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Out of roughly 3.1 million U.S. deaths a year, only 7,195 federal estate tax returns were filed in 2024 — and just 2,663 owed any tax.
- That’s about 0.23% of deaths triggering a filing, and fewer than one in a thousand owing tax (2,663 taxable returns)
- Filers reported $248,944,039,000 in combined gross estates (IRS SOI, filing year 2024)
- California (1,440), Florida (977), and New York (570) account for over 40% of all filings
Estate Tax Returns by State (Filing Year 2024)
| State | Estate Tax Returns Filed (2024) | Gross Estate Reported |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 65 | $1,753,344,000 |
| Alaska | 11 | $336,515,000 |
| Arizona | 120 | $2,905,836,000 |
| Arkansas | 36 | $1,104,375,000 |
| California | 1,440 | $55,074,240,000 |
| Colorado | 124 | $3,026,990,000 |
| Connecticut | 138 | $4,530,765,000 |
| Delaware | 11 | $515,223,000 |
| District of Columbia | 25 | $740,103,000 |
| Florida | 977 | $34,595,786,000 |
| Georgia | 128 | $3,585,755,000 |
| Hawaii | 33 | $1,003,067,000 |
| Idaho | 26 | $609,509,000 |
| Illinois | 245 | $13,477,308,000 |
| Indiana | 75 | $1,940,198,000 |
| Iowa | 72 | $1,337,562,000 |
| Kansas | 64 | $1,630,288,000 |
| Kentucky | 40 | $1,237,208,000 |
| Louisiana | 44 | $1,381,908,000 |
| Maine | 25 | $609,777,000 |
| Maryland | 99 | $3,034,666,000 |
| Massachusetts | 203 | $6,375,583,000 |
| Michigan | 133 | $3,659,032,000 |
| Minnesota | 92 | $2,624,161,000 |
| Mississippi | 21 | $674,097,000 |
| Missouri | 96 | $2,122,987,000 |
| Montana | 33 | $774,585,000 |
| Nebraska | 47 | $1,319,153,000 |
| Nevada | 71 | $3,416,493,000 |
| New Hampshire | 51 | $2,000,247,000 |
| New Jersey | 161 | $3,844,750,000 |
| New Mexico | 38 | $1,162,566,000 |
| New York | 570 | $23,229,554,000 |
| North Carolina | 137 | $7,263,189,000 |
| North Dakota | 16 | $426,132,000 |
| Ohio | 152 | $4,061,742,000 |
| Oklahoma | 49 | $2,525,762,000 |
| Oregon | 73 | $1,880,977,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 211 | $8,555,770,000 |
| Rhode Island | 19 | $373,034,000 |
| South Carolina | 91 | $1,941,626,000 |
| South Dakota | 28 | $583,766,000 |
| Tennessee | 116 | $2,832,477,000 |
| Texas | 467 | $13,152,326,000 |
| Utah | 57 | $1,399,722,000 |
| Vermont | 12 | $262,905,000 |
| Virginia | 131 | $4,274,227,000 |
| Washington | 144 | $4,082,802,000 |
| West Virginia | 11 | $263,237,000 |
| Wisconsin | 93 | $3,080,804,000 |
| Wyoming | 28 | $2,125,376,000 |
Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Estate Tax Filing Year Table 2 (2024). Dollar amounts converted from thousands. "—" indicates the IRS suppressed the figure to protect taxpayer privacy. Filing-year data reflects returns processed that year, generally for deaths in prior years. Each state links to our estate planning guide.
What the Numbers Mean
The federal filing threshold tracks the estate tax exemption — $13.61 million for 2024 deaths, $15 million for 2026 — which is why filings are so rare. The practical exposure for most families isn’t federal at all: it’s the 12 states plus D.C. with their own estate taxes at far lower thresholds, and the gap between home values and those state thresholds. New York’s 570 federal filings, for instance, sit alongside a state estate tax that reaches estates above $7.35 million — less than half the federal line.
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Estate Tax Statistics: Who Actually Pays (2026), Family Estate Guide, https://familyestateguide.com/estate-tax-statistics/
Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, republish, or adapt this material, including commercially, with credit to Family Estate Guide and a link to this page. The license covers our compilation and analysis; underlying source data remains subject to its original terms.
Update Log
- August 2026 — Published with IRS SOI filing-year 2024 tables (released 2026) and CDC/NCHS 2023 mortality data (3,090,582 deaths).
- August 2026 — Released under CC BY 4.0; reuse permitted with attribution.
Last updated: August 2026. Refreshed when the IRS releases each new filing-year table. Educational information, not legal or tax advice.