Where federal tax dollars go

The US federal government organizes its $6.75T of annual spending into 17 broad categories. Pick any one to see what it covers, who runs it, and where the money lands.

Social SecurityOASI and Disability Insurance benefits. Funded by FICA Social Security tax.
$1.46T21.6%
HealthMedicaid, NIH research, CDC, FDA, Indian Health Service, HRSA community health centers, and ACA premium tax credits. Medicare is in its own function (570).
$912B13.5%
Net InterestInterest paid on Treasury debt held by the public, minus interest received.
$881B13.0%
National DefenseDepartment of Defense military operations, procurement, R&D, and personnel; nuclear weapons activities at DOE.
$874B12.9%
MedicareAll Medicare program spending — Part A (Hospital Insurance), Part B (physician + outpatient), and Part D (prescription drugs). Only Part A is funded by the 1.45% FICA Medicare payroll tax; Parts B and D are funded mainly by beneficiary premiums and general federal revenues.
$874B12.9%
Income SecuritySNAP, EITC, housing assistance, unemployment, child tax credit, federal employee retirement.
$703B10.4%
Veterans Benefits and ServicesVA medical care, disability compensation, GI Bill, veteran housing.
$326B4.8%
Education, Training, Employment, and Social ServicesK-12 funding, Pell grants, student loan programs, job training, Head Start.
$305B4.5%
TransportationHighway, transit, FAA, rail, maritime programs.
$137B2.0%
Administration of JusticeDOJ, FBI, federal courts, federal prisons, ATF, DEA.
$86B1.3%
International AffairsForeign aid, diplomatic operations, State Department, USAID, international security assistance.
$73B1.1%
Natural Resources and EnvironmentEPA, national parks, public lands, water and conservation programs.
$69B1.0%
Community and Regional DevelopmentFEMA disaster relief, community development block grants, rural development.
$69B1.0%
EnergyDepartment of Energy programs excluding nuclear weapons.
$51B0.8%
General Science, Space, and TechnologyNASA, NSF, basic research funding outside health and defense.
$42B0.6%
General GovernmentExecutive Office, Congress, judiciary, GSA, Treasury operations.
$36B0.5%
AgricultureFarm income support, crop insurance, Department of Agriculture operations.
$32B0.5%
Commerce and Housing CreditFHA, mortgage credit, deposit insurance, commerce department programs. Often net-negative due to fee recoveries.
$25B0.4%

See your personal share of every category

Plug in your salary and filing status and we’ll compute exactly how many of your tax dollars ended up in each of these 17 categories.

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