Is California Getting the Most out of Taxpayer Dollars?

Last month, an online financial website called WalletHub released a study that looked at which of the 50 states gave taxpayers the biggest return on their investment (ROI). In the study, taxpayer dollars are seen as an investment into the state and it turns out that California is nowhere near the top of the list. New Hampshire ranked first on WalletHub’s list, which means that New Hampshire residents are getting the best return. ROI was measured by examining state and local tax collections, as well as the quality of the following six types of services: education, health, infrastructure & pollution, safety, and economy. California ranked 48th on the list and only managed to beat out New Mexico (49th) and Hawaii (50th).  

The states that appeared at the bottom of the list are states that traditionally impose more taxes on their residents such as California and New York. Residents should be able to benefit from good quality government services, especially if they are paying a large amount of taxes. California ranked 31st in terms of overall government services, but it also ranked 45th in terms of total taxes paid per capita. The highest rank that California received in the study was 12th in the education category. Unfortunately, California managed to rank 48th in the infrastructure & pollution category. California has a lot of catching up to do to provide better quality government services based on the amount of taxes residents are paying.

Check out WalletHub’s report here