Massachusetts currently has the highest per capita income of any state, but the Commonwealth lags many states when it comes to using those resources to support funding for education, health, human services, transportation and the like. Massachusetts is even below the national average.

Comparing tax and spending policies across states in a meaningful way across states or over time can be complicated by differences in population size, economic strength, or the changing cost of living. To account for these challenges, MassBudget often analyzes spending or taxation as a percent of a state’s economy.