A new study found that Fresno families pay some of the lowest taxes in the nation among large metro areas.
The study, conducted by Upgraded points, determined that Fresno’s effective tax rate is the 11th lowest in the nation.
The big picture: Per the study, a household with two adults and two children in the Fresno metro area has an effective tax rate of 11.1%.
- That’s below the average middle class effective tax rate of 13.6% across the nation.
- The Economic Policy institute estimates that $102,734 is the income level required for an adequate standard of living. That income translates to $11,420 in combined federal and state income taxes in the Fresno metro area.
Zoom out: Fresno had the lowest middle class effective tax rate across all major metro areas in California, ranking at No. 44 among the top 54 metro areas in the nation.
- The next metro area in California is Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, with a 12.9% effective tax rate, at No. 31 on the list.
- Five California metro areas ranked among the top 10 highest effective tax rates, with San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont leading the pack at 20.1%, followed by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at 19.9%.
- Despite California metro areas ranking as some of the most highly taxed in the nation, California as a state does not have the highest effective tax rate, coming in sixth at 16.4%. Hawaii, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon all have higher effective tax rates than California.
Driving the news: The study defined a middle class income as the minimum pretax income required to maintain a modest but adequate standard of living in each city.
- It accounted for the cost of essentials, such as housing, food, transportation, child care, healthcare and other necessities.
- The effective tax rate was calculated by dividing the total estimated federal and state income taxes, including Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.
