People only care about what they get to take home. If you get hit with 30% by one institution, another 2% by the same institution in another category, and then

People only care about what they get to take home. If you get hit with 30% by one institution, another 2% by the same institution in another category, and then another 10% by your state, people are going to say they got taxed 42%. I have lived as a resident in 3 states. The combination of city, county, and state taxes has always been around 10% for me. You are right though, I could have emancipated myself while a minor and moved to Florida where there is no income tax. I could have chosen a different university where I didn't have a scholarship. And subsequently I could have lived anywhere after that and enjoyed the lowest tax brackets because of my lower salary.