US federal programsFY2025
How much does the US spend on each federal program?
From Department of Defense ($868.4 billion) to National Endowment for the Arts ($233.3 million): what 62 federal programs and agencies spent in fiscal year 2025.Treasury outlays by year since FY2015, with the share of the $7.01 trillion federal budget and the cost per individual tax return. Search the table or select a program for its own page.
Programs
62
each with its own page
Largest, FY2025
$868B
Department of Defense
All federal outlays
$7.01 trillion
FY2025
Tax returns
162.8M
individual, FY2025
The largest
The 15 largest programs on this page, FY2025
Net outlays and share of all federal outlays
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | $868.4B | 12.4% |
| Medicaid | $668.1B | 9.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $376.6B | 5.4% |
| Department of Agriculture | $227.4B | 3.2% |
| ACA marketplace subsidies | $129.3B | 1.8% |
| Department of Transportation | $127.6B | 1.8% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $115.3B | 1.6% |
| SNAP (food stamps) | $106.3B | 1.5% |
| Supplemental Security Income | $69.5B | 1.0% |
| Earned Income Tax Credit | $66.0B | 0.9% |
| Federal highway spending | $65.0B | 0.9% |
| Federal student loans | $64.7B | 0.9% |
| Disaster relief | $62.6B | 0.9% |
| Department of Energy | $52.3B | 0.7% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $50.5B | 0.7% |
U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 5.
Fastest growing since FY2015
Disaster relief grew the most: +567%
Programs above $100 million in FY2015, nominal dollars
| Program | FY2015 → FY2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster relief | $9.4B → $63B | +567% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $7B → $37B | +428% |
| ACA marketplace subsidies | $27B → $129B | +375% |
| Refugee assistance | $1.3B → $5.8B | +359% |
| Child care | $5.1B → $15B | +189% |
| Federal student loans | $24B → $65B | +173% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $43B → $115B | +171% |
| Nuclear weapons | $7.6B → $19B | +150% |
| Children's Health Insurance Program | $9.2B → $23B | +150% |
| Wildfire spending | $2.6B → $6.3B | +139% |
U.S. Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 5.
Find a program
Select a column heading to sort. Net outlays; negative values mean collections exceeded payments.
| Program | Area | FY2025 | Share | Per tax return | FY2026 to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | Veterans and defense | $868.4B | 12.39% | $5,336 | $832.6B |
| Medicaid | Health | $668.1B | 9.53% | $4,105 | $655.0B |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | Veterans and defense | $376.6B | 5.37% | $2,314 | $395.1B |
| Department of Agriculture | Agriculture | $227.4B | 3.24% | $1,397 | $202.3B |
| ACA marketplace subsidies | Health | $129.3B | 1.84% | $794 | $112.9B |
| Department of Transportation | Transportation | $127.6B | 1.82% | $784 | $109.6B |
| Department of Homeland Security | Security and justice | $115.3B | 1.64% | $708 | $98.2B |
| SNAP (food stamps) | Food and income support | $106.3B | 1.52% | $653 | $87.9B |
| Supplemental Security Income | Food and income support | $69.5B | 0.99% | $427 | $64.2B |
| Earned Income Tax Credit | Food and income support | $66.0B | 0.94% | $406 | $68.1B |
| Federal highway spending | Transportation | $65.0B | 0.93% | $400 | $58.3B |
| Federal student loans | Education | $64.7B | 0.92% | $397 | $37.6B |
| Disaster relief | Security and justice | $62.6B | 0.89% | $385 | $29.6B |
| Department of Energy | Science, energy and environment | $52.3B | 0.75% | $321 | $47.5B |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | Housing | $50.5B | 0.72% | $310 | $61.7B |
| Medical research | Health | $47.3B | 0.68% | $291 | $41.5B |
| Pell Grants | Education | $42.1B | 0.60% | $258 | $33.6B |
| Section 8 housing vouchers | Housing | $38.3B | 0.55% | $235 | $35.7B |
| Unemployment insurance | Food and income support | $38.0B | 0.54% | $234 | $34.9B |
| Environmental Protection Agency | Science, energy and environment | $37.0B | 0.53% | $227 | $16.0B |
| Department of Education | Education | $34.7B | 0.50% | $213 | $61.3B |
| School meals | Food and income support | $33.4B | 0.48% | $205 | $31.7B |
| Department of State | International | $28.4B | 0.40% | $174 | $24.9B |
| Child Tax Credit | Food and income support | $26.6B | 0.38% | $163 | $28.4B |
| Public transit | Transportation | $25.3B | 0.36% | $156 | $18.5B |
