Yahoo Finance US States With the Most (and the Least) Debt
Some Americans have student debt they’ll be paying off for decades. Others have low-paying jobs keeping them in a vicious cycle of credit card debt just to make ends meet. They all are struggling with debt — and it’s something entire states are struggling with, too.
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To assess each state’s economic standing and debt burden, GOBankingRates looked at each state’s total liabilities, total assets and the debt ratio between the two. The study also determined each state’s total net position — total assets minus total liabilities — to provide the fullest picture possible. A debt ratio of more than 100% means a state owes more in liabilities than it has in assets. Here are the states that have the most and least amount of debt, starting with the states that have the least.
Idaho
Total Liabilities: $4,430,518,000
Total Assets: $24,254,114,000
Debt Ratio: 10.68%
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Alaska
Total Liabilities: $12,992,621,000
Total Assets: $104,675,321,000
Debt Ratio: 14.68%
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Utah
Total Liabilities: $6,450,339,000
Total Assets: $46,134,874,000
Debt Ratio: 15.93%
Nebraska
Total Liabilities: $4,659,000,000
Total Assets: $24,271,000,000
Debt Ratio: 22.99%
South Dakota
Total Liabilities: $2,352,102,000
Total Assets: $10,918,634,000
Debt Ratio: 23.88%
New Hampshire
Total Liabilities: $2,010,350,000
Total Assets: $9,970,800,000
Debt Ratio: 24.64%
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North Dakota
Total Liabilities: $9,629,813,391
Total Assets: $40,117,070,762
Debt Ratio: 26.34%
Oklahoma
Total Liabilities: $9,140,042,000
Total Assets: $38,667,150,000
Debt Ratio: 27.39%
Iowa
Total Liabilities: $9,689,205,000
Total Assets: $36,391,382,000
Debt Ratio: 29.58%
New Mexico
Total Liabilities: $16,422,831,000
Total Assets: $65,514,848,000
Debt Ratio: 30.46%
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North Carolina
Total Liabilities: $31,504,536,000
Total Assets: $109,276,007,000
Debt Ratio: 30.95%
Montana
Total Liabilities: $4,907,686,000
Total Assets: $18,193,420,000
Debt Ratio: 33.28%
Wyoming
Total Liabilities: $10,722,590,497
Total Assets: $33,353,716,015
Debt Ratio: 33.81%
Arkansas
Total Liabilities: $10,589,316,000
Total Assets: $35,503,018,000
Debt Ratio: 35.79%
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Florida
Total Liabilities: $61,828,638,000
Total Assets: $204,321,276,000
Debt Ratio: 35.98%
Arizona
Total Liabilities: $24,785,156,000
Total Assets: $71,928,237,000
Debt Ratio: 37.88%
Alabama
Total Liabilities: $15,782,655,000
Total Assets: $46,509,637,000
Debt Ratio: 37.92%
Kansas
Total Liabilities: $10,127,943,000
Total Assets: $26,284,361,000
Debt Ratio: 39.58%
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South Carolina
Total Liabilities: $18,760,755,000
Total Assets: $48,202,033,000
Debt Ratio: 39.78%
Mississippi
Total Liabilities: $13,476,906,000
Total Assets: $33,540,395,000
Debt Ratio: 42.47%
Indiana
Total Liabilities: $18,375,927,000
Total Assets: $43,652,718,000
Debt Ratio: 43.25%
Minnesota
Total Liabilities: $22,917,985,000
Total Assets: $60,650,937,000
Debt Ratio: 44.05%
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Missouri
Total Liabilities: $5,637,581,000
Total Assets: $13,211,877,000
Debt Ratio: 44.32%
Tennessee
Total Liabilities: $8,732,002,000
Total Assets: $20,290,851,000
Debt Ratio: 46.34%
Oregon
Total Liabilities: $23,903,290,000
Total Assets: $52,967,190,000
Debt Ratio: 47.96%
Wisconsin
Total Liabilities: $28,179,045,000
Total Assets: $65,787,156,000
Debt Ratio: 48.12%
