Where does federal spending go?
Social Security was the biggest item in fiscal 2025 at $1.58 trillion, out of $7.01 trillion in total. Medicare, other health programs and interest on the debt each cost close to $1 trillion, more than national defense at $917 billion. Two accounting lines are below zero, so the bars add up to the total.
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Key facts
Measure: Outlays in US dollars. Written from the data below.
- Social Security has the highest figure, $1.58T, followed by Medicare ($997B) and Health ($979B).
- Undistributed Offsetting Receipts has the lowest figure, -$150B, followed by Commerce and Housing Credit (-$28.6B) and Energy ($20.9B).
Source and date
- Data as of
- Published
Citation
Chartly. “Where does federal spending go?” Chart. Data: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Monthly Treasury Statement (Table 9), https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/monthly-treasury-statement/ (data as of September 30, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/federal-spending-by-function (accessed October 15, 2026).
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The data
Download data (CSV)The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.
| Budget function | Outlays in US dollars |
|---|---|
| Social Security | 1,580,685,783,034 |
| Medicare | 996,719,243,005 |
| Health | 978,877,168,640 |
| Net Interest | 970,358,886,994 |
| National Defense | 916,648,676,662 |
| Income Security | 701,583,598,130 |
| Veterans Benefits and Services | 377,161,882,981 |
| Transportation | 145,804,369,617 |
| Natural Resources and Environment | 88,312,257,166 |
| Administration of Justice | 85,180,458,290 |
| Community and Regional Development | 84,529,870,131 |
| Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services | 69,194,134,949 |
| Agriculture | 49,337,681,356 |
| International Affairs | 45,169,891,180 |
| General Science, Space, and Technology | 42,084,437,536 |
| General Government | 36,278,602,220 |
| Energy | 20,892,010,638 |
| Commerce and Housing Credit | -28,620,513,920 |
| Undistributed Offsetting Receipts | -150,224,771,559 |
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