National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) Tables 3.2 and 3.3 · Federal and state and local government current receipts and expenditures
How much do US governments take in and spend, in the national accounts?
The quarter ended : of the 6 lines, the change over a year was largest for Federal interest payments, up 7.3%, and smallest for State and local interest payments, down 0.2%.
Government current receipts and expenditures, federal government, each quarter
- Federal current receipts6056.03467.7 to 6056.0
- Federal current expenditures7907.44150.5 to 8891.4
- Federal transfer payments4886.02663.4 to 6142.8
- Federal interest payments1328.8457.5 to 1328.8
- Federal net saving-1699.3-5356.9 to -681.8
Government current receipts and expenditures, state and local government, each quarter
- State and local current receipts4245.52446.1 to 4245.5
- State and local current expenditures4626.82683.6 to 4626.8
- State and local transfer payments1321.5697.2 to 1321.5
- State and local interest payments275.4236.1 to 309.0
- State and local net saving-333.8-333.8 to 772.1
Each row is one line of the page over the last ten years, one quarter to a point, on a scale shared by the rows of the tab, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a quarter with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the quarter and the value.
Observed .
Right now
Over a year to the third quarter of 2026, of the 6 lines on this page the change was largest for Federal interest payments, up 7.3%, and smallest for State and local interest payments, down 0.2%.
Of these lines, 5 rose, 1 fell and 0 did not change over the year (ours, from the published values).
By lineOver a year, ours
Government current receipts and expenditures, change over a year, by line
- Federal government
- State and local government
Each bar is the change in one line over a year, the largest first, with its rank at the left and its newest value under the figure. A line with its own page links it from its name. A change below zero runs to the left of the zero line. The colour says which section of the page a line is in.
Observed .
Government current receipts and expenditures, change over a year in each quarter
| Line | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal current receipts | +7.9 | +7.9 | +10.6 | +12.1 | +11.1 | +9.8 | +7.0 | – |
| Federal current expenditures | +8.8 | +6.6 | +7.6 | +5.4 | +4.0 | +5.1 | +3.5 | +4.6 |
| Federal transfer payments | +8.2 | +6.1 | +8.0 | +4.8 | +4.2 | +5.0 | +3.1 | +4.3 |
| Federal interest payments | +13.6 | +10.1 | +9.2 | +8.1 | +8.5 | +7.0 | +6.9 | +7.3 |
| State and local current receipts | +6.8 | +3.9 | +5.0 | +3.7 | +3.4 | +3.9 | +4.5 | – |
| State and local current expenditures | +6.4 | +4.9 | +5.1 | +6.2 | +5.8 | +5.8 | +7.9 | +6.4 |
| State and local transfer payments | +10.7 | +5.5 | +7.4 | +10.7 | +10.3 | +10.1 | +8.3 | +3.4 |
| State and local interest payments | −5.6 | −4.1 | −2.8 | −1.7 | −0.9 | −0.1 | +0.1 | −0.2 |
Each chip is one quarter's change from the same quarter a year earlier. The mark in its middle is zero: a fill to the right of it is a rise and a fill to the left a fall. A longer, brighter fill is a larger change, in five steps up to 10.3 and over. Every chip prints its figure and sign. A dash is a month with no figure.
Observed .
Understanding government receipts and spending
Where it stands today
The largest change over a year was Federal interest payments, up 7.3%, in the third quarter of 2026.
What do the lines of this page measure?
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) sets out, for the federal government and for state and local governments, what they receive and what they spend in the national income and product accounts. Current receipts are taxes, contributions for social insurance, income on assets and transfers received. Current expenditures are consumption of goods and services, transfer payments (such as benefits), interest payments and subsidies. Net saving is current receipts less current expenditures.
Read more
These are the national accounts' figures, not the Treasury's. They count receipts and expenditures when they are earned or owed and not when cash moves, they leave out spending on capital, which BEA counts as investment, and they state each quarter at an annual rate. The federal budget and cash figures of the Treasury are on the budget page, and they differ.
What 500metrics adds: the change over a year of every line, ranked across the page; the last ten years of every line as rows of small charts; and a table of the change over a year in each of the last eight quarters.
The numbers behind the chart
What is the latest value of each line?10 lines, in the sections of the page
| Line | Section | Quarter | Value | Change over a year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal current receipts | Federal government | $6,056.0 billion | +7.0% | n/a | |
| Federal current expenditures | Federal government | $7,907.4 billion | +4.6% | 3 | |
| Federal transfer payments | Federal government | $4,886.0 billion | +4.3% | 4 | |
| Federal interest payments | Federal government | $1,328.8 billion | +7.3% | 1 | |
| Federal net saving | Federal government | $−1,699.3 billion | n/a | n/a | |
| State and local current receipts | State and local government | $4,245.5 billion | +4.5% | n/a | |
| State and local current expenditures | State and local government | $4,626.8 billion | +6.4% | 2 | |
| State and local transfer payments | State and local government | $1,321.5 billion | +3.4% | 5 | |
| State and local interest payments | State and local government | $275.4 billion | −0.2% | 6 | |
| State and local net saving | State and local government | $−333.8 billion | n/a | n/a |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- BEA publishes each quarter three times, as an advance estimate about a month after the quarter ends and as a second and a third estimate in the two months after, and revises it again in its annual updates. This page shows the newest estimate of every quarter, so an earlier quarter can differ from the figure first published.
- Quarterly values in dollars are seasonally adjusted at annual rates: BEA states each quarter's flow as the total a year would hold if that quarter's pace continued for the whole year.
- The lines of one government are not added to those of the other: transfers from the federal government to state and local governments count as expenditure of the first and receipts of the second. Interest payments and transfer payments are parts of current expenditures.
- A percent change is not shown where the value a year earlier was zero or below, as a percent of such a number is not defined; the net saving lines of a government that spends more than it receives show none.
- The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values BEA publishes; a change is in percent.
- This product uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Data API but is not endorsed or certified by BEA.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Federal and state and local government current receipts and expenditures, through the third quarter of 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How much do US governments take in and spend, in the national accounts?", https://500metrics.com/government-receipts-and-spending.
Can the data be downloaded?government-receipts-and-spending.csv
Download the last ten years of every line as CSV: 406 rows, to , 29,536 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
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