Report: County governments have $757 billion in debt

County governments had $757 billion in debt at the end of 2023, equivalent to approximately $2,600 per capita nationwide, according to Reason Foundation’s State and Local Government Finance Report.

Los Angeles County has the most debt of any county government: $62.36 billion.

The combined city and county of San Francisco and Miami-Dade County each had more than $30 billion in debt at the end of 2023. Cook County and the combined city and county of Philadelphia were next, with over $20 billion in debt.

The rest of the 10 most-indebted counties at the end of 2023 were Washington, D.C. ($19.83 billion), the combined city and county of Denver* ($14.3 billion), Nassau County ($14.2 billion), Santa Clara County ($13.4 billion), and the combined city and county of Honolulu* ($12 billion).

This analysis is part of Reason Foundation’s State and Local Government Finance Report, which can be explored interactively in the GovFinance Dashboard. Reason Foundation extracted this data from publicly available, audited financial reports filed by each county for their fiscal year 2023.

Total debt, reported as total liabilities, includes money a county government owes in the near term, such as unpaid bills and accrued payroll, as well as long-term obligations, including bonds, public pension benefits, and retiree health care benefits.

In per capita terms, North Slope Borough, Alaska, ranks first, with its total debt representing $46,883 per county resident.

For counties with 10,000 residents or more, the combined city and county of San Francisco, Washington, DC, the combined city and county of Denver, and Baltimore have the next highest per capita debt levels.

At $12,880 per person, Los Alamos County, New Mexico, has the sixth most per capita county debt.

For counties with 10,000 residents or more, a total of 43 counties reported at least $7,000 in per capita debt, including 21 counties with more than $10,000 in per capita debt.

* Several jurisdictions in the United States operate under consolidated city–county governments, meaning their financial data reflect both city and county functions. Due to their structure and financial reporting practices, these entities could be considered either a city or a county, and therefore, are listed in both the city and county rankings of this report, which can make some comparisons to other cities or counties difficult. Some of the entities most impacted in the rankings and figures are San Francisco, Denver, Honolulu, Nashville, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

The combined entities in the report include the city and borough of Juneau (AK), city and borough of Sitka (AK), city and borough of Wrangell (AK), city and county of San Francisco (CA), city and county of Broomfield (CO), city and county of Denver (CO), Jacksonville (FL), Athens–Clarke County (GA), Columbus–Muscogee County (GA), Georgetown–Quitman County (GA), Macon–Bibb County (GA), city and county of Honolulu (HI), Greeley County (KS), Wyandotte County (KS), Lexington–Fayette Urban County (KY), Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (KY), New Orleans (LA), Anaconda–Deer Lodge County (MT), Butte–Silver Bow County (MT), Philadelphia (PA), Lynchburg–Moore County Metropolitan Government (TN), and Nashville–Davidson County (TN). In our aggregate figures, these entities are added to the “county total.”

The five New York City counties—Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond—are consolidated in a single city government and financial report and are listed collectively as the city of New York (NY) in this report.

Baltimore (MD), St. Louis (MO), Chesapeake (VA), Norfolk (VA), Virginia Beach (VA), Baton Rouge (LA), and the District of Columbia (DC) are independent city governments. They have no overlapping county, and perform both municipal and county functions—or in the case of Baton Rouge the county government falls under the umbrella of the city. In our aggregate figures, these entities are added to the “municipal total.” For more details, please see the report’s about page.

Long-term debt

About 80% of county debt is long-term debt, which is due in more than one year. Long-term debt consists of bonds, loans, and notes (44%), unfunded pension liabilities (29%), unfunded retiree health care (17%), and accrued leave payouts (3%).

Counties collectively report $624 billion in long-term debt, or $2,200 per capita nationally.

Los Angeles County has the most long-term liabilities at $52 billion, followed by the combined city and county of San Francisco, Miami-Dade County, Cook County, and the combined city and county of Philadelphia.

In per capita terms, for counties with 10,000 residents or more, the city and county of San Francisco has the most long-term liabilities, representing $46,883 per resident. North Slope Borough, Alaska, was second, with more than $35,000 in long-term debt per resident, followed by Washington, D.C., with over $23,000 per capita.

