Tennessee’s Pension System Has the Third Smallest Funding Gap in the Nation

by Samuel Stebbins

In much of the country, public pension funding has been one of the most persistent public policy problems. For years, many state governments have failed to make necessary investments in their retirement system, resulting in funding gaps that increasingly present a looming reckoning for taxpayers.

According to a recent report published by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a public policy think tank, many states are now taking earnest measures to reduce their pension funding gap. These measures include increased contributions, cost reduction strategies, and more sophisticated pension management tools. States have also benefited from once-in-a-generation investment returns following the COVID-19 market crash in March 2020.

Still, based on 2019 data, the most recent year of available comprehensive data, the majority of states have a funding shortfall of 25% or more.

Tennessee has assets to cover over 98% of its $41.8 billion pension liabilities — the smallest relative funding gap of any state in the country. If no further funds were added to Tennessee’s pension system, it could continue to meet its payment obligations for another 18.3 years, a longer period than all but five other states.

In recently filed SEC documents, the Tennessee Department of Treasury, which manages retirement system funding, increased its holdings in tobacco giant Philip Morris while reducing its stakes in General Electric and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.

All pension funding data used in this story was compiled by The Pew Charitable Trusts and is for 2019. We also considered public-sector, state-level employment, both in raw numbers and as a share of overall employment, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Rank	State	Pension funding ratio	Pension assets ($, billions)	Pension liabilities ($, billions)	State government employees
1	Wisconsin	103.0%	112.1	108.9	89,800
2	South Dakota	100.1%	12.5	12.5	17,300
3	Tennessee	98.2%	41.1	41.8	95,500
4	Washington	96.3%	100.9	104.8	142,700
5	New York	96.1%	215.2	223.9	254,600
6	Idaho	94.6%	17.7	18.8	30,100
7	Nebraska	93.1%	15.2	16.3	42,500
8	Utah	91.7%	35.2	38.4	81,200
9	North Carolina	88.4%	101.4	114.6	196,100
10	Iowa	85.4%	34.8	40.7	67,100
11	Maine	84.3%	15.1	17.9	24,600
12	Delaware	83.4%	10.2	12.2	32,200
13	West Virginia	83.4%	15.9	19.1	46,900
14	Minnesota	82.2%	70.8	86.1	98,900
15	Oklahoma	80.7%	33.2	41.1	79,700
16	Oregon	80.2%	70.2	87.5	41,300
17	Arkansas	80.0%	28.6	35.7	76,200
18	Ohio	80.0%	168.4	210.5	168,000
19	Georgia	78.7%	95.6	121.6	162,500
20	Florida	78.2%	163.9	209.5	246,400
21	Missouri	77.8%	59.9	77.0	100,200
22	Virginia	77.2%	79.8	103.3	157,300
23	Nevada	76.5%	44.3	57.9	40,200
24	Wyoming	76.5%	9.0	11.8	13,600
25	Montana	72.5%	11.9	16.4	27,400
26	California	71.9%	474.3	659.4	521,600
27	Maryland	71.6%	54.3	75.8	108,100
28	Kansas	69.9%	20.6	29.5	50,700
29	North Dakota	69.8%	5.9	8.4	21,400
30	Alabama	69.4%	38.5	55.5	117,000
31	Texas	69.0%	186.8	270.7	426,400
32	Indiana	68.6%	30.8	44.9	108,900
33	Alaska	67.4%	15.2	22.6	22,500
34	New Mexico	67.3%	29.2	43.4	53,700
35	Louisiana	66.9%	36.8	54.9	86,800
36	Colorado	66.5%	51.8	77.9	126,600
37	New Hampshire	65.5%	9.2	14.1	22,400
38	Arizona	65.2%	49.9	76.6	89,800
39	Vermont	63.7%	4.5	7.1	17,800
40	Mississippi	61.7%	28.6	46.4	57,400
41	Michigan	61.1%	65.0	106.4	178,800
42	Massachusetts	59.4%	58.3	98.1	122,600
43	Pennsylvania	58.0%	89.8	154.8	148,600
44	South Carolina	55.4%	32.3	58.3	103,500
45	Hawaii	54.9%	17.2	31.4	67,000
46	Rhode Island	54.5%	6.6	12.1	20,400
47	Kentucky	44.6%	24.0	53.7	90,800
48	Connecticut	44.4%	32.0	72.1	71,000
49	New Jersey	39.7%	82.3	207.1	138,700
50	Illinois	38.9%	92.6	237.9	147,000