Don’t believe us? Check out the Michigan Tax Time Machine.

Turn the clock back to 1977. Michigan manufacturing jobs were plentiful. Wages were high. So were taxes. Back then, Michigan had the 13th highest per capita tax burden in the nation. State and local taxes in 1977 were $261 (or 9 percent) higher than the national average.

By 2014, Michigan’s per capita tax burden was $900 (or 19 percent) below the national average. State and local taxes as a percentage of personal income were 16 percent below the national average.

It may not seem like it (for reasons we’ll show later), but Michigan’s total tax burden is now among the lowest in the nation. Thirty-four states have higher tax per capita and higher taxes as a percentage of personal income.  

Want more details? See our “Michigan Tax Burden Trends” chart below, and our methodology.

NEXT: Look around: YOUR taxes could be much higher

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Compared with other states, Michigan's tax burden is low – and getting lower

by John Bebow, Mike Wilkinson and Ted Roelofs, Bridge Michigan
May 9, 2017

<h1>Compared with other states, Michigan's tax burden is low – and getting lower</h1> <p class="byline">by John Bebow, Mike Wilkinson and Ted Roelofs, Bridge Michigan <br />May 9, 2017</p> <div class="dr-paragraph right-aligned-blockquote-xl dr-paragraph--right-aligned-blockquote-xl"> <div class="region region--float-right region--float-right-xl dr-paragraph right-aligned-blockquote-xl dr-paragraph--right-aligned-blockquote-xl"> <div class="region__content"> <h2>11 things every Michigan taxpayer should know</h2> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/compared-other-states-michigans-tax-burden-low-and-getting-lower">Comparatively, Michigan’s tax burden is low – and getting lower.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/look-around-your-taxes-could-be-much-higher">Look around: YOUR taxes could be much higher.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/state-government-gives-more-tax-breaks-it-collects-schools-and-general-government">Michigan gives more tax breaks than it collects for schools/gov’t.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/definition-anti-tax-conservative-has-changed">The definition of “Anti-tax conservative” has changed</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/if-michigans-tax-burden-so-low-why-do-taxes-seem-so-high-you">Why might taxes seem high to YOU?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/why-do-legislators-want-cut-state-income-tax">The motivation for a state income tax cut.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/what-might-you-get-out-income-tax-cut">What might YOU get out of an income tax cut?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/snyder-republican-why-do-his-experts-want-spend-more-not-less">Snyder is a Republican. Why his experts want to spend more.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/how-could-michigan-cut-income-taxes-and-spend-more-education-and-infrastructure">Can we cut taxes and spend more on education/infrastructure?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/what-if-michigan-ultimately-raises-taxes-who-might-get-nicked">Future tax increases YOU might face.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/so-what-will-happen-your-taxes-over-long-term">Tax less vs. spend more. How will the standoff end?</a></p> </p> </div> </div> </div> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da07-7e90-0cb5-cff90669fb0d">Don’t believe us? Check out the </span><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/take-trip-through-michigan-tax-time-machine-slideshow">Michigan Tax Time Machine</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da07-7e90-0cb5-cff90669fb0d">Turn the clock back to 1977. Michigan manufacturing jobs were plentiful. Wages were high. So were taxes. Back then, Michigan had the 13th highest per capita tax burden in the nation. State and local taxes in 1977 were $261 (or 9 percent) </span>higher than the national average.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da07-7e90-0cb5-cff90669fb0d"><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da07-da64-003e-36e741a917c1">By 2014, Michigan’s per capita tax burden was $900 (or 19 percent) </span>below</span> the national average. State and local taxes as a percentage of personal income were 16 percent below the national average.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da08-5e19-2998-c6d4a7b51932">It may not seem like it (for reasons we’ll show later), but</span> Michigan’s total tax burden is now among the lowest in the nation. Thirty-four states have higher tax per capita and higher taxes as a percentage of personal income. &nbsp;</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da08-5e19-2998-c6d4a7b51932">Want more details? </span>See our “Michigan Tax Burden Trends” chart below, and our <a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/how-bridge-magazine-compared-state-tax-burdens">methodology.</a></p> <div class="dr-paragraph full-width-image dr-paragraph--full-width-image"> <div class="card card--bg dr-paragraph full-width-image dr-paragraph--full-width-image"> <div class="card__image"> <figure><img loading="lazy" src="https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/michigan_tax_burden_trends.png" width="1300" height="431" alt="Michigan Tax Burden Trends"></figure> <div> </div> </div> <div class="card__content"></div> </div> </div> <div class="dr-paragraph right-aligned-image dr-paragraph--right-aligned-image"> <div class="card card--bg card--float-right dr-paragraph right-aligned-image dr-paragraph--right-aligned-image"> <div class="card__image"></div> <div class="card__content"></div> </div> </div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/look-around-your-taxes-could-be-much-higher">NEXT:&nbsp;Look around: YOUR taxes could be much higher</a></h2> <div class="dr-paragraph full-width-text dr-paragraph--full-width-text"> </div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/compared-other-states-michigans-tax-burden-low-and-getting-lower/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com&quot;&gt;Bridge Michigan&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cropped-android-chrome-192x192-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=9673&amp;amp;ga4=G-1E2G9MSHX5&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/compared-other-states-michigans-tax-burden-low-and-getting-lower/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bridgemi.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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