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Every State's Pension Crisis Ranked
As members of the baby boom generation age into retirement — approximately 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day — more and more are relying on pension benefits for their main source of income.
Millions of aging teachers, firefighters, sanitation workers, and other state and local government employees depend on the income owed to them through defined benefit pension plans. Such plans require employees to contribute a portion of their salaries to a pool of funds that is invested on their behalf and is paid out to them in retirement.
Poor management of the pension funds at the state and local levels, however, has put those benefits at risk for many future retirees. According to nongovernmental organization The Pew Charitable Trusts, state pension systems currently have, on average, less than 70% of the assets they need to be able to pay out benefits owed to current or retired public employees. In some states, the gap is significantly smaller, while in others the pension funding gap is far worse.
To rank the severity of each state’s pension crisis, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average pension funding ratio — the market value of a pension fund as a percentage of the total benefits owed to current or retired public employees — for all 50 states as of 2017 with data from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
For more on state budgeting and economic performance, see the states with the best and worst economies, the best and worst states for business, and the best and worst run states in America: a survey of all 50.
50. Wisconsin > Funded ratio: 102.6% > Total pension shortfall: $2.6 billion surplus (the smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 13.7% (9th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $26,703 (15th highest)
> Governor: Tony Evers
49. South Dakota > Funded ratio: 100.1% > Total pension shortfall: $9.1 million surplus (2nd smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.1% (13th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $20,994 (16th lowest) > Governor: Kristi Noem
48. Tennessee > Funded ratio: 96.5% > Total pension shortfall: $1.7 billion (5th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 14.2% (13th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $17,270 (3rd lowest) > Governor: Bill Lee
47. New York > Funded ratio: 94.5% > Total pension shortfall: $11.5 billion (23rd smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.4% (21st lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $33,040 (7th highest) > Governor: Andrew Cuomo
46. Idaho > Funded ratio: 91.3% > Total pension shortfall: $1.5 billion (4th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 16.9% (19th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $22,386 (19th lowest) > Governor: Brad Little
45. North Carolina > Funded ratio: 90.7% > Total pension shortfall: $9.6 billion (21st smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 16.3% (24th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $19,913 (8th lowest) > Governor: Roy Cooper
44. Utah > Funded ratio: 90.3% > Total pension shortfall: $3.4 billion (11th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 16.3% (23rd highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $24,809 (20th highest) > Governor: Gary Herbert
43. Nebraska > Funded ratio: 90.2% > Total pension shortfall: $1.5 billion (3rd smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 17.0% (18th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $24,812 (19th highest) > Governor: Pete Ricketts
42. Washington > Funded ratio: 89.6% > Total pension shortfall: $9.9 billion (22nd smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 17.2% (16th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $19,977 (10th lowest) > Governor: Jay Inslee
41. Oregon > Funded ratio: 83.1% > Total pension shortfall: $13.5 billion (25th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.4% (22nd lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $33,397 (6th highest) > Governor: Kate Brown
40. Delaware > Funded ratio: 82.8% > Total pension shortfall: $2.0 billion (6th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 14.4% (14th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $23,433 (24th lowest) > Governor: John Carney
39. Iowa > Funded ratio: 82.3% > Total pension shortfall: $6.7 billion (16th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 16.5% (22nd highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $17,855 (5th lowest) > Governor: Kim Reynolds
38. Maine > Funded ratio: 81.9% > Total pension shortfall: $3.0 billion (10th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.9% (24th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $21,524 (18th lowest) > Governor: Janet Mills
37. Ohio > Funded ratio: 80.1% > Total pension shortfall: $39.7 billion (9th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 14.0% (12th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $31,861 (10th highest) > Governor: Mike DeWine
36. Florida > Funded ratio: 79.3% > Total pension shortfall: $40.3 billion (8th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 12.7% (5th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $24,013 (23rd highest) > Governor: Ron DeSantis
35. Georgia > Funded ratio: 79.2% > Total pension shortfall: $22.9 billion (16th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.3% (20th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $27,122 (14th highest) > Governor: Brian Kemp
34. West Virginia > Funded ratio: 78.9% > Total pension shortfall: $3.9 billion (12th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 21.0% (4th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $17,290 (4th lowest) > Governor: Jim Justice
33. Missouri > Funded ratio: 77.9% > Total pension shortfall: $15.8 billion (23rd largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.0% (18th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $23,582 (25th highest) > Governor: Mike Parson
32. Oklahoma > Funded ratio: 77.9% > Total pension shortfall: $8.5 billion (19th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 20.6% (6th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $20,442 (14th lowest) > Governor: Kevin Stitt
31. Virginia > Funded ratio: 77.2% > Total pension shortfall: $21.5 billion (18th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.1% (14th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $22,461 (20th lowest) > Governor: Ralph Northam
30. Arkansas > Funded ratio: 76.9% > Total pension shortfall: $7.9 billion (18th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 16.8% (20th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $20,302 (13th lowest) > Governor: Asa Hutchinson
29. Texas > Funded ratio: 76.1% > Total pension shortfall: $55.1 billion (5th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.6% (23rd lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $23,476 (25th lowest) > Governor: Greg Abbott
28. Wyoming > Funded ratio: 75.9% > Total pension shortfall: $2.7 billion (8th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 24.1% (2nd highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $19,921 (9th lowest) > Governor: Mark Gordon
27. Nevada > Funded ratio: 74.4% > Total pension shortfall: $13.3 billion (25th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 11.6% (the lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $34,926 (4th highest) > Governor: Steve Sisolak
26. Montana > Funded ratio: 72.8% > Total pension shortfall: $4.1 billion (13th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.9% (9th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $20,225 (11th lowest) > Governor: Steve Bullock
25. Alabama > Funded ratio: 70.9% > Total pension shortfall: $15.3 billion (24th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.9% (10th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $23,091 (22nd lowest) > Governor: Kay Ivey
24. California > Funded ratio: 68.9% > Total pension shortfall: $190.4 billion (the largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 15.1% (19th lowest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $36,351 (3rd highest) > Governor: Gavin Newsom
23. Maryland > Funded ratio: 68.6% > Total pension shortfall: $22.6 billion (17th largest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.4% (11th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $26,043 (18th highest) > Governor: Larry Hogan
22. Kansas > Funded ratio: 67.1% > Total pension shortfall: $9.1 billion (20th smallest) > Gov’t workers as share of total workforce: 18.2% (12th highest) > Avg. annual payout per public retiree: $16,802 (the lowest) > Governor: