Since California taxation is on many people's minds, it's timely that the U.S. Census today released its latest data on state taxes. Total taxes collected by the 50 states (plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) reached $781.8 billion in 2008. That's a 5.1 percent increase over 2007. These figures cover the whole range of state taxation -- from property, sales, and income taxes to the various licenses fees, such as vehicle, alcohol and hunting. There's a spreadsheet breaking out each type of tax for every state. California amassed $117.4 billion in 2008, with the biggest share coming from individual income taxes ($55.7 billion).
Ranked by per capita taxes collected, California comes out 12th in the nation (see table below). Alaska leads the states by a large margin because of its huge oil severance tax.
| State | 2008 population | Total state taxes | Per capita |
| U.S. total | 304,059,724 | $781,787,281,000 | $2,571 |
| Alaska | 686,293 | $8,424,714,000 | $12,276 |
| Vermont | 621,270 | $2,544,163,000 | $4,095 |
| Wyoming | 532,668 | $2,168,016,000 | $4,070 |
| Hawaii | 1,288,198 | $5,147,480,000 | $3,996 |
| Connecticut | 3,501,252 | $13,367,631,000 | $3,818 |
| North Dakota | 641,481 | $2,312,056,000 | $3,604 |
| New Jersey | 8,682,661 | $30,616,510,000 | $3,526 |
| Minnesota | 5,220,393 | $18,320,891,000 | $3,509 |
| Massachusetts | 6,497,967 | $21,836,357,000 | $3,360 |
| Delaware | 873,092 | $2,930,955,000 | $3,357 |
| New York | 19,490,297 | $65,400,355,000 | $3,356 |
| California | 36,756,666 | $117,361,976,000 | $3,193 |
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