The Numbers: What is the breakdown of revenues among federal, state, and local governments?
Federal, state, and local revenues totaled nearly $4.7 trillion in 2006. Federal revenue made up just over half of that total, states collected about 30 percent, and local governments brought in 20 percent. Transfers from the federal government to state and local governments and from state governments to local governments shifted the balance of resources among the three groups.
- The federal government transferred nearly one-fifth of its revenue (one-tenth of total government revenue) to state and local governments, leaving it with 42 percent of total revenue, about $1.96 trillion.
- Almost all of the federal transfer went to the states, which in turn passed the equivalent of about 90 percent of this revenue to local governments.
- States retained 28 percent of total revenue, about $1.33 trillion.
- Local governments received transfers from both the federal and state governments equal to about one-tenth of total revenue, giving them a total of just under 30 percent of all government revenue, about $1.39 trillion, slightly more than state governments.
See Also
The Numbers: What are the federal government’s sources of revenue?
The Numbers: How does the federal government spend its money?
The Numbers: How do U.S. taxes compare internationally?
Data Sources
Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the US Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Office of Management and Budget: The Budget for Fiscal Year 2009, Historical Tables
Tax Policy Center, “Tax Facts, Total State and Local Government Revenues 1977-2006”
Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, State & Local Government Finance Data Query System
U.S. Census Bureau. “Federal, State, and Local Governments: State and Local Government Finances”
Author: Roberton Williams
Last Updated: September 23, 2008
