Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
State and local taxes paid in Wisconsin in fiscal year 2023 declined to just under 9.8% of all Wisconsin residents’ personal incomes, dipping just below the prior year’s low. This decline in what is often called the state’s tax burden put Wisconsin’s ranking at 34th among the 50 states for tax burdens in 2023.
This was a one slot above Wisconsin’s prior year rank of 35th among the states, which was our state’s lowest on record. The broader story is that in the 21st century, Wisconsin has gone from having one of the nation’s highest tax burdens to being below average.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Wisconsin regularly ranked among the top five highest tax burden states. In 2000, Wisconsin’s tax burden ranked #3 nationally, at 12.5%. By 2023, it had dropped 2.7 percentage points to 9.8% — the largest decline in the nation over that period.
Wisconsin’s individual income tax ranking as a share of personal income was 25th in 2023. This marks a decline in that rank from prior years: Wisconsin generally ranked in the top 15 states for income tax as a share of personal income throughout the 2000s.
For property taxes, Wisconsin remains just above the middle of the pack nationally, ranking 21st in property taxes as a proportion of personal income in 2023. As with other tax rankings in the state, Wisconsin’s property tax ranking has declined over time. Wisconsin ranked 10th in property taxes in 2000.
Wisconsin’s sales tax ranking as a share of income remains low relative to the nation, as the state ranked 34th in sales taxes in 2023. Our state sales tax rate, at 5%, is well below the national average and Wisconsin also does more than most states to restrict the ability of local governments to levy sales taxes.
Wisconsin’s ranking for spending as a share of income fell slightly from 24th-highest in 2022 to 25th in 2023. Looking at spending on K-12 schools in Wisconsin as a share of personal income in 2023, our state ranked 34th in this category in 2023, a major shift from 2000, when it ranked eighth.
While falling tax rankings for Wisconsin is a longstanding trend, factors have arisen that may make it less likely to continue. Separate Forum reports that feature more up-to-date numbers on state and local tax collections found that the tax burden fell in 2024 but made little change in 2025.
School districts continue to resort to referenda to loosen state revenue limits and increase property taxes. Boosted by referenda and frozen state aid to schools, gross K-12 property tax levies increased 7.8% across Wisconsin on December 2025 tax bills. In addition, growth in personal income in Wisconsin consistently lags increases nationally. These forces have started to slow the drop in the state’s tax burden and ranking.
Some voters and elected officials may see that as an acceptable tradeoff. Others may wish to continue to hold the line on taxes. Doing so, however, will likely require either notable cuts to services or significant innovation by state or local policymakers – whether through technology, consolidation of public services across local government, or other means.
This information is provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members as a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