| Federal Aviation Administration | Transportation | $24.8B | 0.35% | $152 | $22.5B |
| NASA | Science, energy and environment | $24.6B | 0.35% | $151 | $21.2B |
| Children's Health Insurance Program | Health | $23.1B | 0.33% | $142 | $22.8B |
| Customs and Border Protection | Security and justice | $21.2B | 0.30% | $130 | $25.2B |
| Farm subsidies | Agriculture | $19.4B | 0.28% | $119 | $21.7B |
| Nuclear weapons | Veterans and defense | $18.9B | 0.27% | $116 | $19.2B |
| Internal Revenue Service | Government and culture | $17.8B | 0.25% | $110 | $13.1B |
| TANF cash welfare | Food and income support | $17.7B | 0.25% | $109 | $16.1B |
| Child care | Food and income support | $14.8B | 0.21% | $91 | $12.1B |
| U.S. Coast Guard | Security and justice | $13.8B | 0.20% | $85 | $12.2B |
| U.S. Forest Service | Science, energy and environment | $12.2B | 0.17% | $75 | $11.0B |
| Army Corps of Engineers | Transportation | $12.1B | 0.17% | $74 | $10.9B |
| Centers for Disease Control | Health | $11.4B | 0.16% | $70 | $8.8B |
| Federal Bureau of Investigation | Security and justice | $11.2B | 0.16% | $69 | $9.7B |
| Immigration enforcement | Security and justice | $10.7B | 0.15% | $66 | $20.6B |
| Foster care | Food and income support | $10.0B | 0.14% | $61 | $9.7B |
| National Science Foundation | Science, energy and environment | $9.9B | 0.14% | $61 | $8.0B |
| Federal courts | Security and justice | $9.8B | 0.14% | $60 | $9.1B |
| Federal Bureau of Prisons | Security and justice | $9.1B | 0.13% | $56 | $7.9B |
| Indian Health Service | Health | $8.3B | 0.12% | $51 | $9.5B |
| Transportation Security Administration | Security and justice | $8.3B | 0.12% | $51 | $7.4B |
| NOAA | Science, energy and environment | $8.2B | 0.12% | $50 | $6.4B |
| WIC | Food and income support | $8.0B | 0.11% | $49 | $7.1B |
| Congress | Government and culture | $7.2B | 0.10% | $44 | $6.5B |
| Foreign Military Financing | International | $6.9B | 0.10% | $42 | $7.9B |
| Wildfire spending | Science, energy and environment | $6.3B | 0.09% | $39 | $5.3B |
| Refugee assistance | Food and income support | $5.8B | 0.08% | $36 | $3.8B |
| National Park Service | Science, energy and environment | $4.8B | 0.07% | $29 | $4.4B |
| Home energy assistance | Food and income support | $4.4B | 0.06% | $27 | $3.9B |
| U.S. Secret Service | Security and justice | $3.6B | 0.05% | $22 | $3.4B |
| Homeless assistance | Housing | $3.4B | 0.05% | $21 | $3.2B |
| Food and Drug Administration | Health | $3.3B | 0.05% | $20 | $3.4B |
| Drug Enforcement Administration | Security and justice | $3.2B | 0.05% | $20 | $3.0B |
| ATF | Security and justice | $1.7B | 0.02% | $11 | $1.5B |
| Smithsonian Institution | Government and culture | $1.4B | 0.02% | $8 | $1.2B |
| Public broadcasting | Government and culture | $586.2M | 0.01% | $4 | $8.0M |
| National Endowment for the Arts | Government and culture | $233.3M | 0.00% | $1 | $136.3M |
Questions and answers
- What does the federal government spend the most on?
- Of the programs on this page, Department of Defense is the largest ($868.4 billion in FY2025). Across the whole budget, Social Security, Medicare, defense and interest are larger still; see the federal budget pie chart.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- The Treasury's Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 5, which lists outlays for every federal account each month. FY2025 is the fiscal year from October 2024 to September 2025. SNAP is shown here from the same table; its own page uses USDA's total program cost.
- What does per tax return mean?
- Each program's FY2025 outlays divided by the 162.8 million individual income tax returns filed in FY2025 (IRS Data Book). It is an average for comparison, not what any one taxpayer pays.
- Are these the budget figures Congress passed?
- No. They are outlays, the money actually paid out in each year. Appropriations give agencies authority to commit money, which can be spent over several years.
Related
- Medicare vs Medicaidby year
- Spending by agencyevery department
- How much of my taxes go to…per $1,000
- Your federal tax receiptcalculator
- Federal budget pie chartFY2025
- Interest on the debtby year
Sources and notes
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, Table 5, September of each fiscal year and the latest month, Fiscal Data API. Public domain. Each program page names its Treasury line.
- Individual income tax returns: IRS Data Book Table 1-2.