Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go in 2025?
The federal government spent $10.1T in FY2025 — that's $63,296 per taxpayer. But where does it actually go? Here's every cent of your tax dollar, broken down.
Every Cent of Your Tax Dollar
If You Earn $75,000, Here's Where Your Taxes Go
At an effective federal tax rate of ~22%, you pay roughly $16,500 in federal taxes. Here's exactly where that money goes:
| Category | Your Share | Per Dollar |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare | $2,993 | 18¢ |
| Social Security | $2,718 | 16¢ |
| National Defense | $2,308 | 14¢ |
| Net Interest | $2,038 | 12¢ |
| Health | $1,866 | 11¢ |
| Income Security | $1,238 | 8¢ |
| General Government | $833 | 5¢ |
| Veterans Benefits and Services | $673 | 4¢ |
| Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services | $361 | 2¢ |
| Transportation | $322 | 2¢ |
Want your exact number? Try the Tax Calculator or see the interactive Your Dollar breakdown.
Interest on Debt Now Exceeds Veterans Benefits
The federal government spends $1.3T per year just on interest — 12¢ of every dollar. That's more than three times what we spend on veterans benefits ($413.3B, just 4¢). We're paying more to service past debt than to serve the people who defended the country.
And it's getting worse. Interest costs have more than doubled since 2020, now exceeding the entire defense budget.
The Big Picture
Nearly two-thirds of federal spending is on autopilot. Medicare, Social Security, and interest payments are mandatory — Congress doesn't vote on them each year. They just grow. The “discretionary” spending that Congress actually debates — defense, education, infrastructure — is only about a quarter of the total.
This means that most of the political debate about “cutting spending” focuses on the smallest slice of the pie. Even eliminating the entire discretionary budget wouldn't balance the books — mandatory programs and interest alone exceed total tax revenue.
For a deeper dive, see the full spending analysis or explore the spending explosion since 2017.
Related Analysis
Source: USASpending.gov · U.S. Department of the Treasury