Financial State of the Cities 2025
from Truth in Accounting, February 27, 2025
The Financial State of the Cities report found that 54 cities did not have enough money to pay their bills. Each city has some form of a balanced budget requirement, but this new report shows that cities have not met the intent of their requirement and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers.
| Bottom Five Sinkhole Cities |
| RANK |
CITY |
TAXPAYER BURDEN |
| 71 |
Honolulu |
($17,400) |
| 72 |
New Orleans |
($18,300) |
| 73 |
Portland, OR |
($18,600) |
| 74 |
Chicago |
($40,600) |
| 75 |
New York City |
($56,800) |
(71) Honolulu’s elected officials have consistently made financial decisions that have resulted in a debt burden of $2.25 billion, translating to $17,400 per taxpayer. While this represents an improvement over last year’s burden of $24,200, the city’s financial outlook remains troubling. The improvement was driven by higher reported revenues exceeding expenses and a reduction in the unfunded retiree healthcare liability, largely due to favorable adjustments in actuarial assumptions. Despite these positive changes, Honolulu’s overall fiscal health remains dire, earning it a “D” grade from Truth in Accounting.
PDF: Click here to download the full report
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