inkknife_2000//Wikimedia
1 / 51#51. Wyoming
Excise tax: $0.02 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.1 (#45 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.28 (#14 highest)
Ranking states with the highest and lowest beer taxes
Alcohol remains heavily regulated in the US, partially as a legacy of prohibition. This regulation varies from state to state. In addition to the general sales tax, all 50 states impose an additional tax on beer, which is often passed onto consumers.
The taxes levied are an excise tax and come in the form of either a fixed per-volume tariff or a wholesale tax. Distributors are taxed in some states through their sales or by license fees. Other states impose a fee on bottles or cases of beer.
This list ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia from the lowest beer excise tax to the highest, ranging from $0.02 per gallon to $1.29. In each ranking, you can also see the number of breweries per capita in 2016 and the consumption per capita in 2015 (most recent data available).
Daniel Schwen // Wikimedia Commons
2 / 51#50. Missouri
Excise tax: $0.06 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.8 (#33 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.17 (#21 highest)
Yinan Chen // Wikimedia Commons
3 / 51#49. Wisconsin
Excise tax: $0.06 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 3.3 (#12 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.39 (#6 highest)
Anthony//Flickr
4 / 51#48. Kentucky
Excise tax: $0.08 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.1 (#44 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.99 (#39 highest)
Max Pixel
5 / 51#47. Oregon
Excise tax: $0.08 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 8.1 (#4 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.22 (#18 highest)
Pixabay
6 / 51#46. Colorado
Excise tax: $0.08 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 8.4 (#3 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.12 (#28 highest)
Adam Jones // Wikimedia Commons
7 / 51#45. Pennsylvania
Excise tax: $0.08 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.2 (#25 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.31 (#12 highest)
Adamshlossman//Wikimedia
8 / 51#44. Maryland
Excise tax: $0.09 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.5 (#36 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.85 (#48 highest)
Pixabay
9 / 51#43. District of Columbia
Excise tax: $0.09 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.3 (#22 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.14 (#25 highest)
Leonard J. DeFrancisci//Wikimedia
10 / 51#42. Rhode Island
Excise tax: $0.11 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.9 (#31 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.96 (#45 highest)
Emmanuel Huybrechts // Flickr
11 / 51#41. Massachussetts
Excise tax: $0.11 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.2 (#24 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.96 (#44 highest)
David Merrett // Flickr
12 / 51#40. New Jersey
Excise tax: $0.12 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.3 (#43 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.83 (#50 highest)
Pixabay
13 / 51#39. Indiana
Excise tax: $0.12 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.7 (#19 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.98 (#41 highest)
Whpq//Wikimedia
14 / 51#38. Montana
Excise tax: $0.14 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 9 (#2 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.63 (#2 highest)
Anthony Quintano // Flickr
15 / 51#37. New York
Excise tax: $0.14 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.9 (#29 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.9 (#47 highest)
Good Free Photos
16 / 51#36. Idaho
Excise tax: $0.15 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 4.6 (#10 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.93 (#46 highest)
Pixabay
17 / 51#35. Minnesota
Excise tax: $0.15 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.8 (#16 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.16 (#24 highest)
Analogue Kid at English Wikipedia // Wikimedia Commons
18 / 51#34. Delaware
Excise tax: $0.16 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.7 (#18 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.2 (#20 highest)
Melikamp // Wikimedia Commons
19 / 51#33. Arizona
Excise tax: $0.16 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.8 (#32 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.16 (#23 highest)
Andrew Filer // Flickr
20 / 51#32. North Dakota
Excise tax: $0.16 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.9 (#30 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.57 (#3 highest)
Pixabay
21 / 51#31. Nevada
Excise tax: $0.16 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.7 (#34 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.38 (#7 highest)
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
22 / 51#30. Kansas
Excise tax: $0.18 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.5 (#35 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.03 (#34 highest)
PumpkinSky//Wikimedia
23 / 51#29. West Virginia
Excise tax: $0.18 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.1 (#46 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.14 (#26 highest)
