Taxes / Refunds

The Average Tax Refund Check in Every State

February 19, 2024

7 min Read

Written by Laura Beck

Edited by Amber Barkley

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The vast majority of Americans don’t enjoy filing their taxes. Even to those for whom it’s a relatively painless process, it still represents a chore. However, no matter how much you hate the process of putting your return together, you probably love the day the money from your refund hits your bank account.

While plenty of personal finance experts insist that you adjust your withholding so that you can earn interest on it throughout the year, many Americans still seem to prefer receiving it as one lump sum shortly after they file. And certainly, if that ensures the cash gets invested or put in savings, it’s probably worth foregoing that extra little bit of interest you can earn by reducing your withholding.

So, which Americans are getting the most back on their tax returns? To get to the bottom of that question, GOBankingRates compiled a list of all 50 states, ranked by the size of the average return people received for the 2022 tax year — the taxes you filed at the beginning of 2023. The study took the total amount of money issued as returns in each state and divided it by the number of returns with a refund to come up with the average return. See where your state ranks among the rest of the country in terms of getting that fat check from Uncle Sam.

Idaho

Number of refunds issued: 1,286,619
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,763,227,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,370

Oregon

Number of refunds issued: 2,842,777
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,378,396,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,540

Maine

Number of refunds issued: 944,371
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,479,556,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,567

Vermont

Number of refunds issued: 440,517
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $693,381,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,574

Montana

Number of refunds issued: 742,501
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,184,129,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,595

New Mexico

Number of refunds issued: 1,499,721
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,437,752,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,625

Minnesota

Number of refunds issued: 3,970,935
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,559,739,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,652

Nebraska

Number of refunds issued: 1,404,018
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,326,430,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,657

Wisconsin

Number of refunds issued: 4,121,337
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,844,299,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,661

North Carolina

Number of refunds issued: 7,510,558
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $12,686,046,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,689

Hawaii

Number of refunds issued: 982,621
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,668,198,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,698

South Carolina

Number of refunds issued: 3,673,855
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,240,281,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,699

Rhode Island

Number of refunds issued: 786,960
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,338,545,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,701

Kentucky

Number of refunds issued: 3,208,928
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $5,465,995,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,703

Kansas

Number of refunds issued: 2,054,691
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,505,170,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,706

Utah

Number of refunds issued: 2,356,556
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,025,637,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,708

Colorado

Number of refunds issued: 4,075,961
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,973,265,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,711

Ohio

Number of refunds issued: 8,532,813
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $14,658,351,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,718

Iowa

Number of refunds issued: 2,221,770
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,824,272,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,721

New Hampshire

Number of refunds issued: 968,426
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,669,428,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,724

Arizona

Number of refunds issued: 5,065,087
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,739,170,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,725

California

Number of refunds issued: 27,215,414
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $46,959,301,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,725

West Virginia

Number of refunds issued: 1,217,658
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,106,042,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,730

Missouri

Number of refunds issued: 4,367,880
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $7,587,530,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,737

Virginia

Number of refunds issued: 6,082,710
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $10,580,139,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,739

Delaware

Number of refunds issued: 725,569
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,263,969,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,742

Maryland

Number of refunds issued: 4,475,264
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $7,804,048,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,744

Indiana

Number of refunds issued: 5,019,014
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,791,208,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,752

Pennsylvania

Number of refunds issued: 9,279,255
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $16,327,099,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,760

Arkansas

Number of refunds issued: 2,153,904
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,794,200,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,762

Michigan

Number of refunds issued: 7,075,683
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $12,532,381,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,771

Washington

Number of refunds issued: 5,379,202
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $9,545,674,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,775

North Dakota

Number of refunds issued: 536,582
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $959,992,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,789

Tennessee

Number of refunds issued: 4,985,921
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,946,038,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,794

Massachusetts

Number of refunds issued: 4,810,841
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,640,718,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,796

New Jersey

Number of refunds issued: 6,541,529
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $11,751,647,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,796

Alaska

Number of refunds issued: 536,903
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $970,276,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,807

Alabama

Number of refunds issued: 3,485,204
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,339,107,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,819

New York

Number of refunds issued: 13,966,079
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $25,575,228,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,831

Oklahoma

Number of refunds issued: 2,809,496
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $5,166,899,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,839

Mississippi

Number of refunds issued: 2,197,370
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,069,908,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,852

Georgia

Number of refunds issued: 7,883,778
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $14,615,732,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,854

Connecticut

Number of refunds issued: 2,536,235
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,728,785,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,864

South Dakota

Number of refunds issued: 638,068
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,190,593,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,866

Nevada

Number of refunds issued: 2,343,474
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,400,718,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,878

Illinois

Number of refunds issued: 9,059,344
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $17,090,115,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,886

Louisiana

Number of refunds issued: 3,334,600
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,494,379,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,948

Texas

Number of refunds issued: 22,324,670
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $43,499,670,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,949

Wyoming

Number of refunds issued: 415,658
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $810,466,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,950

Florida

Number of refunds issued: 15,837,100
Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $31,578,695,000
Average refund issued per return: $1,994

Alexandria Bova contributed to the reporting for this article.

GOBankingRates, using the Internal Revenue Service’s SOI Tax Stats for the fiscal year 2022, found the average refund check in every state by first finding each state’s total number of tax refunds issued and the total dollar amount of refunds issued for individual income tax and employment tax. The second figure was divided by the first to give the only ranking factor of Average Refund Issued Per Return. All data was collected on and up to date as of Feb. 5, 2024.

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