In 2021, South Dakota collected $300.7 million in license taxes, ranking it 42nd in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections (STC).
The STC survey includes five broad tax categories and up to 25 subcategories. Data is gathered from all 50 state governments and all dependent state-level entities.
The Census Bureau cautions it sets the tax classifications among the survey categories, and they may differ from the classifications set by the state governments.
Below is a breakdown of how taxes were classified by the bureau and how much was collected.
U.S. license taxes by State in 2021
| Rank | State | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $11,292,132,000 |
| 2 | Illinois | $3,818,851,000 |
| 3 | Texas | $3,646,437,000 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | $2,955,413,000 |
| 5 | North Carolina | $2,596,969,000 |
| 6 | Florida | $2,509,455,000 |
| 7 | Oregon | $2,483,742,000 |
| 8 | Tennessee | $2,333,130,000 |
| 9 | Michigan | $2,178,822,000 |
| 10 | Delaware | $2,076,828,000 |
| 11 | Washington | $2,072,634,000 |
| 12 | Ohio | $2,029,060,000 |
| 13 | New Jersey | $1,986,338,000 |
| 14 | New York | $1,793,375,000 |
| 15 | Minnesota | $1,505,670,000 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | $1,340,711,000 |
| 17 | Massachusetts | $1,274,252,000 |
| 18 | Iowa | $1,101,447,000 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | $1,085,111,000 |
| 20 | Virginia | $995,094,000 |
| 21 | Maryland | $969,440,000 |
| 22 | Indiana | $819,109,000 |
| 23 | Georgia | $750,136,000 |
| 24 | Colorado | $720,335,000 |
| 25 | South Carolina | $707,027,000 |
| 26 | Missouri | $691,696,000 |
| 27 | Nevada | $623,260,000 |
| 28 | Arizona | $618,052,000 |
| 29 | Alabama | $606,351,000 |
| 30 | Mississippi | $570,447,000 |
| 31 | Kentucky | $533,047,000 |
| 32 | Montana | $481,678,000 |
| 33 | Louisiana | $477,174,000 |
| 34 | Idaho | $473,872,000 |
| 35 | New Hampshire | $472,669,000 |
| 36 | Kansas | $457,796,000 |
| 37 | Arkansas | $423,851,000 |
| 38 | Connecticut | $387,836,000 |
| 39 | Utah | $371,684,000 |
| 40 | New Mexico | $343,487,000 |
| 41 | Maine | $325,922,000 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $300,687,000 |
| 43 | Hawaii | $258,953,000 |
| 44 | Wyoming | $212,497,000 |
| 45 | North Dakota | $210,333,000 |
| 46 | West Virginia | $196,902,000 |
| 47 | Nebraska | $194,771,000 |
| 48 | District of Columbia | $183,696,000 |
| 49 | Alaska | $153,176,000 |
| 50 | Vermont | $143,501,000 |
| 51 | Rhode Island | $137,010,000 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
