Chicago City Wire

Among the 75 most populous cities in the U.S., Chicago ranks 74th for the state of its finances, chalking up $41,000 in liabilities per taxpayer, according to a Truth in Accounting (TIA) analysis of municipal data released this month.  

The nonprofit group, which promotes financial transparency in government, gave Chicago an “F” grade for its fiscal policies. TIA gave “F” grades to all cities surveyed that have per-taxpayer liabilities of greater than $20,000.  

Only 13 of the cities were in the black, having more assets than liabilities, while 62 of them carried a wide range of debts, according to TIA. The data is based on 2019 audited municipal  financial reports.

Chicago was short $36.4 billion to pay all of its obligations, which included unfunded pension plans and health care costs, the study found.

The analysis predicts that Chicago and other large cities that were in poor fiscal health before the coronavirus pandemic will come out of the crisis in even worse shape. On average, liabilities in all 75 cities combined came out to $7,355 per taxpayer, the study said.

No other Illinois cities were examined in the study.

---

Grading the Financial Health of the Largest U.S. Cities

Rank	City	State / Territory	Taxpayer Surplus / Burden	TIA Grades
1	Irvine	Calif.	$4,100	B
2	Washington	D.C.	$3,400	B
3	Lincoln	Neb.	$3,400	B
4	Stockton	Calif.	$3,000	B
5	Charlotte	N.C.	$3,000	B
6	Aurora	Colo.	$2,400	B
7	Fresno	Calif.	$2,300	B
8	Raleigh	N.C.	$2,200	B
9	Plano	Texas	$2,000	B
10	Tampa	Fla.	$1,400	B
11	Oklahoma City	Okla.	$400	B
12	Wichita	Kan.	$100	B
13	Tulsa	Okla.	$17	B
14	Long Beach	Calif.	-$100	C
15	Minneapolis	Minn.	-$100	C
16	Arlington	Texas	-$200	C
17	Colorado Springs	Colo.	-$700	C
18	Greensboro	N.C.	-$1,000	C
19	Corpus Christi	Texas	-$1,100	C
20	Chula Vista	Calif.	-$1,100	C
21	Orlando	Fla.	-$1,300	C
22	Bakersfield	Calif.	-$1,400	C
23	Fort Wayne	Ind.	-$1,600	C
24	Henderson	Nev.	-$1,700	C
25	Las Vegas	Nev.	-$1,800	C
26	Atlanta	Ga.	-$1,900	C
27	St. Paul	Minn.	-$2,900	C
28	Riverside	Calif.	-$3,100	C
29	Louisville	Ky.	-$3,200	C
30	Toledo	Ohio	-$3,200	C
31	Columbus	Ohio	-$3,300	C
32	Cleveland	Ohio	-$3,400	C
33	Seattle	Ore.	-$3,400	C
34	San Antonio	Texas	-$3,500	C
35	Sacramento	Calif.	-$3,700	C
36	Virginia Beach	Va.	-$3,900	C
37	Indianapolis	Ind.	-$3,900	C
38	Los Angeles	Calif.	-$4,000	C
39	Memphis	Tenn.	-$4,300	C
40	San Diego	Calif.	-$4,700	C
41	Mesa	Ariz.	-$4,900	C
42	El Paso	Texas	-$5,200	D
43	Santa Ana	Calif.	-$5,400	D
44	Albuquerque	N.M.	-$5,600	D
45	Denver	Colo.	-$5,800	D
46	Detroit	Mich.	-$6,100	D
47	Anaheim	Calif.	-$6,200	D
48	Anchorage	Alaska	-$6,400	D
49	Phoenix	Ariz.	-$6,500	D
50	Omaha	Neb.	-$7,600	D
51	Austin	Texas	-$7,600	D
52	Tucson	Ariz.	-$8,400	D
53	Lexington	Ky.	-$9,200	D
54	Fort Worth	Texas	-$9,400	D
55	Jacksonville	Fla.	-$10,100	D
56	San Jose	Calif.	-$10,300	D
57	Kansas City	Mo.	-$11,300	D
58	Houston	Texas	-$11,600	D
59	Boston	Mass.	-$12,000	D
60	Milwaukee	Wis.	-$13,500	D
61	Dallas	Texas	-$13,500	D
62	Miami	Fla.	-$14,200	D
63	St. Louis	Mo.	-$14,600	D
64	Cincinnati	Ohio	-$15,200	D
65	Pittsburgh	Penn.	-$16,000	D
66	San Francisco	Calif.	-$16,300	D
67	Oakland	Calif.	-$17,000	D
68	Baltimore	Md.	-$18,000	D
69	New Orleans	La.	-$20,000	D
70	Portland	Ore.	-$20,400	F
71	Nashville	Tenn.	-$22,000	F
72	Philadelphia	Penn.	-$25,700	F
73	Honolulu	Hawaii	-$29,600	F
74	Chicago	Ill.	-$41,100	F
75	New York City	N.Y.	-$68,200	F

Source: Truth in Accounting