Chicago’s combined taxpayer burden per resident is off the charts.
Source: The 10 US Cities with the Greatest Tax Burdens - Foundation for Economic Education
It surprised me a little that Chicago beat out cities like New York and various cities in California. At nearly $120,000 per person, Chicago's tax burden is insane, especially given that the mean salary is in the $85,000 range and the average salary is about $63,000 (according to payscale.com). No doubt a lot of very rich people are shouldering a lot of this but this still seems unsustainable in the long run. Much of this taxation includes special sales taxes on everything from soda to PlayStations to plastic bags and a variety of other things. It's not just rich people paying.