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Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 106.30. Amount and percentage distribution of direct general expenditures of state and local governments, by function: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2013-14
Function 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  Amount (in millions of current dollars)
Total direct general expenditures $150,674 $407,449 $908,109 $1,621,757 $2,495,901 $2,537,892 $2,579,509 $2,589,022 $2,621,156 $2,706,935
Education and public libraries 60,174 147,649 313,744 571,374 862,819 871,109 872,969 880,683 887,402 915,468
Education 59,413 145,784 309,302 563,572 851,689 860,118 862,271 869,223 876,252 904,310
Public libraries 761 1,865 4,442 7,802 11,130 10,991 10,699 11,460 11,150 11,158
                     
Social services and income maintenance 30,376 92,555 214,919 396,086 661,111 689,435 729,846 732,358 766,184 803,351
Public welfare 18,226 54,121 130,402 257,380 432,428 456,200 490,645 485,513 515,674 542,569
Hospitals and health 11,205 36,101 81,110 134,010 223,180 227,285 233,018 240,891 244,585 255,322
Social insurance administration 945 2,276 3,250 4,359 4,570 5,157 5,256 5,116 4,901 4,400
Veterans’ services 57 157 337 933 794 927 838 1,024 1,060
                     
Transportation1 19,819 39,231 75,410 130,422 184,166 187,073 183,282 188,380 186,224 191,656
                     
Public safety 9,416 31,233 79,932 146,544 225,735 224,346 225,202 225,631 228,586 234,959
Police and fire protection 7,531 21,283 46,568 84,554 135,904 137,106 138,147 139,375 141,533 146,085
Correction 1,885 7,393 27,356 52,370 75,096 73,100 73,243 72,688 73,009 74,750
Protective inspection and regulation 2,557 6,008 9,620 14,735 14,139 13,812 13,568 14,043 14,124
                     
Environment and housing 11,832 35,223 76,167 124,203 196,750 198,223 200,491 196,184 190,168 189,570
Natural resources, parks, and
       recreation
5,191 13,239 28,505 50,082 71,714 68,680 67,053 66,424 65,228 65,124
Housing and community development 2,554 7,086 16,648 27,402 49,885 53,923 56,284 53,659 50,165 49,945
Sewerage and sanitation 4,087 14,898 31,014 46,718 75,152 75,620 77,154 76,101 74,775 74,501
                     
Governmental administration 6,703 20,001 48,461 85,910 128,350 126,719 123,851 123,711 123,839 128,590
Financial administration 2,271 7,230 16,995 30,007 40,576 40,241 39,351 38,683 39,785 41,162
General control2 4,432 12,771 31,466 55,903 87,775 86,479 84,500 85,027 84,054 87,428
                     
Interest on general debt 5,089 17,131 52,234 73,836 104,449 105,715 108,478 108,935 108,722 107,401
                     
Other direct general expenditures 7,265 24,426 47,242 93,382 132,521 135,273 135,388 133,142 130,030 135,940
  Amount (in millions of constant 2015-16 dollars)3
Total direct general expenditures $904,901 $1,122,165 $1,617,816 $2,209,766 $2,774,004 $2,793,642 $2,783,560 $2,714,295 $2,703,002 $2,748,524
Education and public libraries 361,386 406,644 558,942 778,540 958,958 958,893 942,025 923,296 915,111 929,533
Education 356,816 401,507 551,028 767,909 946,587 946,794 930,481 911,281 903,613 918,204
Public libraries 4,570 5,136 7,914 10,631 12,370 12,099 11,545 12,014 11,499 11,330
                     
Social services and income maintenance 182,429 254,908 382,883 539,696 734,775 758,911 787,581 767,794 790,109 815,694
Public welfare 109,460 149,056 232,314 350,700 480,611 502,172 529,457 509,005 531,776 550,905
Hospitals and health 67,294 99,427 144,499 182,599 248,048 250,189 251,451 252,546 252,223 259,245
Social insurance administration 5,675 6,268 5,790 5,939 5,079 5,676 5,672 5,364 5,054 4,468
Veterans’ services 157 280 459 1,037 874 1,000 879 1,056 1,076
                     
Transportation1 119,027 108,047 134,345 177,710 204,686 205,925 197,780 197,495 192,039 194,600
                     
Public safety 56,550 86,020 142,401 199,678 250,887 246,953 243,017 236,548 235,724 238,569
Police and fire protection 45,229 58,616 82,962 115,212 151,046 150,923 149,075 146,118 145,953 148,330
Correction 11,321 20,361 48,735 71,358 83,464 80,467 79,037 76,205 75,289 75,898
Protective inspection and regulation 7,042 10,703 13,108 16,377 15,564 14,905 14,224 14,482 14,341
                     
Environment and housing 71,059 97,009 135,693 169,236 218,672 218,199 216,351 205,677 196,106 192,483
Natural resources, parks, and
       recreation
31,176 36,462 50,782 68,241 79,704 75,601 72,358 69,638 67,265 66,125
Housing and community development 15,339 19,516 29,659 37,338 55,443 59,357 60,736 56,255 51,731 50,712
Sewerage and sanitation 24,545 41,031 55,252 63,657 83,525 83,240 83,258 79,784 77,110 75,646
                     
Governmental administration 40,256 55,085 86,334 117,058 142,652 139,489 133,648 129,697 127,706 130,565
Financial administration 13,639 19,912 30,277 40,887 45,097 44,296 42,464 40,555 41,027 41,794
General control2 26,617 35,173 56,057 76,172 97,555 95,193 91,184 89,142 86,679 88,771
                     
Interest on general debt 30,563 47,181 93,056 100,607 116,087 116,368 117,060 114,206 112,117 109,051
                     
Other direct general expenditures 43,631 67,272 84,163 127,240 147,287 148,904 146,098 139,584 134,090 138,029
  Percentage distribution
Total direct general expenditures 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Education and public libraries 39.9 36.2 34.5 35.2 34.6 34.3 33.8 34.0 33.9 33.8
Education 39.4 35.8 34.1 34.8 34.1 33.9 33.4 33.6 33.4 33.4
Public libraries 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
                     
Social services and income maintenance 20.2 22.7 23.7 24.4 26.5 27.2 28.3 28.3 29.2 29.7
Public welfare 12.1 13.3 14.4 15.9 17.3 18.0 19.0 18.8 19.7 20.0
Hospitals and health 7.4 8.9 8.9 8.3 8.9 9.0 9.0 9.3 9.3 9.4
Social insurance administration 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Veterans’ services # # # # # # # # #
                     
Transportation1 13.2 9.6 8.3 8.0 7.4 7.4 7.1 7.3 7.1 7.1
                     
Public safety 6.2 7.7 8.8 9.0 9.0 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
Police and fire protection 5.0 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4
Correction 1.3 1.8 3.0 3.2 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8
Protective inspection and regulation 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
                     
Environment and housing 7.9 8.6 8.4 7.7 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.6 7.3 7.0
Natural resources, parks, and
       recreation
3.4 3.2 3.1 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4
Housing and community development 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.8
Sewerage and sanitation 2.7 3.7 3.4 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8
                     
Governmental administration 4.4 4.9 5.3 5.3 5.1 5.0 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.8
Financial administration 1.5 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
General control2 2.9 3.1 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.2
                     
Interest on general debt 3.4 4.2 5.8 4.6 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.0
                     
Other direct general expenditures 4.8 6.0 5.2 5.8 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.0
†Not applicable.  
#Rounds to zero.  
1 Includes highways, air transportation (airports), parking facilities, and sea and inland port facilities. For 2000-01 and earlier years, also includes transit subsidies.
2 Includes judicial and legal expenditures, expenditures on general public buildings, and other governmental administration expenditures.
3 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Excludes monies paid by states to the federal government. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Governmental Finances. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http://www.census.gov/govs/local/. (This table was prepared March 2017.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest