Our seventeenth annual Financial State of the States (FSOS) report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states. At the end of fiscal year 2025, 24 states did not have enough money to pay their bills.

When states do not have enough money to pay their bills, TIA takes the money needed to pay bills (the shortfall) and divides it by the estimated number of state taxpayers. We call the resulting number a Taxpayer Burden™. Conversely, a Taxpayer Surplus™ is the amount of money left over after all of a state’s bills are paid, divided by the estimated number of taxpayers in the state. 

With state revenues and federal funding at historical highs, all but four states reported annual revenues greater than expenses. As shown above most states improved their finances enough to be in the black.  Between 2009 and 2025, the national average went from a -$8618 burden to a $257 surplus. Illinois, however, is among the states that continues in the red with a massive taxpayer burden of -$36,900, placing third worst in the country, after New Jersey and Connecticut. 

See the entire report here:  2026 Financial State of the States.  To compare states and make charts go to Data-Z.org.