Each year, 24/7 Wall St. releases its best and worst-run states. They base their ranking on unemployment rates, pension funded ratio, credit rating and outlook, and poverty rates. It is important to stay educated and up-to-date on your state’s financial health, especially during times of crisis.
In 2019 Utah was named 24/7 Wall St.’s best-run state. Utah is one of the 10 states that have enough money to fully pay their bills. It is ranked fourth in Truth in Accounting’s 2019 Financial State of the States with $4.9 billion available to pay future bills.
New Mexico is the worst-run state according to 24/7 Wall St., but it isn’t in Truth in Accounting’s bottom 10. We ranked New Mexico in 34th place due to their $7.7 billion debt. New Mexico earned a D in our report meaning it has a Taxpayer Burden between $5,000 and $20,000. Taxpayer Burden is calculated by dividing the "money needed to pay bills" by the estimated number of taxpayers in the state or city.
New Jersey is ranked 41st in 24/7 Wall St.’s ranking and the state has consistently earned the last place in Truth in Accounting’s rankings on fiscal health since 2014. New Jersey is $208 billion in debt, meaning each taxpayer would need to pay $65,100 to pay off the state’s debt. The majority of New Jersey’s debt comes from unfunded pensions and retiree health care benefits. The state owes $98.8 billion in unfunded pensions and $91.8 billion in unfunded retiree health care benefits.
Truth in Accounting’s ranking is based on the states’ Taxpayer Surplus or Taxpayer Burden.