Ynsalh // Wikimedia Commons
24 / 51#28. Ohio
Excise tax: $0.18 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.1 (#26 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.17 (#22 highest)
Ron Reiring // Flickr
25 / 51#27. Iowa
Excise tax: $0.19 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 3.2 (#13 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.34 (#9 highest)
Pixabay
26 / 51#26. California
Excise tax: $0.20 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.2 (#23 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.99 (#38 highest)
PxHere
27 / 51#25. Michigan
Excise tax: $0.20 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 3.1 (#15 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.99 (#40 highest)
Good Free Photos
28 / 51#24. Texas
Excise tax: $0.20 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.1 (#45 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.28 (#14 highest)
Alfredo Carrillo // Flickr
29 / 51#23. Arkansas
Excise tax: $0.23 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.3 (#40 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.97 (#42 highest)
Pixabay
30 / 51#22. Illinois
Excise tax: $0.23 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2 (#27 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.12 (#29 highest)
Good Free Photos
31 / 51#21. Connecticut
Excise tax: $0.24 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.9 (#28 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.84 (#49 highest)
Ron Cogswell // Wikimedia Commons
32 / 51#20. Virginia
Excise tax: $0.26 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.7 (#20 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1 (#37 highest)
Joe Mabel//Wikimedia
33 / 51#19. Washington
Excise tax: $0.26 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 6.3 (#6 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.97 (#43 highest)
Max Pixel
34 / 51#18. Vermont
Excise tax: $0.27 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 10.8 (#1 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.57 (#4 highest)
Ammodramus // Wikimedia Commons
35 / 51#17. South Dakota
Excise tax: $0.27 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.5 (#21 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.48 (#5 highest)
Wikipedia
36 / 51#16. New Hampshire
Excise tax: $0.30 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 5.4 (#8 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.88 (#1 highest)
Wikimedia Commons
37 / 51#15. Nebraska
Excise tax: $0.31 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 3.2 (#14 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.34 (#10 highest)
Ron Cogswell//Flickr
38 / 51#14. Georgia
Excise tax: $0.32 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 0.7 (#49 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.01 (#36 highest)
Wikimedia Commons
39 / 51#13. Maine
Excise tax: $0.35 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 7.6 (#5 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.37 (#8 highest)
Antrell Williams // Flickr
40 / 51#12. Louisiana
Excise tax: $0.40 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 0.8 (#48 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.27 (#15 highest)
katsrcool // Wikimedia Commons
41 / 51#11. Oklahoma
Excise tax: $0.40 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 0.7 (#50 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.07 (#32 highest)
Ken L. // Flickr
42 / 51#10. New Mexico
Excise tax: $0.41 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 3.9 (#11 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.23 (#17 highest)
Aqua Mechanical // Flickr
43 / 51#9. Utah
Excise tax: $0.41 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.4 (#39 highest)
Consumption per capita: 0.65 (#51 highest)
Ken L.
44 / 51#8. Mississippi
Excise tax: $0.43 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 0.4 (#51 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.31 (#11 highest)
Pixabay
45 / 51#7. Florida
Excise tax: $0.48 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.3 (#41 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.11 (#31 highest)
Max Pixel
46 / 51#6. Alabama
Excise tax: $0.53 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 0.8 (#47 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.12 (#27 highest)
Pixabay
47 / 51#5. North Carolina
Excise tax: $0.62 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 2.8 (#17 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.05 (#33 highest)
Btcsc // Wikimedia Commons
48 / 51#4. South Carolina
Excise tax: $0.77 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.4 (#37 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.21 (#19 highest)
Edmund Garman // Flickr
49 / 51#3. Hawaii
Excise tax: $0.93 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.3 (#42 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.28 (#13 highest)
Pixabay
50 / 51#2. Alaska
Excise tax: $1.07 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 6.2 (#7 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.11 (#30 highest)
Derrick Brutel // Flickr
51 / 51#1. Tennessee
Excise tax: $1.29 per gallon
Breweries per capita: 1.4 (#38 highest)
Consumption per capita: 1.03 (#35 highest)
