How Oklahoma Taxes Compare

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Oklahomans pay $1,498 per person, or 30 percent, less in taxes than the national average. By most measures, Oklahoma’s taxes are lower than most Americans’. For example, Oklahoma state and local taxes were $3,453 per person in 2016, compared to the national average of $4,951. This gap grew by $422 per person from 2011 to 2016. According to U.S. Census data and the Tax Policy Center, Oklahomans’ taxes ranked 46th in the nation both per person and  as a share of personal income in 2016. Oklahoma tax collections per person are lower than other states for most, but not all, taxes:

• Individual income taxes are $402 per person less than the national average and corporate income taxes are $84 per person less than average. Oklahoma’s individual income tax was 34th highest in 2016 and corporate income tax collections ranked 37th.
• Oklahoma general sales taxes are $18 per person lower than the national average, though Oklahoma ranked 19th in sales tax collections per person in 2016.
• Property taxes are dramatically lower in Oklahoma than elsewhere, ranking 49th among states. Our average property tax collections of $860 per person in 2016 was less than half the national average of $1,558.
• Oklahoma selective sales taxes, which apply to purchase of specific items, are $110 per person higher than the national average. The state ranks in the top half of states in motor vehicle, tobacco, and alcohol taxes, while we rank 35th in motor fuel taxes.
• For taxes categorized as ‘other taxes’, Oklahoma taxes average $244 more than the national average. This is due to the importance of the severance tax on oil and gas production as a revenue source in Oklahoma. Oklahoma ranks 9th among states in severance tax collected per person.

The chart below shows how the tax gap between Oklahoma and the rest of the nation has grown. From 2006 to 2016, Oklahomans went from paying $855 per person less than the national average in state and local taxes to $1,498 per person less.

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