Federal, state, and local governments: Who pays for what?
There are nearly 91,000 government entities across the US, comprised of:
50 state governments
3,031 counties
19,491 municipalities
16,214 townships
12,546 independent school districts
39,555 special districts
Who pays for what?
Join our founder, Steve Ballmer, as he explains how different levels of government share responsibilities for major public services like healthcare, education, transportation, public safety, and social programs.
How much does the government spend?
Total government spending was $8.9 trillion in 2023. The amount the government can spend depends on the amount of revenue it collects (e.g., through taxes, customs duties, and other sources). How does that break down?
$5.1T
$2.0T
$1.9T
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How is spending distributed at each level?
Looking at where different levels of government get their money and how they spend it helps explain how they work, what they value, and how they pay for services.”
Low-income program funding and expenses
Over the last decade, 19% of all government spending, federal, state, and local, was to support individuals in need, through programs like unemployment, Medicaid, Section 8 housing, and SNAP.
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Education funding and allocation
Another 15% of spending went towards education. In the 2021–2022 school year, the most recent year of available data, about 44.1% of public school funding came from state sources like income and retail taxes, and another 42.2% came from local sources like property taxes. The federal government provided the remaining 13.7%.
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Infrastructure, criminal justice, and public health
Four percent of government spending was allocated to transportation and infrastructure and an additional 4% for the criminal justice system. The federal government funds 39% of transportation and infrastructure spending, while state and local governments finance the remaining 61%. Most of the funding for criminal justice systems were funded at the local level.
Related contentinfrastructure and criminal justice
How does the government collect money?
Government revenue totaled nearly $7 trillion in FY 2023. Government revenue is the total amount of money received from individual and corporate taxes, and other sources that are used to pay for government spending. How does that break down?
$4.6T
$1.4T
$960B
