03/17/2014
Brendan Bond
Staff Writer
Land of Lincoln Lowdown
When you buy a six-pack at the store or a round at the bar, not all the money you pay goes to the brewery or the distributor. There’s a tax on that brew, but it’s a tax that varies state-by-state. Illinois is in the middle of the pack nationally with the 27th highest tax ($0.23 per gallon), but among our Midwest neighbors, we’re expensive. Below we give you a snapshot of the Midwest states, a graphic of the national picture from the Tax Foundation and then the lists of the top and bottom ten states. Bottoms up!
Midwest states (Overall rank in parenthesis)
- Minnesota $0.47 (10)
- Illinois $0.23 (27)
- Michigan $0.20 (28)
- Iowa $0.19 (31)
- Ohio $0.18 (33)
- Indiana $0.12 (42)
- Wisconsin $0.06 (48)
- Missouri $0.06 (49)
![map]()
Top 10 overall
1. Tennessee $1.17
2. Alaska $1.07
3. Alabama $1.05
4. Georgia $1.01
5. Hawaii $0.93
6. Kentucky $0.78
7. South Carolina $0.77
8. North Carolina $0.62
9. Florida $0.48
10. Minnesota $0.47
Bottom 10 overall
50. Wyoming $0.02
49. Missouri $0.06
48. Wisconsin $0.06
46. (tie) Colorado/Pennsylvania $0.08
45. Oregon $0.08*
44. Massachusetts $0.11
43. Rhode Island $0.11
42. Indiana $0.12
41. New Jersey $0.12
*some states have the same amount to the hundredth of a cent, but aren’t in a tie because there is a difference (not shown here) to the thousandth of a cent
Check out our other great content:
Infographic: Who’s who on the Illinois Supreme Court?
How did Illinois get into its current pension mess? This graphic breaks it down.
Sound off: End incumbent protection and put people first in Illinois.
Check out our gallery of the best editorial cartoons from 2013.
Don’t let our taxes get any higher. Head over to Sound Off and tell your legislators!
Brendan Bond is an editorial assistant at Reboot Illinois. He is a graduate of Loyola University, where he majored in journalism. Brendan takes a look each day at the Land of Lincoln Lowdown and it’s often pretty low. He examines the property tax rates that drive Illinoisans insane. You can find Reboot on Facebook at and on Twitter @rebootillinois. His email is Brendan.Bond@rebootillinois.com.
