Federal Spending Grew More Than Ten Times Faster Than Median Income

Everyone wants to know more about the budget and here is some key information with a chart from the Heritage Foundation and a video from the Cato Institute.

When federal spending grows faster than Americans’ paychecks, the burden on taxpayers becomes greater. Over the past few decades, middle-income Americans’ earnings have risen only 27 percent, while spending has increased 299 percent.

PERCENT CHANGE OF INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS (2010)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and White House Office of Management and Budget.

In Depth

• Policy Papers for Researchers

  • SPECIAL REPORT ON JUNE 01, 2010Federal Spending by the Numbers 2010
  • WEBMEMO ON AUGUST 19, 2010New CBO Budget Baseline Shows that Soaring Spending – Not Falling Revenues – Risks Drowning America in Debt

• Technical Notes

  The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2011 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2010 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except… Read More

• Authors

  Emily GoffResearch Assistant
  Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy StudiesKathryn NixPolicy Analyst
  Center for Health Policy StudiesJohn FlemingSenior Data Graphics Editor