NASHVILLE - For the second straight year, Tennesseans have the unhappy distinction of paying the nation's highest average state and local sales tax rates, although Arkansans are giving them a hard run for the money this time.
According to mid-2019 estimates by the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Volunteer State's combined sales tax rate was 9.469%. Arkansas came within a whisper at a combined 9.454% state and local sales tax rate.
Alabama held the No. 5 slot with a combined 9.16% rate, while Georgia's 7.33% combined rate made it No. 19.
From 2012 through 2015, Tennessee held the No. 1 ranking for highest average sales taxes until the state was unseated by Louisiana in 2016 and 2017.
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