Sales Tax Calculator

How sales tax works in the United States

Sales tax in the U.S. is charged at the point of sale as a percentage of the price, and it's stacked from several layers: a state rate, plus optional county, city and special-district rates. Add them together and you get the combined rateyou actually pay. That layering is why sales tax is so local — California's state rate is 7.25%, but a purchase in Los Angeles runs closer to 9.5% once county and city taxes pile on. The math itself is simple: multiply the price by the combined rate. This tool has every state's 2026 average rate built in, and lets you override it with your exact local rate.

Working backwardsis just as common — you have a total that already includes tax and want to know the pre-tax price or the tax portion (for an expense report or to reconcile a receipt). Divide the total by 1 plus the rate: a $107.50 total at 7.5% came from a $100 item. Switch the toggle to "Remove sales tax" and the calculator handles it.

The five states with no sales tax

Five states charge no statewide sales tax, remembered by the acronym NOMAD: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska and Delaware. Alaska is the asterisk — it has no state tax but permits local sales taxes, which average about 1.8%, so an Anchorage or Juneau purchase may still be taxed. The other four are tax-free at the register, which is why shoppers near those borders often cross state lines for big-ticket items. At the other extreme, combined rates exceed 10% in parts of Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama.

Why we don't guess your ZIP code — and why that's fine

Some calculators promise a rate from your ZIP code, but ZIP codes and tax jurisdictions don't line up cleanly: a single ZIP can span multiple cities and special districts with different rates, so a ZIP-only lookup can be wrong. The truly precise tools use full street addresses and a live rate database. Rather than fake that precision, this calculator gives you each state's verified average as a fast, honest starting point — and makes it trivial to type your exact local rate, which is the number that's actually correct for your address. The arithmetic it applies is always exact; only the default rate is an average.

What's taxable — and what often isn't

Not everything is taxed at the full rate. Most states exempt or reduce tax on groceries and prescription drugs, and some exempt clothing (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota, for example) or hold annual tax-free holidayson school supplies and clothing. Services are often untaxed, though states are steadily adding them. Because these carve-outs vary so much by state and item, this calculator applies the standard rate you enter — if you're buying an exempt category, the real tax may be zero. When in doubt, your state Department of Revenue lists exactly what's taxable.

Sales tax and your federal return

If you itemize deductions, the IRS lets you deduct either your state income tax or your state and local sales tax — not both — as part of the SALT deduction. For people in no-income-tax states (Texas, Florida, Washington and the rest), deducting sales tax is the obvious choice, and it can matter more now that the SALT cap has risen. Most filers take the standard deduction instead; see whether itemizing helps with our federal income tax calculator.