The Average Tax Refund Check in Every State (2024)

The vast majority of Americans don’t enjoy filing their taxes. Even to those for whom it’s a relatively painless process, it still represents a chore. However, no matter how much you hate the process of putting your return together, you probably love the day the money from your refund hits your bank account.

While plenty of personal finance experts insist that you adjust your withholding so that you can earn interest on it throughout the year, many Americans still seem to prefer receiving it as one lump sum shortly after they file. And certainly, if that ensures the cash gets invested or put in savings, it’s probably worth foregoing that extra little bit of interest you can earn by reducing your withholding.

So, which Americans are getting the most back on their tax returns? To get to the bottom of that question, GOBankingRates compiled a list of all 50 states, ranked by the size of the average return people received for the 2022 tax year — the taxes you filed at the beginning of 2023. The study took the total amount of money issued as returns in each state and divided it by the number of returns with a refund to come up with the average return. See where your state ranks among the rest of the country in terms of getting that fat check from Uncle Sam.

• Number of refunds issued: 1,286,619
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,763,227,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,370

• Number of refunds issued: 2,842,777
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,378,396,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,540

• Number of refunds issued: 944,371
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,479,556,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,567

• Number of refunds issued: 440,517
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $693,381,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,574

• Number of refunds issued: 742,501
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,184,129,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,595

• Number of refunds issued: 1,499,721
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,437,752,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,625

• Number of refunds issued: 3,970,935
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,559,739,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,652

• Number of refunds issued: 1,404,018
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,326,430,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,657

• Number of refunds issued: 4,121,337
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,844,299,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,661

• Number of refunds issued: 7,510,558
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $12,686,046,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,689

• Number of refunds issued: 982,621
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,668,198,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,698

• Number of refunds issued: 3,673,855
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,240,281,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,699

• Number of refunds issued: 786,960
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,338,545,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,701

• Number of refunds issued: 3,208,928
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $5,465,995,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,703

• Number of refunds issued: 2,054,691
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,505,170,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,706

• Number of refunds issued: 2,356,556
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,025,637,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,708

• Number of refunds issued: 4,075,961
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,973,265,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,711

• Number of refunds issued: 8,532,813
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $14,658,351,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,718

• Number of refunds issued: 2,221,770
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,824,272,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,721

• Number of refunds issued: 968,426
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,669,428,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,724

• Number of refunds issued: 5,065,087
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,739,170,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,725

• Number of refunds issued: 27,215,414
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $46,959,301,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,725

• Number of refunds issued: 1,217,658
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $2,106,042,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,730

• Number of refunds issued: 4,367,880
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $7,587,530,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,737

• Number of refunds issued: 6,082,710
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $10,580,139,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,739

• Number of refunds issued: 725,569
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,263,969,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,742

• Number of refunds issued: 4,475,264
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $7,804,048,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,744

• Number of refunds issued: 5,019,014
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,791,208,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,752

• Number of refunds issued: 9,279,255
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $16,327,099,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,760

• Number of refunds issued: 2,153,904
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $3,794,200,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,762

• Number of refunds issued: 7,075,683
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $12,532,381,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,771

• Number of refunds issued: 5,379,202
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $9,545,674,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,775

• Number of refunds issued: 536,582
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $959,992,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,789

• Number of refunds issued: 4,985,921
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,946,038,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,794

• Number of refunds issued: 4,810,841
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $8,640,718,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,796

• Number of refunds issued: 6,541,529
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $11,751,647,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,796

• Number of refunds issued: 536,903
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $970,276,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,807

• Number of refunds issued: 3,485,204
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,339,107,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,819

• Number of refunds issued: 13,966,079
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $25,575,228,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,831

• Number of refunds issued: 2,809,496
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $5,166,899,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,839

• Number of refunds issued: 2,197,370
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,069,908,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,852

• Number of refunds issued: 7,883,778
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $14,615,732,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,854

• Number of refunds issued: 2,536,235
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,728,785,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,864

• Number of refunds issued: 638,068
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $1,190,593,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,866

• Number of refunds issued: 2,343,474
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $4,400,718,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,878

• Number of refunds issued: 9,059,344
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $17,090,115,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,886

• Number of refunds issued: 3,334,600
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $6,494,379,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,948

• Number of refunds issued: 22,324,670
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $43,499,670,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,949

• Number of refunds issued: 415,658
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $810,466,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,950

• Number of refunds issued: 15,837,100
• Total dollar amount of refunds issued: $31,578,695,000
• Average refund issued per return: $1,994

Alexandria Bova contributed to the reporting for this article.

GOBankingRates, using the Internal Revenue Service’s SOI Tax Stats for the fiscal year 2022, found the average refund check in every state by first finding each state’s total number of tax refunds issued and the total dollar amount of refunds issued for individual income tax and employment tax. The second figure was divided by the first to give the only ranking factor of Average Refund Issued Per Return. All data was collected on and up to date as of Feb. 5, 2024.

More From GOBankingRates

• 6 Expensive Costco Items That Are Definitely Worth the Cost
• I Was Retired, but Wasted Big Money On These 3 Things and Had To Go Back To Work
• 5 Reasons You Should Consider an Annuity For Your Retirement Savings
• 10 New Cars to Avoid Buying in 2024