COMPARATIVE STATE DEBT BURDENS

Location:
BUDGET, STATE; DEBT;


February 18, 2011		2011-R-0099
COMPARATIVE STATE DEBT BURDENS

By: Judith Lohman, Assistant Director

You asked for a comparison of Connecticut's state debt burden to that of other states, to the United States as a whole, and to that of selected other countries. You were especially interested in Connecticut's debt compared to its state gross domestic product (GDP) and how its debt-to- GDP ratio compares to those of other states and nations.

This report shows Connecticut's relative debt burden using three different measures:

1. the dollar amount of the state debt owed by every state resident (per-capita debt);

2. the percentage of the total income earned by all the state's residents it would take to pay the state's debts (debt as a percentage of personal income); and

3. state debt as a percentage of the total value of the goods and services produced in the state (debt-to-GDP ratio).

The last of these allows Connecticut's debt burden to be compared to that of both the U.S. and other nations.

Connecticut ranks high among states on all three measures, according to Moody's Investors Service. It is first in net tax-supported debt per capita, third in debt as a percentage of 2008 personal income, and third in debt-to-GDP ratio. On the other hand, Connecticut would rank 125^th out of 131 if it were included in the Central Intelligence Agency's ranking of countries based on estimated debt-to-GDP ratios (See Tables 1 to 4, attached).

Moody's notes that debt-to-GDP ratios for governments outside the U.S. are usually higher because debt issuance in other countries is more centralized than in the U.S. Nevertheless, Moody's considers international comparisons useful “now that U.S. state credits are rated on the same scale as sovereign and subsovereign credits” (2010 State Debt Medians Report, Moody's Investors Service, May 2010, p. 3.).

JSL:tjo


*Table 1: Debt Per-Capita*				*Table 2: Debt as a % of 2008 Personal Income*
*Rank*	*State*	*Per-Capita Debt*	*Bond Rating*	*Rank*	*State*	*Debt* *Percentage*
1	Connecticut	$4,859	Aa2	1	Hawaii	9.9%
2	Massachusetts	4,606	Aa1	2	Massachusetts	9.2%
3	Hawaii	3,996	Aa1	3	Connecticut	8.7%
4	New Jersey	3,669	Aa2	4	New Jersey	7.2%
5	New York	3,135	Aa2	5	New York	6.5%
6	Delaware	2,489	Aa	6	Delaware	6.2%
7	California	2,362	A1	7	California	5.6%
8	Washington	2,226	Aa1	8	Kentucky	5.4%
9	Rhode Island	2,127	Aa2	9	Washington	5.3%
10	Oregon	1,859	Aa1	10	Oregon	5.2%
11	Illinois	1,856	Aa3	11	Rhode Island	5.2%
12	Wisconsin	1,720	Aa2	12	Mississippi	5.0%
13	Kentucky	1,685	Aa1*	13	Wisconsin	4.6%
14	Maryland	1,608	Aaa	14	Illinois	4.4%
15	Mississippi	1,478	Aa2	15	New Mexico	4.4%
16	New Mexico	1,398	Aaa	16	Louisiana	3.6%
17	Alaska	1,345	Aa1	17	West Virginia	3.5%
18	Louisiana	1,271	Aa2	18	Maryland	3.4%
19	Kansas	1,140	Aa1*	19	Georgia	3.3%
20	Florida	1,123	Aa1	20	Alaska	3.2%
21	Georgia	1,120	Aaa	21	Utah	3.2%
22	West Virginia	1,079	Aa2	22	Kansas	3.0%
23	Minnesota	1,037	Aa1	23	Florida	2.9%
24	Utah	957	Aaa	24	South Carolina	2.9%
25	Pennsylvania	938	Aa1	25	Arizona	2.6%
26	Ohio	933	Aa1	26	Ohio	2.4%
27	Nevada	925	Aa1	27	Alabama	2.4%
28	South Carolina	917	Aaa	28	Minnesota	2.4%
29	Virginia	895	Aaa	29	Pennsylvania	2.3%
30	Alabama	796	Aa1	30	Nevada	2.3%
31	Missouri	780	Aaa	31	North Carolina	2.3%
32	North Carolina	765	Aaa	32	Maine	2.2%
33	Maine	760	Aa2	33	Missouri	2.2%
34	Michigan	748	Aa2	34	Michigan	2.1%
35	Arizona	736	Aa2	35	Virginia	2.1%
36	Vermont	709	Aaa	36	Vermont	1.8%
37	New Hampshire	665	Aa1	37	Idaho	1.7%
38	Oklahoma	570	Aa2	38	New Hampshire	1.6%
39	Idaho	538	Aa1*	39	Oklahoma	1.6%
40	Texas	520	Aaa	40	Indiana	1.5%
41	Indiana	492	Aaa*	41	Texas	1.4%
42	Colorado	400	Aa1*	42	Montana	1.1%
43	Montana	358	Aa1*	43	Arkansas	1.0%
44	North Dakota	327	Aa1*	44	Colorado	1.0%
45	Tennessee	318	Aaa	45	Tennessee	0.9%
46	Arkansas	312	Aa1	46	North Dakota	0.8%
47	South Dakota	135	NGO**	47	South Dakota	0.4%
48	Wyoming	77	NGO**	48	Iowa	0.2%
49	Iowa	73	AaA*	49	Wyoming	0.2%
50	Nebraska	15	NGO**	50	Nebraska	0.0%
* Issuer Rating (No general obligation (GO) debt) **No GO debt
Source: 2010 State Debt Medians Report, Moody's Investors Service, May 2010				Source: 2010 State Debt Medians Report, Moody's Investors Service, May 2010


