Overview
This section of Reason Foundation's tool summarizes the 21,405 individual state and local government Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports (ACFRs) captured in this report. The values—unless noted otherwise—represent the figures that the governments reported for their 2023 fiscal years.
Below is a consolidated view of the "balance sheet" and "income statement"—in total and by entity type. In aggregate across the ACFRs collected for FY23, the total liabilities of these government entites amount to $6.09 trillion, of which $4.89 trillion are non-current obligations, such as public pension benefits promised to workers. The largest portion of these non-current liabilities are public employee benefit obligations. Pension liabilities (net of pension assets) represent $1.56 trillion in liabilities, while other post-employment benefit (OPEB) liabilities, such as retiree health care, account for $965.65 billion in liabilities.
Note: For aggregation purposes consolidated cities and counties are included in either county or municipal categories, for details see the Notes on Entities. These values were extracted from publicly available audited financial reports. Despite thorough review, data collection at this scale can result in discrepancies. Please alert us if you identify any errors.
Select all the data or by entity type to change the view
Balance Sheet
Total Assets
$26,376 per capita
Combined value of all resources owned by a government, including cash, investments, receivables, and infrastructure.
Current Assets
$11,249 per capita
Resources expected to be used within one year, including cash, short-term investments, and receivables.
Total Liabilities
$18,376 per capita
Total amount of debt and other obligations owed by a government, including bonds, loans, and other financial commitments.
Current Liabilities
$3,635 per capita
Short-term obligations due within one year, including accounts payable and the current portion of long-term debt.
Non-Current Liabilities
$14,741 per capita
Long-term obligations due after one year, principally pension and OPEB liabilities.
Net Pension Liability
$4,643 per capita
Net pension liability representing the unfunded portion of pension obligations to employees.
Net OPEB Liability
$2,891 per capita
Net OPEB liability representing unfunded post-employment benefits like healthcare promised to employees.
Bonds, Loans & Notes
$6,063 per capita
Total debt instruments issued by the government, including bonds, loans, and notes payable.
Compensated Absences
$257 per capita
Liability for earned but unused vacation and sick leave compensation owed to employees.
Net Position
$8,000 per capita
The difference between total assets and total liabilities - essentially the government's net worth.
Income Statement
Total Revenues
$15,987 per capita
Income from taxes, fees, grants, and other sources that fund government operations and services.
Total Expenses
$14,366 per capita
Cost of providing services, including salaries, benefits, supplies, and infrastructure maintenance.
Financial Analysis
Debt Ratio
Key Financial Health Metric
Calculated as Liabilities / Assets. Represents the proportion of assets financed through debt.
Current Ratio
Short-term Liquidity Measure
Calculated as Current Assets / Current Liabilities. Measures a government's ability to pay short-term obligations.
Free Cash Flow
-$2,014 per capita
Calculated as Revenues - (Expenses + Current Liabilities). Measures ability to repay debts and fund operations after accounting for short-term obligations. Positive values indicate strong financial sustainability.
Distribution of Financial Variables by Entity Type
This section provides a breakdown of financial variables—such as revenues, free cash flow, or unfunded pension obligations—nationally across states, cities, counties, and school districts. This includes a pie/bar chart that shows the distribution of your selected metric across the different types of government entities. Below that is a density plot that shows the distribution of your selected metric for each type of government entity. Finally, you can view the top 10 entities in a selected metric in a table.
Choose a financial metric to explore how it is distributed across the different types of government entities.
Total Liabilities by Entity Type
Choose a financial metric to explore distributions within each type of government entity.
States
Distribution of Total Assets
Counties
Distribution of Total Assets
Municipalities
Distribution of Total Assets
School Districts
Distribution of Total Assets
Use the tabs below to view the Top 10 ranking for each layer of government—state aggregates, individual state governments, counties, municipalities, and school districts. Pick any financial metric from the dropdown to see which entities top the list.
Top 10 Entities by Total Liabilities
| State | Total Liabilities | Per Capita |
|---|---|---|
| California | $1,081.8B | $27,362 |
| New York | $797.8B | $39,491 |
| Texas | $550.0B | $18,872 |
| Illinois | $407.2B | $31,783 |
| New Jersey | $309.7B | $33,338 |
| Florida | $241.6B | $11,217 |
| Massachusetts | $197.8B | $28,138 |
| Pennsylvania | $194.6B | $14,965 |
| Ohio | $148.2B | $12,560 |
| Washington | $143.0B | $18,559 |
Long-Term Debt / Non-Current Liabilities
Non-current liabilities are the portion of total liabilities that are not due within one year. This is considered the long-term debt of a government.
