Principles

As we built USAFacts, we encountered several challenges and made many decisions.

We depend on information from government agencies. We are limited by the timeliness, availability, and consistency of data collected by government. For example, the most recent year for which the Census Bureau has published state and local government budget data is 2020.

We show aggregated government statistics. We combine federal, state, and local statistics to show the full picture of government.

We do not propose policy. We have assembled this report consisting of unbiased government data so the American public can draw its own conclusions.

We are not proposing that government should be a business. Although we use a corporate reporting structure, government is different from business in significant ways including its purpose (focused on outcomes for citizens, not profit) and structure (accountability is decentralized).

We have made judgments about which data to show. Sometimes, different sources of data within the government contradict each other. When this happens, we have selected one to use consistently.

We will continue to update data. Government agencies release data at different times and with different frequencies. We will update as data becomes available and tell you what release of data we are using from each source.

We are expanding our database. While we include much significant data, we have not yet covered everything. We will continue to expand into different areas and plan to include more detailed state and local data in the future.

We strive for accuracy. We may update a report if new information changes the context of the data in the report. We also update typos or other human errors in written content or charts that would cause confusion for readers. When readers bring the need for corrections to our attention, we strive to address them in as timely a manner as possible. When corrections are needed, we’ll publish it on the same page where the error occurred. We’ll also publish it on our corrections page. If you see an error anywhere on our site, please report it with an email to [email protected]. USAFacts often opts to leave older reports on the site for historical context. When updated, the updated date will appear at the top.

We want your feedback. This is a public resource, and we want to improve it based on your needs. If there is anything you would like to see included or comments you would like to share, please contact us at [email protected].