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What is the state spending on Education?

In FY 2024 state spending on education was “guesstimated” to be $449 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.

Since the COVID crisis of 2020 state education spending has leveled off at about $350 billion.

In 2024 state education spending was “guesstimated” at $449 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 1.3 percent GDP.

In 2024 state education spending was “guesstimated” at 1.5 percent GDP.

See also Education Spending History.

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History:

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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.

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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.

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Gross Federal Debt

Debt Now:  $37,506,453,566,221.20
Debt 2/2020:$23,409,959,150,243.63

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Data Sources for 2020_2029:

Sources for 2020:

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 2029:

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

State and Local Finances for 2023

On September 11, 2025 we updated the state and local spending and revenue for FY 2023 using the new Census Bureau State and Local Government Finances summaries for FY 2023 released on July 31, 2025.  (See also Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances). The release includes state and local spending for the United States as a whole and the 50 individual states and the District of Columbia.

State and local spending and revenue for FY2023 are now actual historical spending as reported by the Census Bureau. In addition, the Census Bureau published updated tables for 2021 and 2022.

We have updated the "guesstimated" state and local finances for FY2024-30 as indicated in our "guesstimate" blog entries.

We have also updated data for individual local government units with data for 2023. 

Beginning in 2022 the Census Bureau has changed the value for Line 56 Direct Expenditure and Line 7 General Revenue from own sources, as follows:

We have decided to end our publication of non-insurance trust cash and security holdings.

However, to keep the time series at usgovernmentspending.com consistent, we have decided to add insurance-trust values back into Line 56 and Line 7 values. 

State Spending for 2023
In March 2025 the US Census Bureau released data on state finances for FY 2023 here and  ...

Agency Debt Update for 2024
On June 24, 2025, usgovernmentspending.com updated its data for agency debt from the Federal Reserve Board database. Data is now available for the period 1945-2024. You can see our Agency Debt page ...

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