It's easy to complain about less-than-perfect conditions in your home state. In some ways, the grass will always seem greener on the other side of the state line. When you're particularly frustrated, it can feel especially good to fall into a wail of "But that's not faaaiiirrr" when it comes to taxes and the services that governments provide for the people who pay those taxes.
But when Illinoisans start to whine about unfair taxes, they may actually have a point.
Financial social media site WalletHub took a look at which state's taxes are the fairest based on what people's perceptions are of what's fair compared to how people are really taxed in every state. Illinois was ranked as one of the top 10 least-fair state in the union, just behind Washington, Hawaii and Arkansas and just ahead of Indiana, New York and Florida.
Montana was ranked as the number one most tax-fair state in the country, followed by Oregon, South Carolina, Delaware and Idaho.
Fair is not always objective, so the authors of this study polled economically, ethically and socially varied Americans to see what the average person thought a fair tax structure looked like in order to rank the states. States were ranked based on the difference between the study's results of a "fair" tax burden and each state's real tax burden.
States with the most fair tax burdens:
1. Montana
2. Oregon
3. South Carolina
4. Delaware
5. Idaho
6. Virginia
7. Minnesota
8. California
9. Maryland
10. Vermont
See which states have the least-fair tax burdens in the U.S., including where Illinois ranks, and how these change when looked at through more conservative or liberal viewpoints at Reboot Illinois.
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