- Utah has the 2nd lowest state government debt per person in the country.
- It also ranks near the bottom on total debt across all levels of government.
- Salt Lake City has extreme debt compared to most cities due to the airport.
A new national dataset identified Utah as one of the most fiscally healthy states in the nation, sporting what might be the most consistently low amount of debt per person across all levels of government.
The Reason Foundation’s newly released State and Local Government Finance Report compiled data from 50 state governments, 2,317 county governments, 8,630 municipal governments and 10,408 school districts.
Utah ranked 45th in terms of having one of the lowest total debts, combining state and municipal governments, amounting to $7,805 per person, which is less than half as much as the national average of $18,376.
Utah also placed 49th in terms of state government debt per capita, and 48th in terms of overall debt ratio, a measure of liabilities divided by assets, coming in at just over 0.2, compared to the national average of 0.7.
“In almost every measure that you look at, Utah is among the healthiest states in the country,” said Mariana Trujillo, Reason Foundation’s director of government finance. “It is one of the least indebted states in the nation.”
The states with the highest total debt per capita are New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. These states, along with Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois and California, also rank at the top for state government debt and debt ratio.
How does debt hurt state budgets?
The more governments finance budgets through debt, the more they must spend on interest payments and the more at risk they will be if revenues decrease because of recession or a reduced population, Trujillo said.
Utah policymakers have done what they can to avoid that outcome, according to state House Budget chair Val Peterson, R-Orem. In 2025, for the first time, Utah’s rainy day savings exceeded the state’s general obligation debt, Peterson said.
This has been made possible by careful fiscal management that includes making cash payments to pay off debt — which the state has paid down by 66% since 2021 — and by ensuring there are adequate reserves to pay debt long-term.
“The way we achieve that is through good policy and good fiscal planning, and so those are things that we consciously work at,” Peterson said. “One of the things Utah is known for is living within our means. And I think this principle goes across our state budgets as well.”
Keeping debt low enables tax cuts, Peterson said, like the ones lawmakers have made for the past five years. It has also contributed to the state’s rare triple-AAA bond rating which lets Utah borrow money for less, according to Sophia M. DiCaro, the executive director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
“Utah’s approach to state finance can be described as fiscal discipline first,” DiCaro said. “We maintain a conservative, low-debt profile and prioritize the full funding of our long-term liabilities.”
Which Utah cities have the highest debt?
Utah local governments vary widely in terms of total debt compared to the number of people they serve.
Salt Lake City has more debt per capita than any other city of more than 10,000 residents, at $23,477, followed by Vineyard at $7,128, Payson at $4,975, Spanish Fork at $4,313 and Pleasant Grove at $3,595.
The state’s capital has more total debt than all other cities combined because of the reconstruction of the Salt Lake City International Airport, which accounts for around 75% of the city’s more than $4 billion in liabilities.
However, payments on airport-related debt, which totals more than $3 billion, is not paid by local taxpayers; it is covered annually by passenger fees and airlines, according to the Salt Lake City Mayor’s office.
The city’s other major sources of debt include $635 million for water, which includes the cost of a federally mandated treatment facility upgrade, $365 million for government operations and $903,000 for the library system in 2023.
While poorly managed debt can be a drag on the local economy, taking out debt is essential for financing essential projects that improve the quality of life for residents, Provo Chief Administrative Officer Scott Henderson said.
Provo citizens tend to be “debt averse,” Henderson said, with a total municipal debt of just under $300 million, and a debt-per-resident of $2,600 in 2023. But in recent years city residents have voted to increase city debt to fund a new recreational center, city hall and public safety building, Henderson pointed out.
Municipalities are limited by a cap on how much revenue they can hold in their general fund, according to Henderson, which makes outside funding necessary for big infrastructure projects. Provo has tried to avoid this as much as possible through federal grants and other partnerships, Henderson said.
Keeping debt low prevents cities from having to raise property taxes to pay bonds, Henderson pointed out. It also gives the city more flexibility to respond to economic downturns. But that doesn’t mean cities should avoid debt altogether.
“You can make progress and still work in a conservative environment,” Henderson said. “I don’t think those are mutually exclusive.”
What about counties and school districts?
The Utah school districts with the greatest debt are Alpine, Davis, Canyons, Granite and Nebo. The districts with the least are Piute County, North Summit, South Summit, Rich County and Millard County — all smaller school districts.
The county with by far the largest debt per capita is Summit County, followed by a series of more rural counties, like Daggett and Kane. The counties with the least amount of debt per capita are Rich, Piute, Morgan, Washington and Box Elder.
In terms of total debt, Salt Lake County leads the pack at $804 million, followed by Utah County at $340 million and Summit County at $240 million. Utah’s 29 counties have a total of $2 billion in debt, the Reason Foundation report found.