Pennsylvania ranks 11th in the nation for state and local tax burden, according to a new report by the Tax Foundation.

Pennsylvania residents are forced to spend 10.2 cents of every dollar they earn to cover their state and local tax bills, according the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C.

New Jersey is No. 1 on the tax burden list. New Jersey taxpayers carry the heaviest tax load — 11.8 cents for every dollar earned, a tenth of a penny higher than No. 2 New York, the Tax Foundation says. Connecticut is No. 3 on the list, with residents paying 11.1 cents for state and local taxes.

The national average for the year that ended June 30 is 9.7 cents, according to the Tax Foundation.

Alaska residents pay the least tax burden: 6.4 cents of every dollar, the survey says.

Pennsylvania (ranked No. 12 in last year's report) moved up on the tax burden list this year. The state has hovered around the Top 10 in tax burden since Gov. Ed Rendell took office in 2003.

The overall tax burden across the country is down slightly this year, according to the Tax Foundation.

From the report:

Tax burdens are down from 2007 to 2008, mostly because income growth outpaced tax growth as the macroeconomy slowed. The largest drops were in Florida, Utah and the District of Columbia where the taxpayers' burden dropped by 0.5 percentage points between 2007 and 2008. Most state residents' tax burdens inched down a couple tenths of a percent, mirroring the national average which dipped from 9.9 percent to 9.7 percent.

To read the full report by Gerald Prante, Senior Economist for the Tax Foundation, go to the Foundation's Web site.