Study of all 50 state governments finds Connecticut, New Jersey, Hawaii and Illinois have the most per capita debt

The nation’s 50 state governments reported $2.6 trillion in total debt and $1.9 trillion in long-term debt at the end of fiscal year 2024, Reason Foundation’s State and Local Government Finance Report finds.

Connecticut ($25,381 per capita) and New Jersey ($22,933) are the two state governments with more than $20,000 in debt per capita.

Hawaii ($19,553 per capita), Illinois ($17,859), Massachusetts ($17,536), and Delaware ($17,445) rank third through sixth in per-capita debt, each with more than $17,000 in debt per state resident.

Alaska, Wyoming, Washington, North Dakota, California, New York, Vermont, and Maryland also have per-capita debt exceeding $10,000.

In-depth analysis of every state is available in the tool below and at https://govfinance.reason.org/.

Utah, with $1,856 in per-capita debt, is the only state government in the nation with per-capita debt under $2,000.

The next-lowest per-capita debt states are Tennessee ($2,126 per capita), South Dakota ($2,529), Indiana ($2,677), and Idaho ($2,854).

Total debt includes all liabilities reported on state governments’ balance sheets, including short-term obligations due within one year (such as accounts payable and accrued salaries) and long-term commitments (such as bonds, loans, unfunded pension liabilities, and retiree health care benefits).

Overall, California has the most total debt: $455 billion.

Illinois ($229 billion), New York ($228 billion), Texas ($214 billion), and New Jersey ($213 billion) are the other states with more than $200 billion in total debt.

Massachusetts and Washington state each have more than $100 billion in debt.

With $2.2 billion in total debt, South Dakota is the only state with less than $5 billion in total debt.

Twelve states have less than $10 billion in total debt.

Connecticut, New Jersey and Hawaii are the state governments with the most per capita long-term debt

State governments’ long-term debt consists of unfunded pension liabilities (36%), bonds, loans, and notes (33%), unfunded retiree health care (21%), accrued leave payouts/compensated absences (2%), and other debt (8%).

In per capita terms, Connecticut ($23,322), New Jersey ($21,239), Hawaii ($16,514), Illinois ($15,471), Massachusetts ($15,421), Delaware ($14,710), and Washington state ($10,595) have the highest long-term debt.

An additional 10 states have more than $5,000 per capita in long-term debt.

Four states have less than $1,000 per capita in long-term debt: Nebraska ($442), Tennessee ($619), Utah ($805), and South Dakota ($919).

Overall, California has the most long-term debt in the nation: $306 billion.

Illinois ($198 billion), New Jersey ($197 billion), Texas ($174 billion), and New York ($156 billion) rank second through fifth in long-term debt.

Hawaii, Connecticut and Massachusetts are the state governments with the most per capita bonded debt

Bonds, loans, and notes are the second-largest source of state government debt, second only to unfunded pension liabilities. Nationally, state governments report $632 billion in outstanding bonds, loans, and notes, which represents 33% of their long-term liabilities, or about $1,900 per resident.

Hawaii has $8,374 in per capita bonded debt, the highest in the nation, followed closely by Connecticut at $8,057 per capita.

Massachusetts ($6,945 per capita), Delaware ($4,384), and North Dakota ($3,899) have the next highest levels of per capita bonded debt.

Nebraska and Wyoming have nearly zero bonded debt. Wyoming and Montana have less than $100 in per-capita bonded debt.

Overall, California is the only state with more than $100 billion in bonded debt, at $114 billion.

Texas, with $68 billion, is the only other state with more than $50 billion in bonded debt.

New York ($49 billion), Massachusetts ($49 billion), and New Jersey ($31 billion) have the next most bonded debt on their balance sheets.

Nebraska and Indiana have no bonded debt.

Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, and South Dakota have less than $1 billion in bonded debt.

Illinois and Connecticut are the state governments with the most pension debt

Unfunded pension liabilities (net pension liability) are the largest source of state government debt, representing 36% of states’ long-term liabilities. Unfunded pension liabilities arise when governments set aside fewer assets than needed to fulfill the retirement benefits promised to their public employees.

In fiscal year 2024, state governments reported $685 billion in net pension liability, or about $2,100 per resident.

Only two states have more than $10,000 in per-capita pension liabilities: Illinois has the most in the nation, at $11,555 per capita, and Connecticut is second at $10,573 per capita.

Four other states, New Jersey, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Alaska, have per-capita pension liabilities of more than $5,000.

South Dakota is the only state with no public pension liabilities. Wisconsin, Tennessee, Nebraska, Washington, and Oklahoma have per-capita pension liabilities under $200.

With $148 billion in pension liabilities, Illinois has the most in the nation. California ($92 billion), New Jersey ($79 billion), Texas ($59 billion), and Massachusetts ($43 billion) have the next-highest state pension debt.

New Jersey and Delaware are the state governments with the most per capita OPEB debt

Other post-employment benefits (OPEB) consist mostly of health care promised to retired public employees. Unlike pension benefits, governments rarely prefund these promises. They typically pay for retiree health care from each year’s budget rather than setting money aside in advance. The gap between the health care benefits promised and what has been saved is reported as the net OPEB liability.

In fiscal year 2024, state governments reported $411 billion in unfunded OPEB, or about $1,200 per resident—21% of their long-term liabilities.

New Jersey ($8,292 per capita) and Delaware ($7,604 per capita) have the highest per capita debt for other post-employment benefits. Connecticut ($4,741), Hawaii ($3210), and New York ($3009) round out the top five states.

The state governments of Alaska ($0), South Dakota ($0), Utah ($0), and West Virginia ($0) report no net OPEB liability.

With $84 billion in OPEB debt, California has the most in the nation. New Jersey ($77 billion), New York ($61 billion), Texas ($50 billion), and Illinois ($21 billion) have the next-highest state OPEB debt.

West Virginia, Utah, South Dakota and Alaska report zero OPEB debt.

State governments carry only 39% of all state and local government long-term debt.

For more detailed analysis of each state and local government, please visit Reason Foundation’s Government Financial Transparency Project and GovFinance Dashboard.

If you have any questions or would like full access to the data, please email [email protected] and [email protected].

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Source: https://reason.org/transparency-project/gov-finance-2026/state/