Source figures · 2024
State and Local Government Debt Per Person, by State
What the state government and every county, city and district inside it owe, divided by the people who live there. Census Bureau figures, with the source each one came from.
Source data last read . The Census Bureau publishes these once a year.
Highest state
$16,744
New York, 2024
Lowest state
$1,611
Idaho, 2024
Middle state
$7,765
Median of the 50 states, 2024
Spread
10.4×
New York against Idaho
All 50 states, highest to lowest
District of Columbia: $32,615. Shown separately and left out of the ranking and the median, because a single city that also carries state-level functions is not comparable with a state.
Where each figure comes from
Each row is our division of two Census Bureau numbers, both printed in the row so you can redo it. Nothing here is estimated or filled in by us.
| State | Debt per resident | Source figures |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $16,744 | $332,654,966,000 debt outstanding (state government $120,585,799,000, local governments $212,069,167,000) ÷ 19,867,248 residents |
| California | $15,145 | $597,201,490,000 debt outstanding (state government $166,390,802,000, local governments $430,810,688,000) ÷ 39,431,263 residents |
| Colorado † | $14,579 | $86,851,559,000 debt outstanding (state government $23,572,297,000, local governments $63,279,262,000) ÷ 5,957,493 residents |
| Hawaii | $13,911 | $20,117,286,000 debt outstanding (state government $11,718,278,000, local governments $8,399,008,000) ÷ 1,446,146 residents |
| Rhode Island | $12,901 | $14,349,388,000 debt outstanding (state government $11,411,369,000, local governments $2,938,019,000) ÷ 1,112,308 residents |
| Massachusetts | $12,706 | $90,669,240,000 debt outstanding (state government $65,869,149,000, local governments $24,800,091,000) ÷ 7,136,171 residents |
| Texas | $12,442 | $389,326,794,000 debt outstanding (state government $70,050,561,000, local governments $319,276,233,000) ÷ 31,290,831 residents |
| North Dakota | $12,134 | $9,665,903,000 debt outstanding (state government $4,889,927,000, local governments $4,775,976,000) ÷ 796,568 residents |
| Connecticut | $12,125 | $44,560,971,000 debt outstanding (state government $33,266,071,000, local governments $11,294,900,000) ÷ 3,675,069 residents |
| Alaska | $11,999 | $8,881,216,000 debt outstanding (state government $5,721,235,000, local governments $3,159,981,000) ÷ 740,133 residents |
| Washington | $11,769 | $93,661,562,000 debt outstanding (state government $30,618,657,000, local governments $63,042,905,000) ÷ 7,958,180 residents |
| Illinois | $10,900 | $138,542,154,000 debt outstanding (state government $43,377,789,000, local governments $95,164,365,000) ÷ 12,710,158 residents |
| West Virginia | $10,621 | $18,798,513,000 debt outstanding (state government $15,080,412,000, local governments $3,718,101,000) ÷ 1,769,979 residents |
| Oregon | $10,469 | $44,726,732,000 debt outstanding (state government $16,906,795,000, local governments $27,819,937,000) ÷ 4,272,371 residents |
| New Jersey | $9,388 | $89,194,448,000 debt outstanding (state government $57,228,760,000, local governments $31,965,688,000) ÷ 9,500,851 residents |
| Virginia | $9,304 | $81,978,628,000 debt outstanding (state government $33,732,476,000, local governments $48,246,152,000) ÷ 8,811,195 residents |
| Wisconsin | $9,187 | $54,761,336,000 debt outstanding (state government $22,793,690,000, local governments $31,967,646,000) ÷ 5,960,975 residents |
| Maryland | $8,945 | $56,025,518,000 debt outstanding (state government $25,899,424,000, local governments $30,126,094,000) ÷ 6,263,220 residents |
| Pennsylvania | $8,770 | $114,696,434,000 debt outstanding (state government $48,666,398,000, local governments $66,030,036,000) ÷ 13,078,751 residents |
| Nebraska | $8,545 | $17,137,034,000 debt outstanding (state government $3,393,827,000, local governments $13,743,207,000) ÷ 2,005,465 residents |
| South Dakota | $8,417 | $7,782,507,000 debt outstanding (state government $4,665,146,000, local governments $3,117,361,000) ÷ 924,669 residents |
| Minnesota | $8,410 | $48,719,309,000 debt outstanding (state government $17,029,999,000, local governments $31,689,310,000) ÷ 5,793,151 residents |
| Alabama † | $8,295 | $42,784,610,000 debt outstanding (state government $10,994,029,000, local governments $31,790,581,000) ÷ 5,157,699 residents |
| Kansas | $7,829 | $23,256,860,000 debt outstanding (state government $7,163,254,000, local governments $16,093,606,000) ÷ 2,970,606 residents |
| Iowa | $7,818 | $25,343,524,000 debt outstanding (state government $8,055,307,000, local governments $17,288,217,000) ÷ 3,241,488 residents |
| Kentucky | $7,711 | $35,380,942,000 debt outstanding (state government $10,078,603,000, local governments $25,302,339,000) ÷ 4,588,372 residents |
| New Hampshire | $7,532 | $10,612,816,000 debt outstanding (state government $7,575,803,000, local governments $3,037,013,000) ÷ 1,409,032 residents |
| Michigan | $7,144 | $72,447,931,000 debt outstanding (state government $25,015,350,000, local governments $47,432,581,000) ÷ 10,140,459 residents |
