Corporate Income Tax Rates by U.S. State: 2026 Ranking

Which U.S. states have the highest corporate income tax rates in 2026?

New Jersey leads the 2026 state corporate income tax ranking at 11.50%, followed by Minnesota (9.80%) and Illinois (9.50%). North Carolina has the lowest published top rate among states imposing this tax, at 2.00%. These are statutory top rates, not effective tax burdens.

Metric: highest generally applicable state corporate income tax rate. Unit: percent of taxable corporate income. Direction: highest to lowest. 2026 coverage: all 50 states classified; 44 states with numeric corporate income tax rates ranked, and six states without this tax identified separately. Washington, D.C., is excluded. Data status: 5 official_value; 39 industry_observed_value; no projections. Sources checked: October 27, 2026.

The table is a compiled research dataset based on 6 independent publishing organizations supplying the 2026 ranked rates, with row-level source and method notes shown in the ranking table. Separate official 2025 government publications substantiate historical comparisons; they are not extra ranking observations. Census regional definitions and other validation sources do not supply ranked values.

Overview: corporate profits taxes are not business tax burdens

The table compares the top general corporate income tax rate in states that levy a tax on corporate profits. It is not a ranking of every business tax. Federal corporate income tax, local levies, franchise or capital-stock taxes, gross receipts taxes, credits, minimum taxes, industry-specific rules and the location of taxable income can change what a business actually pays.

Six states have no state corporate income tax: Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Washington levy statewide gross receipts-type business taxes instead; South Dakota and Wyoming levy neither a state corporate income tax nor a statewide gross receipts tax. These six states are classified but not ranked at 0%, because no statutory corporate income tax rate exists for them.

Across the 44 corporate-income-tax states, 13 use graduated or conditional top-rate structures and 31 use flat-rate structures in the source comparison. The 2026 ranking keeps top rates even when they apply only to large taxable-income bases. For example, New Jersey's 11.50% figure combines a 9% Corporation Business Tax and a 2.5% Corporate Transit Fee for taxpayers whose taxable income exceeds $10 million; the fee is imposed on the full qualifying taxable income base.

Top 10 states by highest corporate income tax rate

The top three are New Jersey (11.50%), Minnesota (9.80%) and Illinois (9.50%). Connecticut and Maryland tie at rank 9 with 8.25%. The rankings use source-published top rates, not implied rates for a hypothetical company.

2026 highest state corporate income tax rates; percent; competition ranking with ties

Top ten includes both states tied at ninth. Some rates include qualifying surcharges; refer to row notes and Methodology.

Chart: the 20 highest state corporate income tax rates

Each bar uses the same 2026 top rate as the ranking. Bar width equals the state rate divided by 11.50%, with New Jersey set to 100% chart length. The chart compares published statutory rates, not dollars collected or effective tax rates.

New Jersey stands 1.70 percentage points above Minnesota; Montana is twentieth at 6.75%. Rates and percentages in the chart are taken from the same 44-state table.

Methodology and source reconciliation

Derived statistics, not source-published figures: arithmetic mean = sum of the 44 top rates (287.16 percentage points) / 44 = 6.52636%, shown as 6.53%. Median = average of the 22nd and 23rd values in ordered data (both 6.50%) = 6.50%. The 5%-or-lower group contains 14 / 44 = 31.8%. Northeast share of the Top 20 = 9 / 20 = 45.0%. The New Jersey-North Carolina spread = 11.50 - 2.00 = 9.50 percentage points. These are calculations from observed rates, not official forecasts or projections.

Conflicts and adjustments: Tax Foundation's April 2026 comparison lists Georgia at 5.19% and Utah at 4.50%. Later state evidence establishes Georgia at 4.99% and Utah at 4.45% for tax year 2026. These are differences of 0.20 and 0.05 percentage points, respectively; official rates take priority and are never averaged. North Carolina 2.00%, Nebraska 4.55% and Pennsylvania 7.49% were independently checked against government publications. The New York State tax department's northeastern comparison was used to validate relevant high-rate entries, not to add extra observations or count the same organization twice.

Historical changes: inputs and formula. For each state, change in percentage points = 2026 statutory top rate minus 2025 statutory top rate, using the same state and nominal percent unit in both years. Inputs (2025, 2026): Georgia (5.19%, 4.99%; Georgia Department of Revenue), Utah (4.50%, 4.45%; Utah State Tax Commission and Utah Legislature), Nebraska (5.20%, 4.55%; Nebraska Legislature), North Carolina (2.25%, 2.00%; North Carolina Department of Revenue), and Pennsylvania (7.99%, 7.49%; Pennsylvania Department of Revenue). Georgia and Utah historical publications are listed separately in Sources. These 2025 inputs are used only for historical comparisons; the ranking and its average use only 2026 values.

Difference from the publisher's reported mean: Tax Foundation describes the average top rate as approximately 6.57% among states with a corporate income tax. That published estimate does not reproduce the 6.53% mean calculated directly from the 44 confirmed state rates on this page. The publisher's exact averaging inputs are not established here, so no explanation involving the District of Columbia or another unverified denominator is asserted. StatRanker uses the independently reproducible 287.16 / 44 = 6.53% figure throughout.

Geography and exclusions: regions follow the U.S. Census Bureau Northeast, Midwest, South and West definitions. D.C. is a district, not one of the 50 states, so its 8.25% top rate does not enter state statistics. The six states without corporate income tax are not coded as numeric zero rates. The table excludes special financial-institution rates, sector-specific tax rules, non-general alternative minimum taxes, federal taxation and local taxes; Colorado's 4.40% rate carried a potential conditional midyear reduction in the source, not a confirmed replacement used here.

Rounding and meaning: each rate is shown to two decimal places, with source thresholds summarized in row notes. Top marginal rates are neither average statutory rates across all profit levels nor effective rates paid after deductions and credits. Even identical top percentages can correspond to materially different tax liabilities because of thresholds, base definitions and apportionment.

Full 2026 ranking: 44 states with corporate income tax

Search by state or method note, filter by Census region or value status, change the display order, or show the highest 10 or 20. Rank numbers always reflect the original descending-rate ranking. All 44 rows remain visible if JavaScript is disabled.

Top statutory state corporate income tax rate, 2026; percent of taxable corporate income

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The published rate is conditional in some states. Source names and status appear in every row; absolute source URLs are grouped in Sources. D.C. and the six no-CIT states are excluded from rate ranking and derived statistics.

Four findings from the reconciled 2026 ranking

What the 2026 state corporate tax ranking means

A top statutory rate describes the upper end of a state's general corporate income tax schedule. It is useful for identifying statutory differences and the thresholds that may matter to a profitable C corporation, but it does not predict an individual company's tax bill. A company with taxable income below a top bracket may face a lower rate, while credits, deductions and multistate income allocation can change the final liability.

The top ranks should not be read as a universal list of the most costly states for business. New Jersey's 11.50% depends on a qualifying income threshold; Connecticut's 8.25% depends on surcharge eligibility; and states without a corporate income tax can still impose gross receipts taxes or other charges. For planning, compare the complete tax base, nexus and apportionment rules alongside the stated rate.

Effective years matter: Arkansas remains at 4.30% in this 2026 ranking, while its enacted 4.10% top rate begins in tax year 2027. The Tax Foundation table also flagged a possible conditional change to Colorado's 4.40% 2026 rate. Neither future-year nor unconfirmed conditional values are substituted into this table.

FAQ: 2026 state corporate income taxes

Sources and their roles