Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Where does federal revenue come from?

Chart 1 of 1 · Federal budget

Where does federal revenue come from?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

Individual income taxes brought in $2.85 trillion of the government's $5.4 trillion in fiscal 2026, about 53%. Payroll taxes for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance ("social insurance") added $1.81 trillion, and corporate income taxes $381 billion.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026

Open the chart and its numbers

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