This year we released our tenth annual Financial State of the States report, so we're taking a look back at the 10 states with the largest Taxpayer Burden from 2009-2018.

Financial State of the States 2019

From Truth in Accounting, September 24, 2019

• LINK: To read the full report, please click here to download the PDF
• LINK: Hawaii Report

Truth in Accounting has released its tenth annual Financial State of the States report, a nationwide analysis of the most recent state government financial information. This comprehensive analysis of the 50 states’ finances includes the most up-to-date state finance and pension data, trends across the states, and key findings.

States have become more transparent over the last few years, thanks to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which now require governments to disclose pension and other post-employment (OPEB) benefits on their balance sheets. If these benefits have not been fully funded, they are considered liabilities, or debt, because they represent money owed to government employees in their retirement.

This year the study found that 40 states do not have enough money to pay all of their bills and in total the states have racked up $1.5 trillion in unfunded state debt. The study ranks the states according to their Taxpayer Burden or Surplus™, which is each taxpayer's share of state bills after available assets have been tapped. 

Here are the rankings (from best to worst): 

Click on the state’s name to learn more about the state’s financial condition on State Data Lab

• Alaska, $74,200 per taxpayer
• North Dakota, $30,700
• Wyoming, $20,800
• Utah, $5,300
• Idaho, $2,900
• Tennessee, $2,800
• South Dakota, $2,800
• Nebraska, $2,000
• Oregon, $1,600
• Iowa, $700
• Minnesota, -$200
• Virginia, -$1,200
• Oklahoma, -$1,200
• North Carolina, -$1,300
• Indiana, -$1,700
• Florida, -$1,800
• Montana, -$2,100
• Arkansas, -$2,300
• Arizona, -$2,500
• Nevada, -$3,100
• Wisconsin, -$3,200
• Georgia, -$3,500
• Missouri, -$4,300
• New Hampshire, -$5,000
• Ohio, -$6,600
• Kansas, -$7,000
• Colorado, -$7,200
• Washington, -$7,400
• Maine, -$7,400
• West Virginia, -$8,300
• Mississippi, -$10,000
• Alabama, -$12,000
• Texas, -$12,100
• New Mexico, -$13,300
• Rhode Island, -$13,900
• South Carolina, -$14,500
• Maryland, -$15,500
• Michigan, -$17,000
• Pennsylvania, -$17,100
• Louisiana, -$17,700
• Vermont, -$19,000
• New York, -$20,500
• California, -$21,800
• Kentucky, -$25,700
• Delaware, -$27,100
• Hawaii, -$31,200
• Massachusetts, -$31,200
• Connecticut, -$51,800
• Illinois, -$52,600
• New Jersey, -$65,100

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P: Hawaii Gets An "F" For Its State Finances