The last time we talked about the mortgage interest deduction, I shared with you a chart on the percentage of returns in each income group taking the mortgage interest deduction. Today let's take it a step further and look at the mortgage interest deduction geographically (2007 IRS Data).
Maryland in the Lead!
With a whopping 37.55% of returns in Maryland both itemizing and declaring the mortgage interest deduction, it takes the grand prize for the biggest state usage of the tax break. Interesting how the area around Washington D.C. seems wedded to the benefit, isn't it? Perhaps not when you consider that the area around D.C. is the richest place in the country (take that, SF Bay Area!)
Of course, switching to the average deduction taken puts California back into the lead. Perhaps there's something to that? Well, maybe it's that big state income tax which means many people with mortgages are going to itemize anyway (count me among the lucky ones.)
Outside of that, you can see that the states on the east and west coasts (and Nevada, Colorado, and Utah) tend to take advantage of the deduction most, along with the midwest. The center of the country? Not so much.
Does this infographic change your perspective on the mortgage interest deduction? What do the figures look like in your state?
