States With No Sales Tax: The 5 NOMAD States (2026)

Five states charge no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware — known together as the NOMAD states. But a 0% sticker price comes with fine print, and "no sales tax" doesn't automatically mean a lighter overall tax load. Here's the full breakdown.

The short version

• Five states have no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Delaware.
• Their initials spell NOMAD — an easy way to remember the list.
• Alaska lets local governments add their own sales tax; the other four generally don't.
• Each makes up the revenue elsewhere — through income, property, or gross-receipts taxes.

Which states have no sales tax?

These five states levy no sales tax at the state level:

That makes big-ticket purchases — cars, electronics, appliances — noticeably cheaper at the register than in a high-sales-tax state, where combined state and local rates can top 9%.

What does NOMAD stand for?

NOMAD is just a memory aid built from the five states' first letters:

• N — New Hampshire
• O — Oregon
• M — Montana
• A — Alaska
• D — Delaware

The catch in each state

A 0% statewide rate doesn't mean these states are tax havens. Each leans on a different revenue source:

• Alaska has no statewide sales tax, but it's the one NOMAD state that lets localities charge their own — up to roughly 7.5% in some towns.
• Montana allows limited local resort taxes in tourist areas.
• Delaware charges a gross-receipts tax on businesses, which quietly works its way into prices.
• Oregon offsets it with a comparatively high income tax.
• New Hampshire leans on some of the nation's highest property taxes.

How states rank on economic freedom

Sales tax is only one slice of the picture. Our economic-freedom score folds in the total tax burden — income, sales, and property — plus regulation and business climate:

1. 1NHNew Hampshire
   10.0A+
2. 2TNTennessee
   9.8A+
3. 3SDSouth Dakota
   9.6A+
4. 4TXTexas
   9.4A+
5. 5IDIdaho
   9.2A+
6. 6FLFlorida
   9.0A+
7. 7NCNorth Carolina
   8.8A
8. 8GAGeorgia
   8.6A
9. 9NDNorth Dakota
   8.4A-
10. 10INIndiana
    8.2A-

See all 50 states ranked on Economic Freedom

See the full tax-burden & economic-freedom ranking

All 50 states ranked on total tax load, regulation, and business climate — with a color-coded map.

Does no sales tax mean lower costs?

It depends entirely on how you earn and spend:

• Big spenders and shoppers benefit most from no sales tax — every purchase is cheaper.
• High earners may give the savings back through Oregon-style income taxes.
• Homeowners can lose out in New Hampshire, where property taxes run high.

For a true comparison, weigh all three big taxes together — which is exactly what the no-income-tax and property-tax breakdowns are built to help you do.