It doesn't make any sense to add up the highest marginal tax rates like that though.
In your example of someone earning $90k in CA, the federal income tax rate of 28% only applies to the $2150 of income above the threshold of $87,850, the rest is taxed at lower rates according to the lower brackets. The same applies to state taxes, except the brackets are different.
The effective tax rate (e.g. the total amount of tax you pay / your total income) has a lot more meaning, and that one is a lot lower than 50%.
The original claim that started this thread, "Personal income taxes are about 50% in the US", is not true at all.
In your example of someone earning $90k in CA, the federal income tax rate of 28% only applies to the $2150 of income above the threshold of $87,850, the rest is taxed at lower rates according to the lower brackets. The same applies to state taxes, except the brackets are different.
The effective tax rate (e.g. the total amount of tax you pay / your total income) has a lot more meaning, and that one is a lot lower than 50%.
The original claim that started this thread, "Personal income taxes are about 50% in the US", is not true at all.