Report: North Carolina surplus is $7,500 per taxpayer

Alan Wooten Thu, October 15, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTC

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A pile of U.S. fifty-dollar bills is displayed. Photo: Emilee Calametti / The Center Square

(The Center Square) – North Carolina has more than enough money to pay its outstanding bills and earned a B grade in the 17th annual Financial State of the States 2025 report.

Released Thursday by Truth In Accounting, the analysis for fiscal year 2025 – ending June 30, 2025 – said any state with a taxpayer surplus between $1 and $9,999 gets a B. The report says $76.9 billion is available to pay $49.8 billion worth of bills, generating a $27.1 billion surplus or $7,500 per taxpayer in the nation’s ninth largest state.

That’s up more than $10 billion in surplus, and per taxpayer is more than double last year’s $4,700.

The report says, “North Carolina received 38% of its revenue from federal grants and was required to undergo a single audit, which identified potential fraud and abuse..”

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North Carolina is 10th nationally and one of 20 states earning a B behind the six that achieved an A. Neighbor Tennessee (fifth, $11,400 per taxpayer) is ahead in taxpayer surplus; Virginia (12th, $7,100), Georgia (18th, $4,900) and South Carolina (35th, $6,400 deficit) trail.

Only those with a surplus earned an A or B.

Seven states were graded C for taxpayer burden between $0 and $4,999; 13 were graded D ($5,000 to $20,000); and foour got an F (greater than $20,000).

The bottom lines are reached by taking money needed to pay bills and dividing by the number of taxpayers. Truth In Accounting says, “Unfunded retirement liabilities were the largest contributing factor to state-level debt. One way states make their budgets look balanced when they are not is by shortchanging public pensions and other post-employment benefits funds.”

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Source: “AOL Money”