What is the breakdown of revenues among federal, state, and local governments?
Federal, state, and local government receipts totaled $5.3 trillion in 2016. Federal receipts were 65 percent of the total, while state and local receipts (excluding inter-governmental transfers) were 20 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
As shown in figure 1, federal government receipts were just under $3.5 trillion in 2016. Tax receipts were 61 percent of the total, contributions to government social insurance programs were another 36 percent, and receipts from other sources accounted for the remainder.
State current receipts were just over $1.6 trillion in 2016. Tax receipts were 58 percent of the total, contributions to social insurance programs were 1 percent, and other receipts were 7 percent. Thirty-four percent of states‘ current receipts ($548 billion) came from intergovernmental transfers, most of which ($533 billion) were from the federal government.
Local government current receipts were just under $1.4 trillion in 2016. Taxes were 52 percent of the total and other receipts were another 7 percent. A full 41 percent of local government revenues ($557 billion) came from intergovernmental transfers, most of which ($535 billion) were from state governments.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2018. National Income and Product Accounts, Section 3: Government Current Receipts and Expenditures. Table 3.1, “Government Current Receipts and Expenditures,” and Table 3.2, “Federal Government Current Receipts and Expenditures.”