Fletcher W. Hewes & Henry Gannett, Taxation per Capita by Counties(1883)

This choropleth map is included in Scribner's Statistical Atlas of the United States (1883), compiled under the direction of Fletcher W. Hewes and Henry Gannett using 1880 U.S. Census data. It illustrates the taxation per capita by counties across the United States. The darker the shading, the higher the taxation per person in that area. The total taxation in 1880 amounted to $312,750,721, with the amount of taxation differing from state to state, making the average rate of taxation per capita $6.23. Taxation per capita was greatest in the North Atlantic region, followed by the sparsely populated Western region, and lastly the North Central region. The Southern states were taxed the least. Hewes and Gannett assert that, “The excess of taxation in the Northern States was mainly produced by municipal governments, which, as is well known, are expensive luxuries” (p. lxxi). Hewes and Gannett also point out that taxation, “...was greatest where the urban population was largest” (p. lxx).