Many large U.S. cities are in deep financial trouble. Here's why (2024)

FAQs

Why are so many US cities in financial trouble? ›

Spending cuts are occurring across many U.S. cities as inflation lingers and pandemic-era stimulus dries up. At least 53 major cities have debt obligations that outstrip assets, according to an estimate from Truth in Accounting.

Image. Our fiscal health is declining in large part because of rapidly growing debt levels relative to the size of the U.S. economy. Large annual budget deficits drive debt growth, as the government borrows to finance spending that exceeds revenues. For example, the federal budget deficit in FY 2023 was $1.7 trillion.

With an average debt per person of $26,636, Denver ranks as the most indebted city in America, according to data collected by Experian. (That number excludes mortgages.)

Using 2022 financial report numbers, the five bottom sinkhole cities, those with the highest Taxpayer Burden, were Portland, Philadelphia, Honolulu, Chicago, and New York.

Eliminating the U.S. government's debt is a Herculean task that could take decades. In addition to obvious steps, such as hiking taxes and slashing spending, the government could take a number of other approaches, some of them unorthodox and even controversial.

The US government owes trillions of dollars in debt to foreign entities, including governments, central banks, companies, and individual investors. This debt includes US Treasury bonds and other securities, which are popular as they are considered safe investments.

China is one of the United States's largest creditors, owning about $859.4 billion in U.S. debt. It doesn't own the most U.S. debt of any foreign country, however. Nations borrowing from each other may be as old as the concept of money.

He is ... the most indebted man in the world. Jérôme Kerviel is learning one of life's harsher lessons: It stinks to be $6.3 billion in debt.

What state is in the worst debt? ›

U.S. state and local government outstanding debt 2021, by state. In 2021, the federal state of California had about 541.24 billion U.S. dollars of debt outstanding, the most out of any state. New York, Texas, Illinois, and Florida rounded out the top five states with the most debt outstanding in 2021.

If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur." "The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania."

Alabama claims to have the largest recent collapse sinkhole. It is called the “Golly Hole” and is located in Shelby County in the central part of the state. It collapsed suddenly in 1972. The sinkhole is about 325 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 120 feet deep.

Suburbanization in tandem with deindustrialization, human migration, and the 2008 Great Recession all contribute to origins of shrinking cities in the U.S. Scholars estimate that one in six to one in four cities worldwide are shrinking in countries with expanding economies and those with deindustrialization.

Urban decay is often the result of inter-related socio-economic issues, including urban planning decisions, economic deprivation of the local populace, the construction of freeways and railroad lines that bypass or run through the area, depopulation by suburbanization of peripheral lands, real estate neighborhood ...

But the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures show the revival was short-lived. Americans have continued to flee large metro areas in massive numbers as the remote work shift sparked by the pandemic becomes entrenched and the allure of more affordable midsize cities and smaller towns grows.