, which are not served here. | ||||
| US-GA | Georgia | 4 percent | Georgia Department of Revenue — Sales & Use Tax rates: 'state sales tax at the s | 2026-08-04 |
| Local jurisdictions add LOST, SPLOST, TSPLOST and (in Atlanta) MOST. Out of scope. | ||||
| US-HI | Hawaii | none — see note | Hawaii Department of Taxation - General Excise Tax (GET) Information: 'Hawaii do | 2026-08-04 |
| NOT A SALES TAX, AND THE DISTINCTION IS THE AUTHORITY'S OWN. Hawaii levies a General Excise Tax on the business's gross income - 4% on most activities, 0.5% on wholesaling and manufacturing, 0.15% on insurance commissions - which a business may pass on to customers but is not required to. Four counties add a 0.5% surcharge on the 4% activities, taking the commonly passed-on figure to about 4.71%. Because the incidence is on the seller rather than the buyer this is the same category as Delaware's gross receipts tax, and it is not served as a sales tax rate. Anyone wanting the GET should read it from the Department directly. | ||||
| US-IL | Illinois | 6.25 percent | Illinois Department of Revenue — 'What are the sales and use tax rates in Illino | 2026-08-04 |
| This is the general merchandise rate. Illinois levies 1 percent on qualifying drugs and medical appliances, a separate rate not served here. Local jurisdictions add further amounts, out of scope. | ||||
| US-IN | Indiana | 7 percent | Indiana Department of Revenue - Sales Tax: businesses selling tangible personal | 2026-08-04 |
| Indiana levies no general LOCAL sales tax, so the state rate is the rate charged on a typical retail sale. Separate local levies exist for narrow bases (county innkeepers tax, food and beverage taxes) and are not general sales taxes. | ||||
| US-IA | Iowa | 6 percent | Iowa Department of Revenue - Sales & Use Tax Guide: 'The rate for both is 6%, th | 2026-08-05 |
| Sales tax and use tax are both 6%. Most Iowa jurisdictions add a 1% local option sales tax, so 7% is the common effective rate even though the state rate is 6% - the Department says so in the same sentence. Local option and hotel/motel taxes are out of scope. | ||||
| US-KY | Kentucky | 6 percent | Kentucky Department of Revenue - Sales & Use Tax: 'Kentucky Sales and Use Tax is | 2026-08-04 |
| UNUSUALLY, THE STATE RATE IS THE WHOLE RATE. The Department states plainly: 'There are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky.' So unlike most states in this series, 6% is what a buyer actually pays rather than a floor to which local rates are added. | ||||
| US-LA | Louisiana | 5 percent | Louisiana Department of Revenue - General Sales & Use Tax, 'Rate of Tax': 'The s | 2026-08-05 |
| RECENT CHANGE, AND A SCHEDULED ONE AHEAD. The rate rose from 4.45% to 5% on 1 January 2025 and the Department footnotes the 5% as applying only until 31 December 2029. Beware secondary sources and stale pages: 4.45% still appears throughout the Department's own FAQ set in questions about contracts priced before the change, so the figure is easy to pick up by accident. Parishes levy their own sales taxes on top, collected locally, so combined rates commonly run four to five points higher. Out of scope here, as everywhere in this series. | ||||
| US-ME | Maine | 5.5 percent | Maine Revenue Services - Sales and Use Tax Rates & Due Dates: general rate 5.5%, | 2026-08-04 |
| 5.5% is the general rate. Maine sets several other statutory rates not served here - 8% on prepared food, 9% on lodging, 10% on short-term auto rental and on adult-use marijuana, and a separate 6% service provider tax. Maine has no local sales taxes, so the state rate is what a buyer pays on general goods. | ||||
| US-MD | Maryland | 6 percent | Comptroller of Maryland, Taxpayer Services - Sales and Use Tax, 'Tax Rates': 'Ef | 2026-08-05 |
| 6% since 3 January 2008. Maryland has NO county or municipal sales tax, so 6% is what a buyer pays on general goods anywhere in the state - unusual among the states carried here and the reason no local layer is described. Alcoholic beverages are taxed at 9%, which is a category rate and not served here. Note for re-verification: the marylandtaxes.gov path above redirects to the Comptroller's Taxpayer Services knowledge base at services.marylandcomptroller.gov, where the sentence actually renders. | ||||
| US-MN | Minnesota | 6.875 percent | Minnesota Department of Revenue - Minnesota Sales and Use Tax Business Guide, 'T | 2026-08-05 |
| The Department calls this the state general tax rate, distinguishing it from local taxes, special local taxes on admissions, lodging, liquor and prepared food, and separate special rates on cannabis, motor vehicles and manufactured homes - none of which are served here. Cities and counties add local sales taxes on top, and the Department publishes combined rates through its Sales Tax Rate Calculator, rate map and downloadable spreadsheet. | ||||
| US-MT | Montana | none — see note | Montana Department of Revenue - 'Sales Tax Guidance for Montana Business and Res | 2026-08-04 |
| STRUCTURAL NULL: no general-use sales tax. Montana does levy narrow transaction taxes - notably the lodging facility sales and use tax and local resort taxes in certain resort communities - which are not general sales taxes and are not served here. | ||||
