In 2020, Montana collected $453.8 million in license taxes, ranking it 32nd 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 2020
| Rank | State | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $12,007,345,000 |
| 2 | Texas | $3,396,564,000 |
| 3 | Illinois | $2,748,276,000 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | $2,594,319,000 |
| 5 | North Carolina | $2,197,546,000 |
| 6 | Ohio | $2,174,077,000 |
| 7 | Florida | $2,122,244,000 |
| 8 | Michigan | $2,017,443,000 |
| 9 | Delaware | $1,851,617,000 |
| 10 | New York | $1,823,176,000 |
| 11 | New Jersey | $1,691,586,000 |
| 12 | Tennessee | $1,672,204,000 |
| 13 | Washington | $1,615,374,000 |
| 14 | Minnesota | $1,578,328,000 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | $1,256,103,000 |
| 16 | Oregon | $1,165,847,000 |
| 17 | Massachusetts | $1,130,025,000 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | $1,043,794,000 |
| 19 | Iowa | $1,021,357,000 |
| 20 | Virginia | $972,928,000 |
| 21 | Maryland | $800,356,000 |
| 22 | Indiana | $792,545,000 |
| 23 | Georgia | $719,188,000 |
| 24 | Colorado | $678,829,000 |
| 25 | Nevada | $637,899,000 |
| 26 | Missouri | $634,725,000 |
| 27 | South Carolina | $633,783,000 |
| 28 | Arizona | $584,022,000 |
| 29 | Alabama | $573,316,000 |
| 30 | Kentucky | $545,074,000 |
| 31 | Mississippi | $487,110,000 |
| 32 | Montana | $453,759,000 |
| 33 | Kansas | $432,005,000 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | $420,669,000 |
| 35 | Louisiana | $417,186,000 |
| 36 | Idaho | $399,784,000 |
| 37 | Arkansas | $391,409,000 |
| 38 | Connecticut | $370,415,000 |
| 39 | Utah | $356,811,000 |
| 40 | New Mexico | $332,374,000 |
| 41 | South Dakota | $295,378,000 |
| 42 | Maine | $284,666,000 |
| 43 | Hawaii | $274,200,000 |
| 44 | West Virginia | $256,240,000 |
| 45 | North Dakota | $220,690,000 |
| 46 | Wyoming | $204,750,000 |
| 47 | District of Columbia | $202,042,000 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $186,656,000 |
| 49 | Alaska | $152,187,000 |
| 50 | Vermont | $140,193,000 |
| 51 | Rhode Island | $120,821,000 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
