State Budget Solutions has totaled up state debt, charting everything from unfunded pension liabilities to bond debt to borrowings by states to finance their unemployment trust funds. The total is a whopping $4.14 trillion. Pension debt, calculated using a market-valuation approach which assumes a lower rate of investment return than government pensions project, makes up more than half of state debt. Unfunded post-employment benefits, mostly health promises to retirees, adds another big chunk of debt, estimated at $627 billion. Below are the states with the greatest debt, and the amount of pension debt in each of those states.
Join the conversation