(The Center Square) – Maryland ranked among the nation’s highest-scoring states in a new report examining how clearly governments disclose audits, pension obligations and other long-term financial information to taxpayers.
Truth in Accounting’s 2026 Financial Transparency Score gave Maryland an 84 out of 100, placing the state fourth nationally behind New Mexico, West Virginia and Indiana.
The report found Maryland benefited from clean audit opinions on both the state’s financial statements and its largest pension system, along with the use of an outside independent CPA firm for those audits.
In information provided to The Center Square, Truth in Accounting said Maryland’s audits are conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen, which the organization said aligns with its preferred audit independence standards.
The nonprofit group evaluates states using categories including audit quality, reporting timeliness, pension data, use of external auditors and whether retirement liabilities are fully reflected in financial statements.
Maryland outperformed neighboring states including Virginia, which received a score of 78, as well as Pennsylvania, which scored 77. Connecticut ranked last nationally in the report.
According to information provided to The Center Square by Truth in Accounting, Maryland released its financial report about 243 days after the fiscal year ended, which the organization said reduced the timeliness and real-time usefulness of the information for taxpayers and policymakers.
However, the organization stated that the number was better than most states that have a significant reporting delay.
Truth in Accounting also said Maryland’s financial statements use pension valuation data from the prior fiscal year rather than the same fiscal year covered by the report.
The organization further said pension-related deferred inflows and outflows created what it described as moderate balance-sheet distortion, making it more difficult to evaluate the state’s financial position.
“Maryland demonstrates strong financial reporting practices overall, but transparency from a taxpayer perspective could be further improved through faster financial reporting and by relying on pension valuation data that is not already one year old when incorporated into the state’s financial statements,” Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting, told The Center Square in a statement.
States gained points for clean audit opinions, faster reporting timelines and independent audits, while losing points for delayed reports, outdated pension data and accounting practices the organization said can distort a government’s financial position.