| Nevada | $6,915 | $22,594,187,000 debt outstanding (state government $2,888,477,000, local governments $19,705,710,000) ÷ 3,267,467 residents |
| South Carolina | $6,853 | $37,545,418,000 debt outstanding (state government $15,361,779,000, local governments $22,183,639,000) ÷ 5,478,831 residents |
| Utah | $6,576 | $23,041,020,000 debt outstanding (state government $5,553,351,000, local governments $17,487,669,000) ÷ 3,503,613 residents |
| Delaware | $6,546 | $6,885,533,000 debt outstanding (state government $3,686,167,000, local governments $3,199,366,000) ÷ 1,051,917 residents |
| Vermont | $6,399 | $4,149,711,000 debt outstanding (state government $2,666,996,000, local governments $1,482,715,000) ÷ 648,493 residents |
| New Mexico | $6,302 | $13,424,488,000 debt outstanding (state government $7,117,737,000, local governments $6,306,751,000) ÷ 2,130,256 residents |
| Indiana | $6,246 | $43,247,425,000 debt outstanding (state government $8,521,138,000, local governments $34,726,287,000) ÷ 6,924,275 residents |
| Maine | $6,154 | $8,646,526,000 debt outstanding (state government $5,302,748,000, local governments $3,343,778,000) ÷ 1,405,012 residents |
| Tennessee | $6,150 | $44,453,574,000 debt outstanding (state government $9,025,872,000, local governments $35,427,702,000) ÷ 7,227,750 residents |
| Louisiana | $6,117 | $28,124,854,000 debt outstanding (state government $16,091,231,000, local governments $12,033,623,000) ÷ 4,597,740 residents |
| Arkansas | $5,978 | $18,462,788,000 debt outstanding (state government $8,053,482,000, local governments $10,409,306,000) ÷ 3,088,354 residents |
| Ohio | $5,863 | $69,675,423,000 debt outstanding (state government $32,289,981,000, local governments $37,385,442,000) ÷ 11,883,304 residents |
| Georgia | $5,763 | $64,434,792,000 debt outstanding (state government $14,051,683,000, local governments $50,383,109,000) ÷ 11,180,878 residents |
| Florida | $5,672 | $132,570,328,000 debt outstanding (state government $20,143,226,000, local governments $112,427,102,000) ÷ 23,372,215 residents |
| Missouri | $5,489 | $34,279,685,000 debt outstanding (state government $6,989,175,000, local governments $27,290,510,000) ÷ 6,245,466 residents |
| Oklahoma | $5,460 | $22,358,959,000 debt outstanding (state government $10,150,025,000, local governments $12,208,934,000) ÷ 4,095,393 residents |
| Arizona | $5,317 | $40,317,669,000 debt outstanding (state government $6,884,137,000, local governments $33,433,532,000) ÷ 7,582,384 residents |
| Montana | $5,282 | $6,007,334,000 debt outstanding (state government $2,756,388,000, local governments $3,250,946,000) ÷ 1,137,233 residents |
| Mississippi | $4,944 | $14,551,819,000 debt outstanding (state government $7,724,729,000, local governments $6,827,090,000) ÷ 2,943,045 residents |
| North Carolina | $4,527 | $50,006,847,000 debt outstanding (state government $13,132,128,000, local governments $36,874,719,000) ÷ 11,046,024 residents |
| Wyoming | $4,099 | $2,408,413,000 debt outstanding (state government $1,255,325,000, local governments $1,153,088,000) ÷ 587,618 residents |
| Idaho | $1,611 | $3,223,822,000 debt outstanding (state government $728,591,000, local governments $2,495,231,000) ÷ 2,001,619 residents |
| District of Columbia | $32,615 | $22,904,118,000 debt outstanding (state government $0, local governments $22,904,118,000) ÷ 702,250 residents |
How this relates to the freedom index
This is one of the individual policy variables the state index is being rebuilt onto, in the Economic Freedom category. In the published catalog a lower figure counts as freer, with this reasoning: A claim on future taxpayers; included so states cannot score well by deferring taxation rather than reducing spending.
It is not part of any state’s score yet. Today’s scores still come from published third-party indices, and this page shows the source figure on its own. The full variable list, with every weight, is on the data page.
Sources and methods
Every figure on this page comes from one of the datasets below and nowhere else. Nothing is estimated, interpolated or carried over from a previous edition. Where two sources measure something similar, they are reported separately rather than combined, because they are not measuring the same thing.
Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, "Debt - Total Debt Outstanding" (LF0231), by level of government
US Census Bureau
- Covers
- Fiscal 2024, 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 18, 2026
Amounts are published in thousands of dollars with a coefficient of variation for each. State-government amounts are a complete count; local-government amounts are estimated from a sample. The Census API link needs a free key from api.census.gov to open; the publisher’s page shows the same table without one.
Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States and States, Vintage 2024
US Census Bureau
- Covers
- 1 July 2024, 50 states and DC
- Last read
- October 18, 2026
Resident population estimates between decennial censuses. They are revised when a new vintage publishes, which can move a per-person figure slightly without any change in the debt.
Found something wrong? Our corrections log records every fix we have made, and we would rather hear about an error than have it stand.