How much does the US spend on defense?
Data updated September 5, 2025
About $820 billion in fiscal year 2023. Defense spending includes personnel compensation, equipment, research and development (R&D), and the costs associated with operating and maintaining military efforts. The Department of Defense is responsible for most spending on national defense, along with other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice.
$820B
National defense spending (FY 2023)
13%
National defense as a share of government spending (FY 2023)
National defense spending fluctuates in response to changing geopolitical threats and strategies, such as wars and other global conflicts, technological advancements, and presidential priorities. During wartime, defense spending typically increases to support military operations.
Defense spending increased 2% from $804.4 billion in FY 2022 to $820.3 billion in FY 2023. Spending in FY 2023 was 15% lower than its 2010 peak of $964.4 billion.
The federal government spent more on defense in FY 2010 than any other year, adjusted for inflation.
National defense spending, adjusted for inflation (FY 2023 dollars)
Overall spending number aside, the share of the federal budget allocated to defense is also important: it shows defense’s significance within overall government spending.
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This number varies widely; from FYs 1940 through 2023, defense spending made up anywhere from 11% to 90% of the federal budget. In FY 2023, defense accounted for 13% of the federal budget, making it the second-largest category of government spending.
In FY 2023, defense made up 13.4% of federal government spending, up from the previous year.
National defense as a share of federal government spending
There are several components to national defense spending:
- Operations and maintenance: Civilian salaries, travel, depot maintenance, the operation of military forces, and training.
- Military personnel: Military salaries and other compensation for active, reserve, and retired troops.
- Procurement: The acquisition of equipment such as aircraft, ships, vehicles, and weapons systems.
- Research, development, test, and evaluation: The R&D of equipment, material, computer application software, along with its testing and evaluation.
- Other: Military construction, family housing, atomic energy defense activities, and more.
The largest category of defense spending in FY 2023 was operation and maintenance: at $318 billion, it made up 38.7% of defense spending. This was followed by compensation for military personnel with $184 billion, or 22.4% of spending to pay the 2.1 million active duty and reserve troops (counted on June 2024). Combined, these categories accounted for 61.1% ($501 billion) of the total national defense budget.
Most FY 2023 defense spending went towards operation and maintenance and military personnel.
National defense spending by category, FY 2023
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
