States Without Income Taxes Gain Representatives

Seven states have no personal income taxes.  As a result of the 2010 census, four of them are among the eight states that will gain Representatives in the US House.

Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Washington will all gain at least one Representative.  The remaining three no income tax states are low-population states that only have one Representative: Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Ten states lost Representatives as a result of the census, and all of them have a personal income tax.

More than half of the states without personal income taxes will be gaining Representatives, while all of the states losing Representatives have income taxes.  Is this a coincidence?  Certainly there are other factors that come into play, but this is likely a significant factor.  It appears that when people “vote with their feet,” they like to move to states without income taxes.

Randall G. Holcombe is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. His Independent books include Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (edited with Benjamin Powell); and Writing Off Ideas: Taxation, Foundations, and Philanthropy in America .
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