| US-NE | Nebraska | 5.5 percent | Nebraska Department of Revenue - Nebraska Sales and Use Tax: 'The Nebraska state | 2026-08-04 |
| Cities and villages may impose their own local sales and use tax on top, and Nebraska changes those quarterly. Out of scope. | ||||
| US-NV | Nevada | 6.85 percent | Nevada Department of Taxation - 'Components of Sales and Use Tax Rates', which s | 2026-08-05 |
| NEVADA HAS NO SINGLE 'STATE RATE' LINE. 6.85% is the sum of four separate statutory taxes, and only the first 2.00% under NRS 372 goes to the State General Fund; the rest funds schools and local government. All four are imposed in every county, which is why the Department calls 6.85% the Minimum Statewide Tax Rate rather than the state rate - it is the floor, not a component. Counties add optional taxes above it: the same document lists totals from 6.85% up to 8.375% in Clark County. Those county rates are dated 07/01/2020 in the source; the 6.85% statewide floor is the figure served here. | ||||
| US-NJ | New Jersey | 6.625 percent | New Jersey Division of Taxation - Sales and Use Tax: 'New Jersey assesses a 6.62 | 2026-08-04 |
| New Jersey has no general local sales tax, but it does operate reduced-rate zones - Urban Enterprise Zones and Salem County - where a lower rate applies. Those are not served here, so 6.625% is the general statewide rate rather than a universal one. | ||||
| US-NM | New Mexico | none — see note | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department - Gross Receipts Overview: New Mexico | 2026-08-05 |
| NOT A SALES TAX. The incidence is on the business's gross receipts, not on the buyer, which places it in the same category as Hawaii's General Excise Tax and Delaware's gross receipts tax - both also carried here as explained nulls. A business commonly passes the GRT on, so it can look like a sales tax at the till, but it is a different instrument. There is no single state figure to serve in any case: the Department states the total rate combines state, county and municipal components and varies by location, published through its Gross Receipts Location Code and Tax Rate Map. | ||||
| US-NY | New York | 4 percent | New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Tax Bulletin TB-ST-825 'Sales | 2026-08-04 |
| Local rates vary by city, county and school district. The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District adds a further 0.375% where it applies. Both are out of scope. | ||||
| US-NC | North Carolina | 4.75 percent | North Carolina Department of Revenue — Current Sales and Use Tax Rates: the tabl | 2026-08-04 |
| County local and transit rates are added on top and are out of scope. Mecklenburg County levied an additional 1 percent from 1 July 2026, taking its combined rate to 8.25 percent. | ||||
| US-ND | North Dakota | 5 percent | North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner - Sales and Use Tax: 'The North Da | 2026-08-04 |
| 5% is the general rate. North Dakota applies different statutory rates to particular goods - 7% on alcohol, 3% on new farm machinery used exclusively for agriculture, 3% on new mobile homes - which are not served here. Cities and counties add their own sales and use taxes on top, out of scope. | ||||
| US-OH | Ohio | 5.75 percent | Ohio Department of Taxation - 'Sales and Use Tax Rates by County', which carries | 2026-08-04 |
| EDITION DISCLOSED: the table the Ohio Department of Taxation serves at this URL is the April-June 2025 edition; quarterly URLs for 2026 editions return a page without the rate table. The state-rate row reads 5.75%. This is stated rather than smoothed over so a caller can judge currency: if Ohio changed its state rate after June 2025 this value would not yet reflect it. Ohio's statute site (codes.ohio.gov) and legislature site both refuse connections from every network available here, so the statutory rate could not be read directly. Counties and transit authorities add their own rates, out of scope. | ||||
| US-OK | Oklahoma | 4.5 percent | Oklahoma Tax Commission - Sales and Use Tax, 'What is Sales Tax?': 'Oklahoma sal | 2026-08-05 |
| Counties and municipalities levy their own sales taxes on top and the Commission publishes them separately as rates and COPO codes, so combined rates commonly run four to six points higher. Oklahoma removed the state sales tax from groceries in 2024; the Commission maintains a dedicated page on state sales tax on food and food ingredients, and items excluded from that relief - alcoholic beverages among them - remain at the 4.5% state rate. Local sales taxes on groceries were NOT removed. Category treatment is out of scope here. | ||||
| US-OR | Oregon | none — see note | Oregon Department of Revenue — Sales tax: 'Oregon doesn't have a general sales o | 2026-08-04 |
| STRUCTURAL NULL, not missing data: Oregon levies no general sales tax at state or local level. Specific transaction taxes do exist — notably the vehicle privilege and vehicle use taxes — and are not general sales taxes. | ||||
| US-PA | Pennsylvania | 6 percent | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax: 'The Pe | 2026-08-04 |
| Allegheny County adds 1 percent and Philadelphia 2 percent. Out of scope. | ||||
| US-SC | South Carolina | 6 percent | South Carolina Department of Revenue - Sales & Use Tax: 'The statewide Sales & U | 2026-08-04 |
