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.

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.

• Total Liabilities: $4,430,518,000
• Total Assets: $24,254,114,000
• Debt Ratio: 10.68%

• Total Liabilities: $12,992,621,000
• Total Assets: $104,675,321,000
• Debt Ratio: 14.68%

• Total Liabilities: $6,450,339,000
• Total Assets: $46,134,874,000
• Debt Ratio: 15.93%

• Total Liabilities: $4,659,000,000
• Total Assets: $24,271,000,000
• Debt Ratio: 22.99%

• Total Liabilities: $2,352,102,000
• Total Assets: $10,918,634,000
• Debt Ratio: 23.88%

• Total Liabilities: $2,010,350,000
• Total Assets: $9,970,800,000
• Debt Ratio: 24.64%

• Total Liabilities: $9,629,813,391
• Total Assets: $40,117,070,762
• Debt Ratio: 26.34%

• Total Liabilities: $9,140,042,000
• Total Assets: $38,667,150,000
• Debt Ratio: 27.39%

• Total Liabilities: $9,689,205,000
• Total Assets: $36,391,382,000
• Debt Ratio: 29.58%

• Total Liabilities: $16,422,831,000
• Total Assets: $65,514,848,000
• Debt Ratio: 30.46%

• Total Liabilities: $31,504,536,000
• Total Assets: $109,276,007,000
• Debt Ratio: 30.95%

• Total Liabilities: $4,907,686,000
• Total Assets: $18,193,420,000
• Debt Ratio: 33.28%

• Total Liabilities: $10,722,590,497
• Total Assets: $33,353,716,015
• Debt Ratio: 33.81%

• Total Liabilities: $10,589,316,000
• Total Assets: $35,503,018,000
• Debt Ratio: 35.79%

• Total Liabilities: $61,828,638,000
• Total Assets: $204,321,276,000
• Debt Ratio: 35.98%

• Total Liabilities: $24,785,156,000
• Total Assets: $71,928,237,000
• Debt Ratio: 37.88%

• Total Liabilities: $15,782,655,000
• Total Assets: $46,509,637,000
• Debt Ratio: 37.92%

• Total Liabilities: $10,127,943,000
• Total Assets: $26,284,361,000
• Debt Ratio: 39.58%

• Total Liabilities: $18,760,755,000
• Total Assets: $48,202,033,000
• Debt Ratio: 39.78%

• Total Liabilities: $13,476,906,000
• Total Assets: $33,540,395,000
• Debt Ratio: 42.47%

• Total Liabilities: $18,375,927,000
• Total Assets: $43,652,718,000
• Debt Ratio: 43.25%

• Total Liabilities: $22,917,985,000
• Total Assets: $60,650,937,000
• Debt Ratio: 44.05%

• Total Liabilities: $5,637,581,000
• Total Assets: $13,211,877,000
• Debt Ratio: 44.32%

• Total Liabilities: $8,732,002,000
• Total Assets: $20,290,851,000
• Debt Ratio: 46.34%

• Total Liabilities: $23,903,290,000
• Total Assets: $52,967,190,000
• Debt Ratio: 47.96%

• Total Liabilities: $28,179,045,000
• Total Assets: $65,787,156,000
• Debt Ratio: 48.12%

• Total Liabilities: $10,321,618,000
• Total Assets: $25,608,674,000
• Debt Ratio: 48.96%

• Total Liabilities: $35,033,174,000
• Total Assets: $83,380,609,000
• Debt Ratio: 50.16%

• Total Liabilities: $40,723,358,000
• Total Assets: $87,837,882,000
• Debt Ratio: 53.76%

• Total Liabilities: $21,414,829,000
• Total Assets: $60,764,752,000
• Debt Ratio: 56.31%

• Total Liabilities: $13,758,375,000
• Total Assets: $24,215,809,000
• Debt Ratio: 56.51%

• Total Liabilities: $35,770,264,000
• Total Assets: $71,294,762,000
• Debt Ratio: 56.65%

• Total Liabilities: $53,399,275,000
• Total Assets: $96,693,208,000
• Debt Ratio: 57.65%

• Total Liabilities: $221,174,854,000
• Total Assets: $475,449,878,000
• Debt Ratio: 59.39%

• Total Liabilities: $37,103,515,000
• Total Assets: $61,214,825,000
• Debt Ratio: 65.56%

• Total Liabilities: $20,257,809,000
• Total Assets: $28,688,182,000
• Debt Ratio: 71.77%

• Total Liabilities: $94,852,592,000
• Total Assets: $133,313,411,000
• Debt Ratio: 77.52%

• Total Liabilities: $8,461,350,000
• Total Assets: $11,874,823,000
• Debt Ratio: 81.02%

• Total Liabilities: $37,973,068,000
• Total Assets: $47,787,993,000
• Debt Ratio: 81.36%

• Total Liabilities: $76,883,947,000
• Total Assets: $98,197,157,000
• Debt Ratio: 84.07%

• Total Liabilities: $8,946,041,000
• Total Assets: $10,912,345,000
• Debt Ratio: 86.22%

• Total Liabilities: $7,965,300,000
• Total Assets: $7,833,700,000
• Debt Ratio: 93.67%

• Total Liabilities: $38,790,928,000
• Total Assets: $41,179,616,000
• Debt Ratio: 94.95%

• Total Liabilities: $60,368,151,000
• Total Assets: $69,053,742,000
• Debt Ratio: 96.63%

• Total Liabilities: $17,470,769,000
• Total Assets: $19,049,452,000
• Debt Ratio: 99.08%

• Total Liabilities: $28,246,474,000
• Total Assets: $28,081,002,000
• Debt Ratio: 107.31%

• Total Liabilities: $480,810,792,000
• Total Assets: $491,461,604,000
• Debt Ratio: 111.04%

• Total Liabilities: $97,471,207,000
• Total Assets: $48,109,469,000
• Debt Ratio: 172.44%

• Total Liabilities: $304,335,832,000
• Total Assets: $144,972,722,000
• Debt Ratio: 218.12%

• Total Liabilities: $224,574,200,000
• Total Assets: $75,792,300,000
• Debt Ratio: 249.64%

• 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.