We’re #2…For Percentage Of Spending On Debt

According to the Tax Foundation, 6.9 percent of New Hampshire’s direct spending went toward interest payments on debt in FY 2009. The only state that devoted a higher portion of its funds to interest was…Massachusetts, at 9.58 percent.  (You can find more surprising comparisons between New Hampshire and Massachusetts here.)

Overall, New England eats up a goodly portion of the Top Ten, with Rhode Island at No. 3 and Connecticut at No. 4.  Vermont, meanwhile, just misses the top ten at No. 11. 

Maine makes the most respectable showing in New England at No. 20, with 3.67 percent of state spending going toward interest.

Tax Foundation

Most of the bottom 10 states for direct spending on interest payments are in the Northeast, while the top 10 are scattered throughout the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and Intermountain West.