| Counties may impose an additional 1% local sales tax where voters approve it. Out of scope. | ||||
| US-SD | South Dakota | 4.2 percent | South Dakota Department of Revenue - Sales & Use Tax: 'The state sales and use t | 2026-08-04 |
| Municipalities levy their own general and gross-receipts taxes on top, out of scope. Note for future re-verification: South Dakota's state rate has moved twice in recent years and has previously carried a legislated sunset, so this is a rate worth watching rather than assuming stable. | ||||
| US-TX | Texas | 6.25 percent | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — Sales and Use Tax: 'Texas imposes a 6.25 | 2026-08-04 |
| Local taxing jurisdictions may add up to 2 percent, for a maximum combined 8.25 percent. The combined rate is out of scope. | ||||
| US-UT | Utah | 4.7 percent | Utah State Tax Commission - Sales Tax Rates chart: 'ST State Sales and Use Tax R | 2026-08-04 |
| 4.70% is the STATE component only, which is what this series serves. Utah layers local option, county and special-district taxes on top, and the Commission's own chart shows combined rates running from roughly 6.35% to 10.05% depending on location - so the gap between this figure and what is charged is unusually wide. Grocery food is taxed at a separate 1.75% state rate, not served here. | ||||
| US-VT | Vermont | 6 percent | Vermont Department of Taxes - Sales and Use Tax: 'Vermont Sales Tax is charged o | 2026-08-05 |
| Vermont's local layer is unusually simple and unusually flat: municipalities may adopt a 1% local option sales tax and nothing else, so the only two rates a buyer meets on general goods are 6% and 7%. The Department states this directly on its local option tax page. Meals, rooms and alcoholic beverages are taxed under a separate Meals and Rooms Tax at different rates, which is a different instrument and is not served here. | ||||
| US-VA | Virginia | 5.3 percent | Virginia Department of Taxation - Retail Sales and Use Tax rate table: 5.3% in a | 2026-08-04 |
| VIRGINIA HAS NO SINGLE STATEWIDE RATE, and 5.3% is the lowest and most widely applicable figure rather than a universal one. The published rates already INCLUDE a mandatory local component, so unlike most entries here this is not a floor to which local tax is added - it is a regional total. Rates run 5.3% / 6% / 6.3% / 7% by locality, and groceries and personal hygiene items are taxed at 1% statewide. Anyone pricing a Virginia transaction must determine the locality; this value alone will be wrong across a large part of the state. | ||||
| US-WA | Washington | 6.5 percent | Washington State Department of Revenue — Retail sales tax: 'The state tax rate i | 2026-08-04 |
| Local rates vary by city and county and are out of scope. Washington sources sales tax to where the customer receives the goods or services. | ||||
| US-WV | West Virginia | 6 percent | West Virginia Tax Division - Municipal Sales and Use Tax, footnote to the table | 2026-08-05 |
| West Virginia has no county sales tax. Municipalities may impose 1% (a few impose 0.5% or 1.5%), so the combined rate a buyer meets is 6% or, in the many municipalities listed by the Tax Division, 7%. Note for re-verification: the Tax Division states the 6% state rate nowhere in prose on its own sales tax pages - the sentence cited above, a footnote to the municipal rate table, is where it appears. | ||||
| US-WI | Wisconsin | 5 percent | Wisconsin Department of Revenue - 'Difference Between Wisconsin Sales Tax and Us | 2026-08-05 |
| 5% has been the Wisconsin state rate since 1982. The local layer is narrow by design - the Department describes it as a 0.5% or 0.9% county tax or a 2% city tax - plus premier resort area taxes in a handful of municipalities and a baseball stadium tax historically. The 2% city rate is the notable one: it exists because Wisconsin authorised a municipal sales tax for Milwaukee, and it is not generally available to other cities. | ||||
| US-WY | Wyoming | 4 percent | Wyoming Statutes, W.S. 39-15-104 'Taxation rate'. Subsection (a) levies an excis | 2026-08-05 |
| CITED TO STATUTE, NOT TO A DEPARTMENT PAGE, and deliberately. The Wyoming Department of Revenue's Excise Tax Division moved to its own host (excise-tax-div.wyo.gov) and states no rate in prose anywhere on it; its rate charts are published as files on Google Drive rather than on a state domain, so there is no stable authority-hosted page to cite. The statute is the stronger source in any case. READ BOTH SUBSECTIONS: 39-15-104(a) alone says three percent, and has said so since before 1993. The operative rate is 4%. Counties may levy additional optional taxes on top, taking combined rates to 5% or 6%. | ||||
Other United States series: Federal funds target range (upper bound) · Value added tax · VAT registration threshold · Federal minimum wage (FLSA) · Federal public holidays 2026 · Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), 12-month change · Federal corporate income tax rate · Withholding tax rates · Federal post-judgment interest rate (28 U.S.C. § 1961) · Federal individual income tax brackets (single filer, tax year 2026) · Statutory social-insurance contributions · Federal Reserve H.10 foreign exchange reference rates