Sales Tax Calculator
Work out sales tax on any purchase in any US state, with state and local rates from the Tax Foundation 2026 table. Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Dedicated page: /en/sales-tax-calculator
Rates are the Tax Foundation State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026, as of 1 July 2026. State rates are exact; local rates are population-weighted averages, so your city rate may differ. Check the current value here. Estimate only, not tax advice.
Enter the rate from your receipt to use your exact combined rate instead of the state average.
Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Alaska allows local sales taxes, averaging 1.82%. California has the highest state rate at 7.25%. Louisiana has the highest average combined rate at 10.13%. Groceries, clothing and prescription drugs are exempt or taxed differently in many states.
Report an Issue
Found a mistake or a problem with this tool? Tell us below.
Quick answer
A sales tax calculator works out the tax on a purchase in any US state. Enter the price, pick a state, and it shows the state tax, the local tax, the combined rate and the total, using the Tax Foundation midyear 2026 rates, with a comparison table for all 50 states.
About this Sales Tax Calculator
Work out sales tax on any purchase in any US state, with state and local rates from the Tax Foundation 2026 table. It is one of the Money and Finance on ToolUstad, and like every tool here it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type, paste or open is uploaded to a server, and there is no sign-up or usage limit.
What is a sales tax calculator?
A sales tax calculator adds the tax to a price, takes it off a total, or finds the rate from two prices, using the real rates for the state you pick. A $100 purchase in California costs $109.03: state tax 7.25% is $7.25 and the average local tax 1.78% is $1.78, for a combined 9.03%. The same $100 in Louisiana costs $110.13, the highest combined rate in the country, and in Oregon it costs $100.00, because Oregon has no sales tax.
State tax, local tax and the combined rate
Sales tax in the US has two layers. The state sets a rate, and counties and cities add a local rate on top. California has the highest state rate at 7.25%, and Colorado has the lowest non-zero state rate at 2.90%. The local layer is where the variation is: Louisiana averages 5.13% locally, Alabama 5.46% and Colorado 4.99%, while Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and several others add nothing locally.
The five states with no sales tax
Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Alaska is the exception to the exception: it has local sales taxes averaging 1.82%, so a purchase in Anchorage is taxed locally even though the state rate is zero.
Best practices
- Check the rate before a big purchase: the gap between Louisiana at 10.13% and Oregon at 0% is $10.13 on every $100.
- Remember the tax is on the discounted price: a $100 item on sale for $80 is taxed on $80.
- Keep the receipt for a business purchase: sales tax paid on business goods is often deductible or recoverable, depending on the state.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using the state rate alone and forgetting the local layer, which can add 5% in Louisiana or Alabama.
- Assuming Alaska has no sales tax, when local taxes average 1.82%.
- Removing tax by subtracting the rate from the total, instead of dividing by one plus the rate.
- Charging tax on the original price after a discount, when the tax is charged on the discounted price.
Who is the sales tax calculator for?
Shoppers checking the real cost of a purchase, online sellers working out what to charge, and anyone comparing prices across state lines.
Learn: how to use the Sales Tax Calculator
- Pick a mode: add tax to a price, remove tax from a total, or find the rate from two prices.
- Enter the price and pick a state: the state and average local rates fill in from the 2026 table.
- Change the local rate if you know your city rate, since the table uses the state average.
- Read the state tax, the local tax, the combined rate and the total, plus the tax as a share of the total.
- Compare the same purchase in all 50 states and DC in the table below.
Features
- All 50 states plus DC, with state rate and average local rate from the Tax Foundation midyear 2026 table
- Three modes: add tax, remove tax from a total, find the rate from two prices
- State, local and combined tax shown as separate lines, like a receipt
- Quantity support, with a per-item and a total price
- Full 51-row comparison table for the same purchase in every state
- Five no-tax states flagged: Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Alaska at the state level
- Tax as a share of the total you pay, not just of the price
- Check link to the Tax Foundation 2026 rates page for the current figures
Worked example
A $100 purchase in California costs $109.03: state tax 7.25% is $7.25 and the average local tax 1.78% is $1.78, for a combined 9.03%. The same $100 in Louisiana, the highest combined rate in the country, costs $110.13. In Oregon, with no state or local sales tax, it costs $100.00. A $108.20 total in Texas, where the combined rate is 8.20%, is $100.00 before tax, with $8.20 of tax.
Frequently asked questions
What is the sales tax rate in my state?
It depends on the state and the city. California has the highest state rate at 7.25%, and Louisiana has the highest combined rate at 10.13%. Colorado has the lowest non-zero state rate at 2.90%. The calculator uses the Tax Foundation midyear 2026 table, with the state rate and the population-weighted average local rate for each state.
Which states have no sales tax?
Five states have no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Alaska has local sales taxes averaging 1.82%, so a purchase there is not always tax-free. The other four have no state or local sales tax at all.
How do I remove sales tax from a total?
Divide the total by one plus the tax rate. A $108.20 total in Texas, where the combined rate is 8.20%, is $108.20 divided by 1.082, which is $100.00 before tax, with $8.20 of tax. The remove-tax mode does this for you.
Why does the rate differ from my receipt?
The calculator uses the population-weighted average local rate for the state, from the Tax Foundation midyear 2026 table. Your city or county rate may be higher or lower: Enter your local rate in the override box for an exact figure.
Is sales tax charged on the price before or after a discount?
After the discount, in almost every state. The tax is charged on the price you actually pay. A $100 item discounted to $80 is taxed on $80, which at 9.03% in California is $7.22, not $9.03.
What is the average sales tax rate in the US?
The population-weighted average combined rate is 7.53% as of midyear 2026, according to the Tax Foundation. The rate on any single purchase depends on the state and the city.
Do online purchases have sales tax?
Yes, in most states, since the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair decision. An online seller with enough sales in a state must collect that state tax. The rate is usually the rate at the delivery address, not the seller address.
What is the difference between sales tax and VAT?
Sales tax is charged once, at the final sale to the consumer, and the rate varies by state and city. VAT, value added tax, is charged at every stage of production in most other countries, with the business claiming back the tax it paid. The US has no federal VAT.
Related tools
More Money and Finance like this one, plus two picks from other categories. Each opens its own dedicated page.