The combined city and county of Denver, Baltimore, Los Alamos County (NM), the combined city and county of Honolulu, Cape May County (NJ), Inyo County (CA), the combined city of Nashville-Davidson County (TN), and Miami-Dade County also had long-term liabilities exceeding $10,000 per capita.

County pension debt

Unfunded pension liabilities arise when governments set aside fewer assets than required to fulfill the retirement benefits promised to their public employees, which are declared as net pension liabilities.

At the end of 2023, counties collectively reported $181 billion in unfunded pension obligations, which represent 30% of their long-term debt. On a per capita basis, this county pension debt amounts to about $600 per person nationally.

Los Angeles County has the most public pension debt at $13.2 billion, followed by Cook County, Santa Clara County, San Diego County, and the combined city and county of Philadelphia.

In per capita terms, for counties with 10,000 residents or more, North Slope Borough, Alaska, ranks highest in the nation, with its public pension debt representing $12,318 per county resident, followed by Los Alamos County ($6,057 per capita), Mono County ($5,111), Juneau City and Borough ($4,386), Inyo County ($4,363) and Colusa County ($4,220).

Other post-employment benefits debt

Other post-employment benefits debt (OPEB), which are primarily public employee retiree health care benefits, are rarely pre-funded, making them a significant source of unfunded liabilities for governments. OPEB debt arises when governments promise health care or other post-employment benefits to workers but fail to set aside enough money in advance to cover the future costs.

At the end of 2023, counties collectively reported $107 billion in OPEB debt, which represents 17% of their long-term debt. On a per capita basis, this OPEB debt is equivalent to about $400 per capita nationally.

Los Angeles County had the largest total other post-employment benefits debt at $25 billion, more than four times that of the next highest county.

Nassau County, Suffolk County, the combined city and county of San Francisco, and Harris County have the next highest OPEB debt.

In per capita terms, for counties with 10,000 residents or more, Essex County (NY) ranks first, with its OPEB debt representing $4,885 per resident.

The combined city and county of San Francisco, Nassau County, and Schoharie County also had OPEB debt of more than $4,000 per capita at the end of 2023

Outstanding bonded debt

Bonds, loans, and notes represent the portion of a state government’s long-term liabilities that are explicitly borrowed in credit markets. Unlike public pension benefits or OPEB, which accumulate as estimated unfunded promises, these instruments are contractual debt obligations with fixed repayment schedules.

Nationally, counties report $275 billion in outstanding bonds, loans, and notes, which represent 44% of their long-term debt. On a per capita basis, this equals $956 per capita nationally.

The city and county of San Francisco has the most total bonded debt at $23.5 billion, followed by Miami-Dade County ($19.5 billion), Washington, DC ($12.6 billion), city and county of Denver ($9.9 billion, and city and county Honolulu ($7.1 billion).

In per capita terms, San Francisco ranks first, with its bonded debt representing $26,892 per resident. North Slope Borough, Washington, DC, Denver, and Arlington County (VA) were the next highest.

Reason Foundation’s State and Local Government Finance Report totals the liabilities of each state government, as well as the cities, towns, counties, and school districts within each state. This report covers all 50 state governments, over 2,000 county governments, 8,000 municipal governments, and 10,000 school districts, which serve 331 million Americans nationwide.

All figures in the State and Local Government Finance Report are sourced from the financial reports of state and local governments, most often their annual comprehensive financial reports. The data is from the 2023 fiscal year, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Nevada and a handful of cities and counties across the country have not reported 2023 data. Our database lists the available 2023 fiscal year data for each city.

Despite a thorough review, data collection at this scale can result in discrepancies. Please alert us if you identify any errors.

For personalized reports on municipal entities or more detailed information on assets, liquidity, and solvency, please visit the GovFinance Dashboard.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this data more, please email Mariana Trujillo at mariana.trujillo@reason.org or Jordan Campbell at jordan.campbell@reason.org.

Related:

Report: State and local governments have $6.1 trillion in debt

Report ranks every state’s total debt, from California’s $497 billion to South Dakota’s $2 billion

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Source: https://reason.org/transparency-project/gov-finance-2025/county/