Given that most of the population living in an incorporated municipality lives in a city, we sometimes simplify the terminology by calling all incorporated municipalities aggregated here as cities. This category includes towns and villages.
Non-Current Liabilities by Entity Type
Per Capita Non-Current Liabilties (Long-Term Debt) by State
This map and ranking table show how total state and local government long-term debt compares across states on a per-capita basis. Measuring in per-capita terms allows for more meaningful comparisons across states of varying population sizes.
The Highest Per Capita Long-Term Debt by State: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, and Hawaii. The Lowest Per Capita Long-Term Debt by State: Idaho, South Dakota, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
- 1 New York $31,369
- 2 New Jersey $31,064
- 3 Connecticut $30,998
- 4 Illinois $28,291
- 5 Hawaii $26,271
- 6 Massachusetts $24,520
- 7 California $20,280
- 8 Delaware $17,671
- 9 Maryland $17,418
- 10 Texas $15,818
- 11 Washington $15,403
- 12 North Dakota $14,340
- 13 Colorado $14,031
- 14 Alaska $13,695
- 15 Rhode Island $13,674
- 16 Oregon $12,942
- 17 Kentucky $12,903
- 18 Pennsylvania $12,352
- 19 New Mexico $12,241
- 20 Louisiana $11,938
- 21 Nevada $11,238
- 22 Michigan $11,224
- 23 Vermont $10,234
- 24 Kansas $10,140
- 25 Ohio $9,916
- 26 Georgia $9,762
- 27 Minnesota $9,751
- 28 South Carolina $9,350
- 29 Alabama $8,945
- 30 Florida $8,926
- 31 Wyoming $8,631
- 32 Arizona $8,622
- 33 Wisconsin $8,445
- 34 New Hampshire $7,971
- 35 North Carolina $7,812
- 36 Virginia $7,625
- 37 Arkansas $7,490
- 38 Maine $7,382
- 39 Missouri $7,099
- 40 Nebraska $7,028
- 41 Mississippi $6,853
- 42 Iowa $6,586
- 43 Montana $6,472
- 44 West Virginia $5,894
- 45 Utah $5,523
- 46 Tennessee $5,170
- 47 Oklahoma $5,057
- 48 Indiana $4,248
- 49 South Dakota $4,209
- 50 Idaho $3,865
Composition of State and Local Long-Term Debt
This chart breaks down total long-term liabilities by component. Bonds, loans and notes make up the largest share (40%) of long-term liabilites, followed by net public pension liabilities (32%), unfunded other post-employment benefits (22%), and accrued employee absences (2%).
Non-Current Liabilities Composition
* Unlike other figures in this tool, net pension and OPEB liabilities here are shown without subtracting related assets.
Composition of Long-Term Debt by Governmental Entity Type
This chart breaks down long-term liabilities within each level of government. Retirement-related liabilities—pensions (net pension liabilities) and retiree healthcare (OPEB)—dominate across the board, accounting for over 50% of total debt even at the state, city, county, and school district levels.
Select a state to explore how debt composition varies by governmental entity.
Non-Current Liabilities by Entity Type
* Unlike other figures in this tool, net pension and OPEB liabilities here are shown without subtracting related assets.
Financial Health Metrics
Debt Ratio by Entity
The debt ratio helps answer the question: How much of what is owned is financed by debt? It is defined as Total Liabilities / Total Assets.
A value below 1.0 indicates the government entity has more assets than debt (positive net position), while a value above 1.0 indicates the entity has more debt than assets.
Select a state to view how its state and local governments compare.
Debt Ratio
Free Cash Flow by Entity
Free cash flow by entity is calculated as Revenues − (Expenses + Current Liabilities). Free cash flow provides an indicator of a government entity's ability to repay debts and fund operations after accounting for short-term obligations. Positive values indicate strong financial sustainability.
Select a state to see how its governments compare.
Free Cash Flow
Current Ratio by Entity
The current (liquidity) ratio helps answer the question: How easily can you pay your short-term obligations with available assets? It is defined as Current Assets / Current Liabilities.
A value below 1.0 signals liquidity risk, while values above 1.0—and especially above 2.0—indicate strong short-term financial health.
Select a state to compare its governments’ liquidity ratios.