No U.S. state is completely debt-free, but several have very low debt relative to their assets or income, often due to strong economies, natural resources, or fiscal policies, with Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Tennessee, Nebraska, Idaho, and South Dakota frequently cited as having the least debt or financial surpluses. States like Delaware, Florida, and North Carolina also show very low per capita liabilities in some reports, while states with significant surpluses include North Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska.
The state governments with the lowest per capita debt at the end of 2023 were Tennessee, Utah, Nebraska, Idaho, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Indiana, each with less than $3,000 in debt per resident.
The U.S. has had debt since its inception. Our records show that debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War amounted to $75,463,476.52 by January 1, 1791. Over the following 45 years, the debt grew. Notably, the public debt actually shrank to zero by January 1835, under President Andrew Jackson.
1 United States 21,764,799 2 Euro area 18,075,643 3 United Kingdom 9,837,535 4 France 7,368,685 5 Norway 7,110,029 6 Germany 6,6,91,139 7 Japan 4,687,815 8 Netherlands 4,197,719 9 Luxembourg 3,965,300 10 Italy 2,749,75 https://www.ceicdata. com/en/indicator/norway/external-debt--of-nominal- gdp https://www.gfmag.com/ ...
Based on recent studies (2024-2025), Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and South Carolina are frequently cited as the most financially distressed U.S. states, showing high rates of debt searches, credit issues, and accounts in forbearance/distress, while Hawaii, Vermont, and Alaska often rank as the least distressed. These rankings rely on metrics like credit scores, bankruptcy filings, and consumer financial health indicators.
The most common debt by total amount of debt in the U.S. is mortgage debt. 2 Other types of common debt include credit card debt, auto loans, and student loans.
The report found that the California state government carries more debt than any other state with $497 billion in liability. The findings stem from 2023, the most recent year for which complete data was available, according to the Reason Foundation, a think tank with offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
If Texas were a country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world, ahead of Canada and even Russia. In 2022, Texas' gross domestic product (GDP) — the total market value of all finished goods and services — totaled $2.4 trillion.
California is #1 in the U.S. economy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with its economy exceeding $4 trillion in 2024, making it the largest state economy and even ranking as the world's fourth-largest economy if it were a country. Texas and New York follow as the next largest state economies, with Florida also a major contributor.
Mississippi consistently ranks as the state with the highest poverty rate in the U.S., often followed by states like Louisiana, New Mexico, and West Virginia, according to World Population Review data from late 2024/early 2025 and U.S. Census data cited by FCNL and Visual Capitalist. Factors contributing to Mississippi's high poverty include low median household income, lower educational attainment, and higher rates of child poverty, though rates have seen some improvement over the years.
Personal Savings in the U.S.
18 percent said their saving were at least $1000 but under $10,000, while 11 percent each had $10,000 to $49,999 and $50,000 or more saved up.
Romania's record - having all of its debts to commercial banks paid off in full - has not been matched by any other heavily-indebted country in the world. The policy to repay - and, in multiple cases, prepay - Romania's external debt became the dominant policy in the late 1980s.
Federal Reserve data shows that about 23% of Americans have no debt.