Source: Tax Policy Center
Latest Data: 2021
Release Timing: December
Frequency: Annual

This data is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances” which gives the state and local governments’ general expenditures for each function the government performs.

Total State and Local Expenditures Per Capita gives the total dollar amount per capita spent on state and local expenditures across all the functions that the government performs. These government functions include primary and secondary education, higher education, public welfare, health and hospitals, highways, police, and a few other expenditure groups as well. More Information on what each expenditure group contains can be found here.

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).

Source: State & Local Government Finance Data Query System. The Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. Data from U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, Government Finances, Volume 4, and Census of Governments (1977-2019).