Tennessee : State Data and Comparisons : State Data Lab

TIA Data

2016 Financial State of Tennessee (Released 4/17/2017)

2016 Financial State of Memphis (Released 1/24/2018)

2016 Financial State of Nashville (Released 1/24/2018)

Tennessee owns more than it owes and ranks the 7th out of the 50 states.

Tennessee's Taxpayer Surplus™ is $2,100, and received a "B" from TIA.

Tennessee is a Sunshine State with enough assets to cover its debt.

Elected officials have created a Taxpayer Surplus™, which is each taxpayer's share of money available after state bills have been paid.

TIA's Taxpayer Surplus™ measurement incorporates both assets and liabilities, not just pension debt.

Tennessee has $17.2 billion of assets available to pay the state's bills totaling $13 billion.

Tennessee has $4.1 billion available after bills have been paid, which breaks down to $2,100 per taxpayer.

Because of an accounting rule implemented last year, Tennessee has to report its pension debt on its balance sheet. This year, the state's reported pension debt grew from $677.2 million in 2015 to $1.3 billion in 2016.

Despite reporting most of its pension debt, the state is still hiding $852.8 million of retiree health care debt. A new accounting standard will be implemented in two years, and will require states to report this debt on the balance sheet.

The state's financial report was released 174 days after its fiscal year end, which is considered timely according to the 180 day standard.