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West Virginia
Total Liabilities: $10,321,618,000
Total Assets: $25,608,674,000
Debt Ratio: 48.96%
Virginia
Total Liabilities: $35,033,174,000
Total Assets: $83,380,609,000
Debt Ratio: 50.16%
Georgia
Total Liabilities: $40,723,358,000
Total Assets: $87,837,882,000
Debt Ratio: 53.76%
Massachusetts
Total Liabilities: $21,414,829,000
Total Assets: $60,764,752,000
Debt Ratio: 56.31%
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Nevada
Total Liabilities: $13,758,375,000
Total Assets: $24,215,809,000
Debt Ratio: 56.51%
Michigan
Total Liabilities: $35,770,264,000
Total Assets: $71,294,762,000
Debt Ratio: 56.65%
Ohio
Total Liabilities: $53,399,275,000
Total Assets: $96,693,208,000
Debt Ratio: 57.65%
Texas
Total Liabilities: $221,174,854,000
Total Assets: $475,449,878,000
Debt Ratio: 59.39%
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Colorado
Total Liabilities: $37,103,515,000
Total Assets: $61,214,825,000
Debt Ratio: 65.56%
District of Columbia
Total Liabilities: $20,257,809,000
Total Assets: $28,688,182,000
Debt Ratio: 71.77%
Washington
Total Liabilities: $94,852,592,000
Total Assets: $133,313,411,000
Debt Ratio: 77.52%
Maine
Total Liabilities: $8,461,350,000
Total Assets: $11,874,823,000
Debt Ratio: 81.02%
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Louisiana
Total Liabilities: $37,973,068,000
Total Assets: $47,787,993,000
Debt Ratio: 81.36%
Pennsylvania
Total Liabilities: $76,883,947,000
Total Assets: $98,197,157,000
Debt Ratio: 84.07%
Rhode Island
Total Liabilities: $8,946,041,000
Total Assets: $10,912,345,000
Debt Ratio: 86.22%
Vermont
Total Liabilities: $7,965,300,000
Total Assets: $7,833,700,000
Debt Ratio: 93.67%
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Kentucky
Total Liabilities: $38,790,928,000
Total Assets: $41,179,616,000
Debt Ratio: 94.95%
Maryland
Total Liabilities: $60,368,151,000
Total Assets: $69,053,742,000
Debt Ratio: 96.63%
Delaware
Total Liabilities: $17,470,769,000
Total Assets: $19,049,452,000
Debt Ratio: 99.08%
Hawaii
Total Liabilities: $28,246,474,000
Total Assets: $28,081,002,000
Debt Ratio: 107.31%
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California
Total Liabilities: $480,810,792,000
Total Assets: $491,461,604,000
Debt Ratio: 111.04%
Connecticut
Total Liabilities: $97,471,207,000
Total Assets: $48,109,469,000
Debt Ratio: 172.44%
New York
Total Liabilities: $304,335,832,000
Total Assets: $144,972,722,000
Debt Ratio: 218.12%
New Jersey
Total Liabilities: $224,574,200,000
Total Assets: $75,792,300,000
Debt Ratio: 249.64%
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Illinois
Total Liabilities: $247,943,000,000
Total Assets: $76,210,000,000
Debt Ratio: 295.58%
Andrew DePietro and Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: To find the states with the most and least amount of debt, GOBankingRates analyzed the most recent Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for every state, sourced from each state’s government site. The most recent report available was 2022 for all states except for Nevada (2021) and California (2021). The [1] total assets, [2] total liabilities, [3] deferred inflows, and [4] deferred outflows were all sourced from each state’s ACFR. Using this data, GOBankingRates can calculate total liabilities with deferred inflows, total assets with deferred outflows, debt ratio, and total net position. This allows us to find how much debt each state has and sort them from the least to the most debt. All data was collected and is up-to-date as-of Nov. 3rd, 2023.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: US States With the Most (and the Least) Debt
