BOSTON – New England is the third most heavily taxed region in the nation and residents will pay an estimated 11.3 percent of their income in state and local taxes this year – behind only the Mideast and Great Lakes Region, an independent study reported Friday.

Massachusetts ranks No. 28 nationwide, with residents paying an estimated 10.6 of their income this year to fund state and local operations and services. The state, the region’s largest economy, was once referred to as Taxachusetts because of its painful tax burden, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group.

New Hampshire is the second least-taxed state, with residents shelling out 8 percent of their income in state and local taxes, according to the report.

Vermont and Maine have the highest and second-highest tax burden, with residents paying 14.1 percent and 14 percent respectively, the report says.

Connecticut ranks No. 8, with residents paying 12.2 percent of their income to fund state and local operations. Rhode Island ranks No. 4 nationwide, and its residents will pay 12.7 percent in state and local taxes this year.

“Now the moderate tax burden in Massachusetts teams with the low burden in New Hampshire to prevent New England from being an especially high-tax region, despite the huge tax burdens in four smaller states – Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut,” the group said.