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What is the Local Government Revenue?

In FY 2021, the latest year reported by the Census Bureau, local government revenue was $1.64 trillion.

In FY 2023, local government revenue was “guesstimated” to be $1.92 trillion.

Local Government Revenue Analysis  

 

This page shows the current trends in US Local revenue. There are also charts on US Local revenue history.

Recent US Local Government Revenue

Recent Local Revenue

Chart R.01l: Recent Local Revenue

Recent Local Revenue as Pct GDP

Chart R.02l: Recent Local Revenue as Pct GDP

In the mid 2000s Local Government Revenue was increasing, reaching $1 trillion in 2007. Local revenues faltered in the Great Recession, down to $0.9 trillion in 2009, partly due to pension fund losses. In the subsequent recovery local revenues have increased steadily. Actual local revenue for 2021 was $1.64 trillion.

Viewed from a GDP perspective, local government revenue has been fluctuating around 7 percent of GDP. In the Great Recession local revenues declined to 6.4 percent GDP in 2009 and then recovered to 7.3 percent GDP in 2010. Local revenues have been slowly declining as a percent of GDP in the 2010s. Actual local revenue for 2021 was 6.9 percent GDP.

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US Local Government Revenue Since 1900

Local Revenue since 1900

Chart R.03l: Local Revenue since 1900

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, but seem to be reaching a limit at about 7 percent of GDP.

Federal, State, Local Revenue in 20th Century

Local Government Revenue<br>by Government Level

Chart R.04t: Local Government Revenue
by Government Level


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.

After major revenue fluctuations in the dot-com recession of 2001-02 and the Great Recession of 2008-09 federal revenue in the mid 2010s was about 17 percent GDP, state revenue 8 percent GDP and local revenue 6.5 percent GDP

State-by-State Comparison of State and Local Revenue

State and Local Revenue Comparison

Chart R.05c: State and Local Revenue Comparison


The bubble chart shows total state and local revenue for each state in dollars per capita compared against the Gross State Product (GSP) in dollars per capita. The chart shows that the overwhelming number of states show a correlation between state and local revenue and GSP. Notable outliers are New York, California, Wyoming and on the high taxing side.

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Revenue Data Sources

Revenue data is from official government sources.

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

Detailed table of revenue data sources here.

Federal revenue data begins in 1792.

State and local revenue data begins in 1820.

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

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Data Sources for 2012_2029:

Sources for 2012:

GDP, GO: GDP, GO Sources
Federal: Fed. Budget: Hist. Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 7.1
State and Local: State and Local Gov. Finances

Sources for 2029:

GDP, GO: GDP, GO Sources
Federal: Fed. Budget: Hist. Tables 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 7.1
State and Local: State and Local Gov. Finances
'Guesstimated' by projecting the latest change in reported revenue forward to future years

> data sources for other years
> data update schedule.

Blog

On March 11, 2024, we updated usgovernmentspending.com with the numbers from the Public Budget Database in the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2025

Here is how headline budget estimates for the upcoming FY 2024 fiscal year have changed since the release of the FY 2024 budget a year ago in Winter 2023.

Federal Budget Changes for 2024
$ billionEstimate for 2024
in FY2024 Budget
Estimate for 2024
in FY2025 Budget
Change
Federal Outlays$6,371.8$6,940.9 +$569.1
Federal Receipts$4,802.5$5,081.6+$279.1
Federal Deficit$1,569.4$1,859.4+$290.0

You can see line item changes from budget to budget here. You can compare budget estimates with actuals here.

Account level spending estimates through FY 2029 come from the Outlays table in the Public Budget Database and were updated on usgovernmentspending.com on March 11, 2024.

Account level budget authority estimates through FY 2029 come from the Budget Authority table in the Public Budget Database and were updated on usgovernmentspending.com on March 11, 2024. 

Agency Debt Update for 2023
On March 11, 2024, usgovernmentspending.com updated its data for agency debt from the Federal Reserve Board database. Data is now available for the period 1945-2023. You can see our Agency Debt pag ...

US GDP for 2023 Updated
On January 19, 2024 usgovernmentspending.com updated its GDP series with the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, ...

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