Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Latest Data: 2021

This data is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Annual State Survey of Government Finances” which gives the state governments’ general expenditures for each function the government performs. Police protection expenditures are defined as “expenditures for general police, sheriff, state police, and other governmental departments that preserve law and order, protect persons and property from illegal acts, and work to prevent, control, investigate, and reduce crime.” (U.S. Bureau of the Census Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual Ch. 5, p. 58)

Police protection expenditures refers to the total amount spent by the state on police protection given in millions.

The police protection expenditures percentage is calculated as the amount spent on police protection divided by total government expenditures. Police protection expenditures per capita is calculated as the amount spent on police protection divided by the state population in the given year.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “Expenditures comprise all amounts of money paid out by a government during its fiscal year, with some exceptions. Statistics on state government finance include measurement of expenditures by character (e.g., current operations, capital outlay, intergovernmental expenditures, and so on) and function (e.g., education, health, public welfare, natural resources, and so on). Expenditure does not include a government's payment of its debt, or purchases of investment securities, loans it has granted, agency or private trust transactions, nor correcting transactions” (State Government Finances Methodology).