US Sales Tax Calculator

What this tool does

This calculator works out US sales tax on a purchase for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Choose your state to load its official state base rate, add your local (county or city) rate, and the calculator shows the combined rate, the state and local portions, the tax, and the total. Switch to Remove tax to work back from a tax-inclusive total to the pre-tax price. Your result updates the page link, so you can copy a permalink to any calculation.

Sales tax in the United States is set at two levels. Each state sets a base rate, and most counties and cities add their own rate on top, so the rate you actually pay is the combined figure. 5 states have no statewide sales tax at all: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon. Because local rates vary street by street and change often, this tool keeps the state base rate sourced from each state's official revenue authority and lets you enter the local rate yourself, rather than asserting a single figure for a whole state. That keeps the number you see honest: the part we publish is the part a government source confirms.

It is useful for shoppers checking a receipt, small businesses and freelancers working out what to charge, and bookkeepers reconciling tax. The result is an estimate for general information, not tax advice; for filing, confirm your exact local rate with your state or local authority.

The formula

In plain words:

sales tax = pre-tax price x (state rate + local rate) / 100
total = pre-tax price + sales tax

To remove tax from a total: pre-tax price = total / (1 + combined rate / 100).

Worked example

A $250.00 purchase in California, with a 7.25% state rate and a 1.75% local rate (9.00% combined):

1. Combined rate = 7.25% + 1.75% = 9.00%.
2. Sales tax = 250 x 0.0900 = $22.50 ($18.13 state + $4.38 local).
3. Total = 250 + 22.50 = $272.50.

This exact example is one of the automated golden-value tests this calculator must pass before any change to it can publish. See our methodology.

State sales tax base rates, all 50 states and DC

Every rate below comes from the state's own revenue authority (linked), with the date we checked it. Highest state base rate: California (7.25%). Lowest non-zero: Colorado (2.9%). Local rates are added on top and are not shown here because they vary by county and city.

Dedicated state calculators with sourced city and county rates: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. More states are added as they are sourced and verified.

Who this is for

Shoppers, small business owners, freelancers and bookkeepers who need the correct tax for a specific place.

What this assumes

• The state base rate is the current published rate from the state's revenue authority (linked in the table above with its date).
• You supply the local rate; combined rates vary by county and city.
• It does not handle product-specific exemptions (for example groceries or clothing in some states) or sales tax holidays.
• Special regimes are noted in the table (for example Hawaii's general excise tax and New Mexico's gross receipts tax, which work like a sales tax for the buyer but are levied on the seller).
• It is general information, not tax advice.