State govt. debt: Mass. highest, Tenn. lowest

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State govt. debt: Mass. highest, Tenn. lowest

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 | Politics |

From taxfoundation.org. Figures are for 2007.

Five most-indebted state governments:

State	Per capita public debt	Rank	As % of state GDP
Massachusetts	$10,546	1	19.78%
Alaska	$9,630	2	14.96%
Rhode Island	$7,994	3	18.18%
Connecticut	$6,812	4	11.32%
Delaware	$6,105	5	8.76%

Five least-indebted state governments:

State	Per capita public debt	Rank	As % of state GDP
Arizona	$1,527	46	3.94%
Nebraska	$1,242	47	2.83%
Georgia	$1,204	48	2.94%
Texas	$1,011	49	2.16%
Tennessee	$677	50	1.73%

Massachusetts was the worst state in both absolute dept per capita and debt per capita in terms of state GDP. Tennessee was the best on both measures, with Texas second best on both.

Hat tip to Philip Greenspun.

2 Comments to State govt. debt: Mass. highest, Tenn. lowest

pdb
November 3, 2009

Wow, what’s up with Alaska? Aren’t they flush with petrodollars?

Les Jones
November 3, 2009

They are the odd man out, aren’t they? Only blue state in that bunch and only one where free airplane tickets don’t apply. “Offer not valid in Alaska and Hawaii - the freak states.”