Guide Rankings Taxes Updated June 25, 2026

Death Tax States

Estate planning documents and house keys representing state-level death taxes

Death Tax States

Ranking - Taxes

State death-tax policy is concentrated in a small group of states, with Maryland standing alone as the only one that levies both an estate tax and an inheritance tax.

Quick Answer

Death Tax States

  1. 1

    Death tax states have one two-tax outlier. Maryland is the only state with Estate Tax Yes and Inheritance Tax Yes in 2025.

  2. 2

    34 states have No and No. Washington has Estate Tax Yes with a 35% top rate, the highest estate tax rate in the table.

  3. 3

    Kentucky and New Jersey have Inheritance Tax Yes with 16% top rates. Pennsylvania and Nebraska top out at 15%, while Maryland tops out at 10%.

Map

Death Tax States Map

Death Tax Status
Both Taxes
Estate Tax Only
Inheritance Tax Only
No State Death Tax
Maryland is the only red state with Estate Tax Yes and Inheritance Tax Yes. 34 states are green with No and No, while Washington stands out among estate-tax states with a 35% top rate.
Death Tax States Map
State Death Tax Status
Maryland Both Taxes
Connecticut Estate Tax Only
Hawaii Estate Tax Only
Illinois Estate Tax Only
Maine Estate Tax Only
Massachusetts Estate Tax Only
Minnesota Estate Tax Only
New York Estate Tax Only
Oregon Estate Tax Only
Rhode Island Estate Tax Only
Vermont Estate Tax Only
Washington Estate Tax Only
Kentucky Inheritance Tax Only
Nebraska Inheritance Tax Only
New Jersey Inheritance Tax Only
Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Only
Alabama No State Death Tax
Alaska No State Death Tax
Arizona No State Death Tax
Arkansas No State Death Tax
California No State Death Tax
Colorado No State Death Tax
Delaware No State Death Tax
Florida No State Death Tax
Georgia No State Death Tax
Idaho No State Death Tax
Indiana No State Death Tax
Iowa No State Death Tax
Kansas No State Death Tax
Louisiana No State Death Tax
Michigan No State Death Tax
Mississippi No State Death Tax
Missouri No State Death Tax
Montana No State Death Tax
Nevada No State Death Tax
New Hampshire No State Death Tax
New Mexico No State Death Tax
North Carolina No State Death Tax
North Dakota No State Death Tax
Ohio No State Death Tax
Oklahoma No State Death Tax
South Carolina No State Death Tax
South Dakota No State Death Tax
Tennessee No State Death Tax
Texas No State Death Tax
Utah No State Death Tax
Virginia No State Death Tax
West Virginia No State Death Tax
Wisconsin No State Death Tax
Wyoming No State Death Tax

Maryland is the only red state with Estate Tax Yes and Inheritance Tax Yes. 34 states are green with No and No, while Washington stands out among estate-tax states with a 35% top rate.

Death Tax States Table

Death Tax Status

Download as PDF

Print-ready table — Death Tax States

Death Tax States with Both Taxes

Tax paperwork and legal documents representing states with both estate and inheritance taxes
Maryland remains the only state where an estate can face both layers of state-level death taxation.

Maryland is the only state with Estate Tax Yes and Inheritance Tax Yes in 2025. Maryland lists a $5,000,000 estate tax exemption, a 0.8%-16.0% estate tax rate, a $1,000 inheritance tax exemption, and a 0%-10% inheritance tax rate.

States with Estate Tax

Large residential estate representing high-value assets subject to estate tax
Estate-tax states usually target larger estates, but exemption levels and top rates differ sharply from one state to another.

12 states levy an estate tax in 2025. Washington has the highest top estate tax rate at 35%, Hawaii reaches 20%, and Connecticut stands apart with a 12% flat rate and the highest exemption at $13,990,000.

Oregon and Rhode Island have the lowest estate tax exemptions in the table at $1,000,000 and $1,802,431. New York lists the second-highest exemption at $7,160,000, and Maine lists $7,000,000.

States with Inheritance Tax

Inheritance documents and financial paperwork representing taxes paid by recipients
Inheritance taxes fall on recipients rather than the estate itself, which is why their exemptions and rates are tracked separately.

Five states levy an inheritance tax in 2025. Kentucky and New Jersey have the highest top rates at 16%, Nebraska and Pennsylvania reach 15%, and Maryland tops out at 10%.

Nebraska has the highest inheritance tax exemption in the table at $100,000. Pennsylvania lists No exemption, New Jersey lists $25,000, and Kentucky and Maryland each list $1,000.

Quick Answers

Which states have no inheritance tax?
45 states have no inheritance tax in 2025. Only Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania list Inheritance Tax Yes.
Which states have estate tax?
12 states have an estate tax in 2025. Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington make up that group.
Which states have both estate tax and inheritance tax?
Maryland is the only two-tax state in 2025. Its row lists a $5,000,000 estate tax exemption and a $1,000 inheritance tax exemption.
What is the estate tax in Washington?
Washington lists a $3,000,000 estate tax exemption and a 10%-35% estate tax rate. The 35% top rate is the highest estate tax rate in the table.
What is the inheritance tax in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania lists Inheritance Tax Yes, No exemption, and a 0%-15% rate. It does not list an estate tax in the table.
Which states have no death tax?
34 states have no state-level death tax in 2025. Iowa is in that group because its inheritance tax was eliminated effective January 1, 2025.

Methodology

Rows with Estate Tax Yes or Inheritance Tax Yes come from the Tax Foundation 2025 table provided in the source CSV. States not listed in that table are shown as No and No, and the District of Columbia is excluded from these 50 state rows.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
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