The average per capita debt across all 50 states in 2018 was $3,600. Nineteen states were above this per-capita average, with 31 states below. In 2000, average state debt per capita was $1,942.

In 2018, the states with the least debt per capita were: 

• Tennessee ($929 per capita)
• Nebraska ($1,068)
• Nevada ($1,135)
• Georgia ($1,266)
• Florida ($1,299). 

The states with the highest debt per capita were: 

• Massachusetts ($11,423)
• Connecticut ($11,280)
• Rhode Island ($8,593)
• Alaska ($8,011)
• and New York ($7,576). 

The US Census Bureau defines debt as “all long-term credit obligations of the government and its agencies whether backed by the governments’ full faith and credit or non-guaranteed, and all interest-bearing short-term credit obligations,” and includes “judgments, mortgages, and revenue bonds, as well as general obligations bonds, notes, and interest-bearing warrants.” State debt includes financial arrangements where a state-affiliated institution (like a public university), a hospital, or a quasi-governmental authority (like a stadium district) issues debt that the state government guarantees, but the entity makes the debt payments. The definition does not include underfunded pension obligations as state debt.