Table 3: Debt to State GDP Ratio			*Table 4: Debt to GDP Ratio, Connecticut & Selected Countries*
*Rank*	*State*	*Ratio*	*Rank* *(out of 131)*	*Country*	*Ratio*
1	Massachusetts	8.32%	1	Zimbabwe	241.6%
2	Hawaii	8.11%	2	Japan	196.0%
3	Connecticut	7.91%	4	Lebanon	150.7%
4	New Jersey	6.73%	5	Greece	144.0%
5	New York	5.35%	6	Iceland	123.8%
6	Mississippi	4.75%	7	Jamaica	123.2%
7	Rhode Island	4.73%	8	Italy	118.1%
8	California	4.73%	9	Belgium	102.5%
9	Kentucky	4.65%	10	Singapore	102.4%
10	Washington	4.60%	11	Ireland	98.5%
11	Oregon	4.40%	12	Sudan	94.2%
12	Wisconsin	4.05%	14	France	83.5%
13	Illinois	3.78%	15	Portugal	83.2%
14	Delaware	3.56%	16	Canada	82.9%
15	New Mexico	3.52%	17	Egypt	80.5%
16	Maryland	3.35%	20	Israel	77.3%
17	West Virginia	3.18%	21	United Kingdom	76.5%
18	Florida	2.80%	22	Germany	74.8%
19	Georgia	2.77%	27	Spain	63.4%
20	South Carolina	2.68%	31	Brazil	60.8%
21	Kansas	2.62%	36	United States	58.9%
22	Louisiana	2.57%	38	World	58.3%
23	Utah	2.43%	42	India	55.9%
24	Ohio	2.28%	43	Philippines	55.2%
25	Arizona	2.24%	47	Uruguay	52.7%
26	Alabama	2.20%	50	Poland	50.5%
27	Pennsylvania	2.14%	51	Argentina	50.3%
28	Minnesota	2.08%	52	Pakistan	49.9%
29	Maine	2.02%	54	Turkey	48.1%
30	Missouri	1.96%	56	Demark	46.6%
31	Alaska	1.96%	59	Finland	45.4%
32	Michigan	1.95%	65	Mexico	41.5%
33	Nevada	1.86%	68	Sweden	40.8%
34	North Carolina	1.79%	73	Switzerland	39.6%
35	Virginia	1.78%	78	Ukraine	38.4%
36	Vermont	1.73%	80	Serbia	37.8%
37	Idaho	1.58%	84	Cuba	34.4%
38	New Hampshire	1.47%	85	South Africa	33.2%
39	Oklahoma	1.43%	87	Taiwan	31.4%
40	Indiana	1.24%	91	Indonesia	26.4%
41	Texas	1.05%	97	New Zealand	25.5%
42	Montana	0.97%	102	Peru	23.6%
43	Arkansas	0.92%	107	Australia	22.4%
44	Colorado	0.81%	111	Hong Kong	18.2%
45	Tennessee	0.79%	112	China	17.5%
46	North Dakota	0.68%	117	Iran	16.2%
47	South Dakota	0.30%	123	Russia	9.5%
48	Iowa	0.16%		Connecticut	7.91%
49	Wyoming	0.12%	126	Chile	6.2%
50	Nebraska	0.03%	131	Libya	3.3%
Source: 2010 State Debt Medians Report, Moody's Investors Service, May 2010			Source: The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency