Digest of Education Statistics
2018 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 2015-16
Function 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
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 $2,579,509 $2,588,308 $2,623,305 $2,710,967 $2,839,458 $2,944,651
Education and public libraries 60,174 147,649 313,744 571,374 872,969 878,952 888,240 916,301 947,318 984,948
Education 59,413 145,784 309,302 563,572 862,271 867,508 877,059 905,213 935,754 972,906
Public libraries 761 1,865 4,442 7,802 10,699 11,444 11,181 11,088 11,564 12,042
                     
Social services and income maintenance 30,376 92,555 214,919 396,086 729,846 732,192 765,511 805,538 883,060 922,654
Public welfare 18,226 54,121 130,402 257,380 490,645 485,342 515,296 543,511 614,553 637,644
Hospitals and health 11,205 36,101 81,110 134,010 233,018 240,895 244,290 256,553 263,420 279,752
Social insurance administration 945 2,276 3,250 4,359 5,256 5,116 4,901 4,415 4,114 3,905
Veterans’ services 57 157 337 927 838 1,024 1,060 973 1,353
                     
Transportation1 19,819 39,231 75,410 130,422 183,282 188,328 186,324 191,924 198,621 206,827
                     
Public safety 9,416 31,233 79,932 146,544 225,202 225,607 228,400 235,042 241,787 249,805
Police and fire protection 7,531 21,283 46,568 84,554 138,147 139,306 141,308 145,952 151,011 156,986
Correction 1,885 7,393 27,356 52,370 73,243 72,725 73,040 74,943 77,058 78,017
Protective inspection and regulation 2,557 6,008 9,620 13,812 13,576 14,052 14,147 13,718 14,802
                     
Environment and housing 11,832 35,223 76,167 124,203 200,491 196,120 190,321 190,175 193,912 203,197
Natural resources, parks, and
   recreation
5,191 13,239 28,505 50,082 67,053 66,397 65,472 65,544 68,358 72,807
Housing and community development 2,554 7,086 16,648 27,402 56,284 53,632 50,586 50,244 49,916 50,173
Sewerage and sanitation 4,087 14,898 31,014 46,718 77,154 76,091 74,263 74,387 75,638 80,217
                     
Governmental administration 6,703 20,001 48,461 85,910 123,851 123,191 123,580 127,676 130,458 135,100
Financial administration 2,271 7,230 16,995 30,007 39,351 38,689 39,785 40,501 41,920 43,010
General control2 4,432 12,771 31,466 55,903 84,500 84,502 83,796 87,175 88,538 92,090
                     
Interest on general debt 5,089 17,131 52,234 73,836 108,478 108,943 108,614 106,940 105,258 104,572
                     
Other direct general expenditures 7,265 24,426 47,242 93,382 135,388 134,976 132,314 137,371 139,043 137,548
  Amount (in millions of constant 2017-18 dollars)3
Total direct general expenditures $941,124 $1,167,084 $1,682,575 $2,298,221 $2,894,984 $2,822,167 $2,813,506 $2,862,804 $2,976,814 $3,066,418
Education and public libraries 375,852 422,921 581,316 809,705 979,734 958,367 952,641 967,621 993,144 1,025,677
Education 371,099 417,579 573,085 798,648 967,727 945,889 940,650 955,912 981,020 1,013,137
Public libraries 4,753 5,342 8,230 11,056 12,007 12,478 11,991 11,709 12,124 12,540
                     
Social services and income maintenance 189,731 265,112 398,209 561,300 819,107 798,347 821,014 850,655 925,778 960,808
Public welfare 113,841 155,023 241,613 364,738 550,651 529,194 552,658 573,952 644,281 664,012
Hospitals and health 69,987 103,407 150,283 189,908 261,517 262,661 262,002 270,922 276,163 291,320
Social insurance administration 5,903 6,519 6,022 6,177 5,899 5,578 5,256 4,662 4,313 4,066
Veterans’ services 163 291 477 1,040 914 1,099 1,119 1,020 1,409
                     
Transportation1 123,791 112,372 139,722 184,824 205,697 205,343 199,833 202,673 208,229 215,379
                     
Public safety 58,813 89,463 148,101 207,671 252,744 245,991 244,960 248,206 253,483 260,134
Police and fire protection 47,039 60,962 86,283 119,823 155,042 151,892 151,554 154,126 158,316 163,477
Correction 11,774 21,176 50,686 74,215 82,201 79,296 78,336 79,141 80,785 81,243
Protective inspection and regulation 7,324 11,132 13,633 15,501 14,803 15,071 14,940 14,382 15,414
                     
Environment and housing 73,904 100,892 141,125 176,010 225,011 213,840 204,120 200,826 203,292 211,600
Natural resources, parks, and
   recreation
32,423 37,921 52,815 70,973 75,254 72,396 70,219 69,215 71,665 75,818
Housing and community development 15,953 20,297 30,846 38,832 63,167 58,478 54,254 53,058 52,330 52,248
Sewerage and sanitation 25,528 42,673 57,464 66,205 86,590 82,966 79,647 78,553 79,297 83,534
                     
Governmental administration 41,868 57,290 89,790 121,744 138,998 134,321 132,540 134,827 136,769 140,687
Financial administration 14,185 20,709 31,489 42,524 44,164 42,185 42,669 42,769 43,948 44,788
General control2 27,683 36,581 58,301 79,221 94,834 92,137 89,871 92,058 92,821 95,898
                     
Interest on general debt 31,786 49,070 96,781 104,634 121,745 118,787 116,489 112,930 110,350 108,896
                     
Other direct general expenditures 45,378 69,965 87,532 132,334 151,946 147,171 141,907 145,065 145,770 143,236
  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 33.8 34.0 33.9 33.8 33.4 33.4
Education 39.4 35.8 34.1 34.8 33.4 33.5 33.4 33.4 33.0 33.0
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 28.3 28.3 29.2 29.7 31.1 31.3
Public welfare 12.1 13.3 14.4 15.9 19.0 18.8 19.6 20.0 21.6 21.7
Hospitals and health 7.4 8.9 8.9 8.3 9.0 9.3 9.3 9.5 9.3 9.5
Social insurance administration 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
Veterans’ services # # # # # # # # #
                     
Transportation1 13.2 9.6 8.3 8.0 7.1 7.3 7.1 7.1 7.0 7.0
                     
Public safety 6.2 7.7 8.8 9.0 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.5 8.5
Police and fire protection 5.0 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.3
Correction 1.3 1.8 3.0 3.2 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6
Protective inspection and regulation 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
                     
Environment and housing 7.9 8.6 8.4 7.7 7.8 7.6 7.3 7.0 6.8 6.9
Natural resources, parks, and
   recreation
3.4 3.2 3.1 3.1 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5
Housing and community development 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.7
Sewerage and sanitation 2.7 3.7 3.4 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.7
                     
Governmental administration 4.4 4.9 5.3 5.3 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.6
Financial administration 1.5 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
General control2 2.9 3.1 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.1
                     
Interest on general debt 3.4 4.2 5.8 4.6 4.2 4.2 4.1 3.9 3.7 3.6
                     
Other direct general expenditures 4.8 6.0 5.2 5.8 5.2 5.2 5.0 5.1 4.9 4.7
†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 October 22, 2018, from https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2016/econ/local/public-use-datasets.html. (This table was prepared October 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest