Eleven Years Running

March 25, 2026 · Taxes

New Hampshire State House with American flag

For the 11th consecutive year, WalletHub's annual taxpayer return-on-investment analysis ranks New Hampshire number one in the nation. The report, released Tuesday, compared state and local tax collections with the quality of services residents receive across all 50 states using 29 key metrics. New Hampshire came out on top. Again.

New Hampshire ranks first in taxpayer return on investment. Granite Staters get more for their tax dollars than residents of any other state. This is the 11th year in a row.
WalletHub, 2026 Taxpayer ROI Report

9/10

Nine of the top 10 states for taxpayer ROI are Republican or red-leaning. Seven of the bottom 10 are blue states, including Delaware, New York, and Vermont.
WalletHub, 2026

66%

of Americans think their current tax rate is too high, according to WalletHub's Taxpayer Survey. In most states, they're right. In New Hampshire, the government figured out how to do more with less.
WalletHub Taxpayer Survey, 2026

Why New Hampshire Wins

WalletHub's explanation is straightforward. "New Hampshire is the state with the best taxpayer return on investment, which is due in large part to the fact that it has no state income tax," the report states. "The Granite State's tax resources have had a good impact on crime prevention and the environment, as the state has the lowest crime rate and the third-lowest air pollution in the country. It has one of the best public school systems as well."

That is worth reading carefully. No income tax. Lowest crime. Near-best air quality. Top-tier schools. The critics say you can't have low taxes and good services. New Hampshire has been proving them wrong for over a decade.

The Rankings

Rank	State	Lean
1	New Hampshire	Purple/Red
2	Florida	Red
3	South Dakota	Red
...
19	Rhode Island	Blue
No other New England state in top 20
49	California	Blue
50	New Mexico	Blue

Source: WalletHub, 2026 Taxpayer ROI Report

The partisan pattern is hard to miss. Nine of the top 10 states are Republican or red-leaning. Seven of the bottom 10 are blue states. New Mexico sits at the very bottom, narrowly edging out Gavin Newsom's California. No other New England state made the top 10. Only Rhode Island cracked the top 20.

The Timing

The WalletHub report landed one day after new polling from the Saint Anselm College Survey Center found that 71% of New Hampshire voters oppose a state income tax. That opposition includes a plurality of Democrats. The two data points together tell a clear story: New Hampshire's tax model works, and voters know it.

The report also lands in the middle of a national wave of state-level tax hikes. From Washington state to Maine, blue-state legislatures have been raising taxes. New Hampshire has gone the other direction. It eliminated the interest and dividends tax entirely. It has cut business taxes for a decade straight. Revenue doubled anyway. We covered the business side of this in Open for Business.

"The New Hampshire Advantage is worth protecting, and we're working to preserve it every day. By keeping taxes low, spending responsibly, and staying focused on results, we are making sure New Hampshire remains the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family."

Gov. Kelly Ayotte

How It Works

Greg Moore of Americans For Prosperity says he gets asked the question frequently, especially in the Northeast. How does New Hampshire deliver top-tier services on one of the lowest tax burdens in America?

"The answer is that if you don't waste money on bureaucracy, graft, and having government do things it shouldn't, you really don't need to tax people that much. The enforcement mechanisms are structured like a true citizen legislature that can't be bought, an Executive Council that holds agencies accountable, and a citizenry that claps back at any major efforts to raise taxes."

Greg Moore, Americans For Prosperity

New Hampshire has a 400-member House, the third-largest legislature in the English-speaking world. Representatives are paid $100 a year. They can't make a career out of it. They have day jobs. That structure makes it harder for special interests to build the kind of permanent spending coalitions that drive up costs in other states.

The results speak for themselves. New Hampshire ranks #1 in economic freedom from the Fraser Institute. It ranks #1 in almost every quality-of-life metric that matters. Lowest poverty. Lowest crime. Highest median income in New England. And now, for the 11th straight year, the best return on taxpayer investment in the country.

The Bottom Line

There is a school of thought that says government needs more money to deliver better results. New Hampshire has been the counterexample for over a decade. Lower taxes. Better outcomes. Every year the same ranking. The formula is not complicated. Spend wisely. Don't take more than you need. Let people keep what they earn.

Eleven years at number one. The Granite State isn't lucky. It's well-governed.