How Many Families Pay Estate Tax?

According to the IRS in 2016, 5,219 families paid federal estate tax.  The average size of an estate that paid tax was over $20,000,000. The average tax paid was approximately $3,500,000.  

Now that the federal estate tax exclusion has been increased to $11,400,000 per person for deaths occurring in 2019, we can expect far fewer families to pay estate tax.  The Tax Policy Center estimated that in 2018, only 1,700 families would owe estate tax.

Of course, many more families pay New York and Connecticut estate taxes.  The New York estate tax exemption for deaths in 2018 is $5,250,000; the Connecticut estate tax exemption is $2,600,000.

Sources:
"Only 1,700 Estates Would Owe Estate Tax in 2018 Under the TCJA" by Howard Gleckman
"SOI Tax Stats - Estate Tax Statistics" by the IRS​