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US Local Government Revenue Since 1900

Click chart for briefing on Local Government Revenue.
For numbers from 1900-2018 click here.

Local government began the 20th century as the dominant tax collector, with annual revenue of 3.5 percent of GDP. Local revenue increased rapidly in the first three decades of the century, peaking at over 9 percent of GDP in the depths of the Great Depression. Over the middle decades, from 1935 to 1950, local government revenues crashed, declining to 3 percent of GDP in the late 1940s. Local revenues recovered briskly through 1960, hitting over 7 percent of GDP. From 1960 to 1990 revenues increased more slowly, reaching just under 7 percent of GDP in the mid 1990s. In the early 2000s local revenues are showing a slight increase, from 6.5 percent in 2001 to over 7 percent by 2010.

Federal, State, Local Revenue in 20th Century

Click chart for briefing on Total Revenue.
For numbers from 1900-2018 click here.

At the start of the 20th century, about half of government revenue was local government revenue. Out of a total of 7 percent of GDP, a full 3.5 percent was collected at the local level. Federal revenue spiked in World War I, but by the mid 1920s, local government revenue and federal revenue were about equal at 5 percent of GDP, with state revenue below 2 percent of GDP. During the 1930s this changed, as state revenue surged to 5 percent of GDP while federal revenue increased to 7 to 8 percent of GDP and local revenue increased to about 6 percent of GDP. After the spike of World War II, when federal revenue briefly hit almost 24 percent of GDP, state and local governments entered the 1950s at about 4 percent of GDP while federal revenue fluctuated between 16 and 18 percent of GDP. Since the 1950s state and local revenue has steadily increased, with state revenue reaching 10 percent of GDP and local revenue reaching 6.5 percent of GDP in 2000.