Just checked out some interesting data on what the average take home pay in the US actually looks like after taxes hit your paycheck. Turns out there's a massive difference depending on where you live, which I didn't realize was that dramatic.

Like, Maryland households bring in around $145k median income but only take home about $101k after federal, state and local taxes. Meanwhile someone in Mississippi earning $87k median ends up with roughly $64k. That's a huge chunk going to taxes either way.

The states with the best take-home situations seem to be the ones without state income tax - Alaska households average $119k income and keep about $93k of it. Compare that to California where $126k income becomes $85k after taxes. Even high earners aren't keeping as much as you'd think.

What's wild is looking at Connecticut and Massachusetts - both have median incomes over $140k but their average take home pay in the us after all the tax layers is only around $95-98k. So basically a third or more just vanishes to taxes. Makes you wonder what the real cost of living actually looks like when you factor that in.