The United States Bureau of the Census conducts an Annual Survey of Government Finances, as authorized by law under Title 13, United States code, Section 182. This recurrent survey work deals primarily with the finances of state and local governments. The annual sample survey data, collected in non-Census years, has coverage that parallels that of the Census of Governments, i.e., revenue by source, expenditure in considerable functional detail, indebtedness and debt transactions, and financial assets by type.
The Annual Government Finance series consists of several component surveys,
some of which are fully described in other portions of this website, but are
mentioned here to highlight their inter-related nature. There is a general
order in which results of these components are released. Also, the survey data
overlap (are used in multiple components), so that users often can obtain
statistics in one survey before they are available in another.
The annual survey of State Government Finances contains relatively detailed figures on taxes and all other finances, nationally and for each of the 50 state governments.
The annual survey of State and Local Government Finances contains current estimates of government financial activity. Data include estimates of revenue by type, expenditure by purpose and function, debt, and financial assets by type - all in detail similar to that found in the Census of Governments. Estimates are shown for state and local governments combined, as well as for local governments. (State government data are not estimates, but rather actual measures from the surveys on state government finances mentioned previously.) Geographic coverage includes estimates for all governments nationwide, as well as estimates by state area. Reports consist of viewable tables and data files that users can download from the Internet.
The Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance survey covers the subject area of public education finances. Reports contain national and state aggregated data for major components of school system revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets. They also provide similar detail, per pupil, for school systems with enrollments larger than 15,000. Data files that contain full survey or enumeration data detail for each covered school system (data for individual systems are public data and not subject to confidentiality limitations) also are available for download at the same site.
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