Site Map  enter code:

Numbers — Charts:

History:

Analyses:

 

    Contact    
smaller text  bigger text    print view

What is the state spending on Education?

In FY 2026 state spending on education was “guesstimated” to be $550 billion.

State Education Spending Analysis

This page shows the current trends in state education spending. There are also charts on education spending history. See here for a general history of education spending.

Recent State Education Spending

Recent State Education Spending

Chart S.81s: Recent State Education Spending

In the 2010s state education spending steadily rose from $200 billion to $350 billion in 2020.

In the COVID crisis of 2020 state education spending growth paused for a year.

In 2026 state education spending was “guesstimated” at $550 billion.

Recent State Education Spending<br>as Pct GDP

Chart S.82s: Recent State Education Spending
as Pct GDP

Viewed from a GDP perspective, state education spending was pretty steady at 1.6 to 1.7 percent of GDP during the 2010s.

Since the COVID crisis of 2020 state education spending has declined to about 1.5 percent GDP.

In 2026 state education spending was “guesstimated” at 1.8 percent GDP.

See also Education Spending History.

Numbers — Charts:

History:

Analyses:

State Education Spending by Level Since 1900

State Education spending grew from 0.1 percent of GDP to 1.5 percent GDP at the end of the 20th century.

Education Spending since 1900 by Level

Chart S.83s: Education Spending since 1900 by Level

State spending on education has been almost entirely for higher education, post secondary school. In 1900 state education spending was 0.1 percent GDP and increased exponentially, with a break for World War II, to 1.1 percent GDP in 1967.

From 1970 to 2000 state education spending stayed at around 1.25 percent GDP, one percent GDP for higher education. But the 2000s saw an increase to over 1.5 percent GDP and a flip up to 1.7 percent GDP in the aftermath of the 2008-09 recession.

In the 2010s state education spending declined modestly to 1.6 percent GDP, with higher education spending declining below 1.25 percent GDP.

Suggested Video: Spending 101

Top Spending Requests:

Find DEFICIT stats and history.

Get WELFARE stats and history.

US BUDGET overview and pie chart.

Find NATIONAL DEBT today.

DOWNLOAD spending data or debt data.

See FEDERAL BUDGET breakdown and estimated vs. actual.

MILITARY SPENDING details, budget and history.

ENTITLEMENT SPENDING history.

See BAR CHARTS of spending, debt.

Check STATE spending: CA NY TX FL and compare.

See SPENDING ANALYSIS briefing.

See SPENDING HISTORY briefing.

Take a COURSE at Spending 101.

Make your own CUSTOM CHART.

Spending Data Sources

Spending data is from official government sources.

Gross Domestic Product data comes from US Bureau of Economic Analysis and measuringworth.com.

Detailed table of spending data sources here.
Medicare breakdown here; Medicaid breakdown here.

Federal spending data begins in 1792.

State and local spending data begins in 1820.

State and local spending data for individual states begins in 1957.

Spending 101 Courses

Spending | Federal Debt | Revenue | Defense | Welfare | Healthcare | Education
Debt History | Entitlements | Deficits | State Spending | State Taxes | State Debt


There’s More...

usgovernmentspending.com.

Where you go to get facts about government.

Prepared by Christopher Chantrill.
email: chrischantrill@gmail.com

Click the image on the right to buy usgovernmentspending.com’s ebook.
It costs only $1.99 and it contains all the analyses of spending history
on the website and more.

Gross Federal Debt

Debt Now:  $40,388,317,675,071.91
Debt 2/2020:$23,409,959,150,243.63

Site Search

Win Cash for Bugs

File a valid bug report and get a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Get the Books


Price: $0.99
Or download
for free.

From
usgovernment
spending.com
Price: $1.99

Life after liberalism Price: $0.99
Or download
for free.

US Government Spending 2020: only 99¢.

US Government Spending 2012: free.

Data Sources for 2022_2031:

Sources for 2022:

GDP, GO: GDP, GO Sources
Federal: Fed. Budget: Hist. Tables 3.2, 5.1, 7.1
State and Local: State and Local Gov. Finances
'Guesstimated' by projecting the latest change in reported spending forward to future years

Sources for 2031:

GDP, GO: GDP, GO Sources
Federal: Fed. Budget: Hist. Tables 3.2, 5.1, 7.1
State and Local: State and Local Gov. Finances
'Guesstimated' by projecting the latest change in reported spending forward to future years

> data sources for other years
> data update schedule.

Blog

US Budget Deficit, Receipts, Outlays for FY 2026

On October 15, 2026, the US Treasury reported in its Monthly Treasury Statement (and xlsx) for September that the federal deficit for FY 2025 ending September 30, 2026, was $1,99 billion. Here are the numbers, including total receipts, total outlays, and deficit compared with the numbers projected in the FY 2026 federal budget published in February 2025:

Federal Finances
FY 2026 Outcomes
Budget
billions
Outcome
billions
Receipts $5,873    $5,403
Outlays$7,419$7,396
Deficit$1,547$1,993

The Monthly Treasury Statement includes "Table 4: Receipts of the United States Government, September 2026 and Other Periods." This table of receipts by source is used for usgovernmentspending.com to post details of federal receipt actuals for FY 2025. usdgovernmentspending.com obtains the data for outlays and receipts from apis at fiscaldata.treasury.gov.


This MTS report on FY 2026 actuals is a problem for usgovernmentspending.com because this site uses Historical Table 3.2--Outlays by Function and Subfunction from the Budget of the United States as its basic source for federal subfunction outlays. But the Monthly Treasury Statement only includes "Table 9. Summary of Receipts by Source, and Outlays by Function of the U.S. Government, September 2025 and Other Periods". Subfunction amounts don't get reported until the FY28 budget in February 2027. Until then usgovernmentspending.com estimates actual outlays by "subfunction" for FY 2026 by factoring subfunction budgeted amounts for FY26 by the ratio between relevant actual and budgeted "function" amounts where actual outlays by subfunction cannot be gleaned from the Monthly Treasury Statement.

Final detailed FY 2026 actuals will not appear on usgovernmentspending.com until the FY 2028 federal budget is published in February 2027 with the actual outlays for FY 2026* in Historical Table 3.2--Outlays by Function and Subfunction.
State and Local Finances for 2024
On August 7, 2026 we updated the state and local spending and revenue for FY 2024 using the new Census Bureau ...

State and Local Finances for 2024 -- First Look
On July 2, 2026 we updated the state and local spending and revenue for FY 2024 using the new Census Bureau S ...

> blog

Spend Links

us numbers • us budget • custom chart • deficit/gdp • spend/gdp • debt/gdp • us gdp • us real gdp • state gdp • breakdown • federal • state • local • 2025 • 2026 • 2027 • california • texas

Masthead

usgovernmentspending.com was designed and executed by:

Christopher Chantrill.

Email here.


presented by Christopher Chantrill

Data Sources  •   •  Contact

closed