State Budget Solutions' third annual State Debt Report released in August showed that together, state governments together face a crushing debt of more than $4 trillion. This report examines state debt on a per capita basis and reveals that state debt amounts to $13,425 for every man, woman and child in America. The debt total equals $37,486 for every private sector worker. It is almost a third of private sector Gross State Product.

Those numbers illustrate that, without serious and immediate reforms, lawmakers will eventually have little choice but to drastically raise taxes and slash services. This updated report examines state debt as it relates to the individuals and families who will ultimately bear that burden. This report calculates total state debt per capita, per private sector employee, and as a percentage of private sector gross state product (GSP). In each of the three categories, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Alaska are among states with the five largest debt figures. At the other end of the spectrum, Nebraska has the lowest total in each of the areas.

The results
The largest per capita debt figure for all fifty states is Alaska, where each person's share of their state's debt stands at $31,141. New Jersey, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Illinois make up the top five states with the highest per capita share of the state debt.

Nebraska, on the other hand, has the lowest total debt per capita at just $4,249 for each resident. Tennessee, Indiana, Florida, and Idaho round out the lowest five debt levels per capita.

Private sector workers are at increased risk as they are the ultimate tax base for reducing state debt. Using figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Budget Solutions determined that Hawaii has the largest debt per private sector worker at $83,815, followed by Alaska, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New Mexico. Nebraska again has the lowest total, with $9,829 in debt for each private sector employee. Indiana, Tennessee, North Dakota, and South Dakota follow.

State Budget Solutions also calculated state debt as a percentage of private sector GSP. Hawaii's debt stands at 79.21% of its entire private sector GSP, the highest percentage of the 50 states. New Jersey is again right behind with its debt representing 59.69% of private sector GSP. Ohio, New Mexico, and Alaska constitute the rest of the top five. Nebraska, Tennessee, Indiana, North Dakota, and Virginia have the lowest debts as a percentage of private GSP.
 

See infographics on each state's share of the tax burden.

Read the full SBS article here more.