Final answer:
Each Missouri citizen would have to pay approximately $7,282.35 to eliminate the state debt of $44.78 billion, when divided by the population of 6,148,617 people.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the state debt per Missouri citizen, we divide the total state debt by the population of Missouri. With a state debt of $44.78 billion ($4.478 \times 10^{10}) and a population of 6,148,617 people, the calculation would be:
State Debt Per Citizen = Total State Debt / Population
= $44,780,000,000 / 6,148,617
= approximately $7,282.35 per citizen
Thus, each Missouri citizen would have to pay approximately $7,282.35 to eliminate the state's debt.