Of our surrounding states, Kentucky places the second highest tax burden upon its citizens.

State and local taxes extract 3.4% of Kentuckian's disposable income. Only Ohio, at 3.7%, comes in higher. Virginia also comes in at 3.4%.

The others: West Virginia - 2.8%; Missouri - 2.8%; Indiana - 2.8%; Illinois 2.1%; and Tennessee - 0.3%.

Yes - you read that right. It caused us to wonder if the formula was correct but we re-ran the numbers. Tennessee's state and local government extracts less than 1% of personal disposable income from its citizens. This may be one big reason why Tennessee's growth in gross state product has blown KY away for the past decade.