Ten cities facing the worst of the pension crisis
October 12, 2010
10 cities face pension crisis
A new report by Northwestern University suggests that the previous estimates for unfunded pension liabilities were too low by billions of dollars. The report says that the total unfunded liabilities for local pension plans is $574 billion dollars. This liability is in addition to the $3 trillion debt that is facing state-sponsored pension plans, though the report says this $3 trillion is also a low estimate and that the actual unfunded liabilities for states is $5 trillion. According to projections by the report over 25 municipalities will run out of assets by 2025.[1]
Chicago and New York face the worst funding problems for their pension plans.
See the chart of the top 10 cities facing the worst of the pension crisis:
Chart
| Municipality (number of plans) |
Liabilities, Stated Basis, June ’09 ($B) | Liabilities (ABO), Treasury Rate | Net Pension Assets ($B) | Unfunded Liability ($B) | Unfunded Liability / Revenue | Unfunded Liability per Household ($) |
| Chicago (7) | 46.3 | 66.6 | 21.8 | 44.8 | 763% | 41,966 |
| New York City (5) | 155.8 | 214.8 | 92.6 | 122.3 | 276% | 38,886 |
| San Francisco (1) | 16.3 | 22.6 | 13.3 | 9.3 | 266% | 34,940 |
| Boston (1) | 7.4 | 11 | 3.6 | 7.5 | 430% | 30,901 |
| Detroit (2) | 8.1 | 11 | 4.6 | 6.4 | 402% | 18,643 |
| Los Angeles (3) | 34.6 | 49.3 | 23.2 | 26.1 | 378% | 18,193 |
| Philadelphia (1) | 9 | 13 | 3.4 | 9.7 | 290% | 16,690 |
| Cincinnati (1) | 2.2 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 2 | 321% | 15,681 |
| Baltimore (2) | 4,4 | 6.4 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 260% | 15,420 |
| Milwaukee (1) | 4.4 | 6.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 687% | 14,853 |
Footnotes
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