🧑🎓 How Much Each U.S. State Spends on Education
What We’re Showing:
This map tracks the share of state spending on K–12 and Higher Education from total state expenditures.
Data is sourced by the KFF for State Fiscal Year 2023.
Southern States Spend a Lot on Education Proportionally
Of the eleven states that earmark nearly 50% of their state expenditure to education, eight can be found in the South.
However, by pure numbers, the richest states still spend the most dollars.
Of them, California ($86B) spends as much as New York ($43B) and Texas ($42B) combined.
Check the data tab for the total dollar expenditure.
Data Nuances
The map looks at the share of state expenditure.
So, even though Illinois spends the least proportionately, its total spend nears $13 billion, making it top 20 by dollar amount.
The opposite is true for Nevada.
What is the State Fiscal Year?
In 46 states the state fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.
Here are the exceptions:
- New York (begins April 1st)
- Texas (Sept 1st)
- Alabama & Michigan (Oct 1st)
Dataset
| State | State Code | Share of total spending | K–12 and Higher Ed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | AL | 56% | $12,851 |
| Alaska | AK | 23% | $2,289 |
| Arizona | AZ | 18% | $15,458 |
| Arkansas | AR | 37% | $7,930 |
| California | CA | 32% | $86,153 |
| Colorado | CO | 43% | $10,775 |
| Connecticut | CT | 29% | $8,222 |
| Delaware | DE | 30% | $3,328 |
| Florida | FL | 32% | $23,353 |
| Georgia | GA | 50% | $21,475 |
| Hawaii | HI | 24% | $3,352 |
| Idaho | ID | 48% | $3,371 |
| Illinois | IL | 13% | $12,632 |
| Indiana | IN | 48% | $15,485 |
| Iowa | IA | 57% | $10,772 |
| Kansas | KS | 53% | $8,519 |
| Kentucky | KY | 53% | $15,363 |
| Louisiana | LA | 35% | $7,579 |
| Maine | ME | 26% | $2,095 |
| Maryland | MD | 35% | $14,955 |
| Massachusetts | MA | 18% | $9,435 |
| Michigan | MI | 42% | $19,873 |
| Minnesota | MN | 36% | $12,261 |
| Mississippi | MS | 56% | $7,066 |
| Missouri | MO | 32% | $6,962 |
| Montana | MT | 32% | $1,721 |
| Nebraska | NE | 37% | $4,322 |
| Nevada | NV | 62% | $6,652 |
| New Hampshire | NH | 29% | $1,302 |
| New Jersey | NJ | 43% | $25,716 |
| New Mexico | NM | 48% | $7,035 |
| New York | NY | 34% | $43,331 |
| North Carolina | NC | 51% | $19,757 |
| North Dakota | ND | 48% | $2,456 |
| Ohio | OH | 26% | $13,661 |
| Oklahoma | OK | 45% | $6,388 |
| Oregon | OR | 23% | $8,194 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 27% | $17,863 |
| Rhode Island | RI | 38% | $2,782 |
| South Carolina | SC | 50% | $11,757 |
| South Dakota | SD | 38% | $1,458 |
| Tennessee | TN | 48% | $13,367 |
| Texas | TX | 54% | $42,153 |
| Utah | UT | 47% | $7,640 |
| Vermont | VT | 50% | $2,304 |
| Virginia | VA | 31% | $16,986 |
| Washington | WA | 49% | $23,577 |
| West Virginia | WV | 25% | $4,098 |
| Wisconsin | WI | 34% | $14,346 |
| Wyoming | WY | 29% | $1,252 |
Data sources
Figures rounded. Excludes local funds raised for education purposes as well as in-school daycare and health and immunization programs. Also excludes federal research grants and endowments to universities. All data as of State Fiscal Year 2023.
