Title: Policy Basics: Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go? | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Headings: Policy Basics: Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go?
Policy Basics: Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go?
Most State Dollars Go Toward Education and Health Care
K-12 education
Higher education
Health care
Transportation
Corrections
Assistance for struggling families
Other spending
The Spending Mix Varies From State to State

Content: Together, they constitute about 17 percent of state budgets, or about $209 billion. States spend the remainder of their budgets on a wide variety of programs. For example: States are one of the main funders of the nation’s public elementary and secondary schools, which some 51 million students — nine out of ten enrolled school-age children — attend. Transportation
State funding for transportation totals some $69 billion, accounting for around 6 percent of state spending, on average. These funds are used primarily to build and repair roads and bridges and for public transit systems. Corrections
Prisons, juvenile justice programs, and parole and other corrections programs make up about 5 percent of state budgets, or $56 billion. Assistance for struggling families
Cash assistance to low-income individuals through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and some smaller programs, such as general assistance, makes up only a tiny share of state spending — about 1 percent or $11 billion. Other spending
Comparable national data do not exist for the individual areas of spending that make up the remaining 32 percent of state budgets. But some of the larger items in this “Other” category are contributions to public employees’ pension and health benefits and general aid to local governments.