Idaho state spending
$15.2 billion
Idaho state government expenditures, governmental funds, fiscal year 2025
+71.3% since fiscal year 2020 ($8.9 billion)
Source: Transparent Idaho, Office of the Idaho State Controller, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section. Data period fiscal year 2025. Published .
Actual expenditures, all governmental funds (General, special revenue, capital projects, and permanent funds), modified accrual basis. Excludes proprietary/business-type funds and component units. Source: ACFR Schedule 4.
Change and comparison
From fiscal year 2016 ($6.9 billion) to fiscal year 2025 ($15.2 billion), the change was +121.3%.
Among 50 states, Idaho ranked 46th highest in fiscal year 2024 on state government spending per resident from the U.S. Census Bureau. Alaska was highest at $16,962 and Florida lowest at $5,583. The headline figure above is in fiscal year 2025; this ranking is in fiscal year 2024.
Idaho is lowest among its neighboring states at $7,346; Nevada is next above at $7,536.
The largest category in spending by agency is Medicaid, Division of at $4.9 billion; next is Public School Support at $3.2 billion.
Historical data
Source: Transparent Idaho, Office of the Idaho State Controller, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section. Published .
Data table (10 rows)
| Period | Idaho (thousands of dollars) |
|---|---|
| fiscal year 2016 | $6,883,830 |
| fiscal year 2017 | $7,139,727 |
| fiscal year 2018 | $7,896,453 |
| fiscal year 2019 | $8,284,642 |
| fiscal year 2020 | $8,892,529 |
| fiscal year 2021 | $10,508,241 |
| fiscal year 2022 | $11,146,276 |
| fiscal year 2023 | $13,330,773 |
| fiscal year 2024 | $13,331,872 |
| fiscal year 2025 | $15,233,737 |
Compared with other states
Every state is compared on state government spending per resident from the U.S. Census Bureau: Census Bureau total state government expenditure for the fiscal year divided by the Census Bureau's July 1 population estimate for the calendar year in which that fiscal year ends. The headline figure above is in fiscal year 2025; this comparison is in fiscal year 2024.
Dollars
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State government spending per resident (computed by Understand Idaho). Data period fiscal year 2024.
An excerpt; the full table is below.
| State | fiscal year 2024 |
|---|---|
| 1. Alaska | $16,962 |
| 2. New Mexico | $15,695 |
| 3. Vermont | $14,785 |
| 4. New York | $13,329 |
| 5. California | $13,228 |
| 6. Delaware | $13,137 |
| 7. Hawaii | $12,865 |
| 8. Oregon | $12,574 |
| 9. North Dakota | $12,154 |
| 10. Massachusetts | $12,056 |
Data table (51 rows)
| State | fiscal year 2024 |
|---|---|
| 1. Alaska | $16,962 |
| 2. New Mexico | $15,695 |
| 3. Vermont | $14,785 |
| 4. New York | $13,329 |
| 5. California | $13,228 |
| 6. Delaware | $13,137 |
| 7. Hawaii | $12,865 |
| 8. Oregon | $12,574 |
| 9. North Dakota | $12,154 |
| 10. Massachusetts | $12,056 |
| 11. Wyoming | $11,158 |
| 12. Rhode Island | $11,099 |
| 13. West Virginia | $10,880 |
| 14. Minnesota | $10,565 |
| 15. Kentucky | $10,405 |
| 16. New Jersey | $10,223 |
| 17. Maryland | $10,187 |
| 18. Washington | $10,050 |
| 19. Louisiana | $10,008 |
| 20. Michigan | $9,697 |
| 21. Maine | $9,675 |
| United States | $9,425 |
| 22. Kansas | $9,408 |
| 23. Illinois | $9,405 |
| 24. Pennsylvania | $9,378 |
| 25. Utah | $9,334 |
| 26. Mississippi | $9,323 |
| 27. Virginia | $9,302 |
| 28. Iowa | $9,264 |
| 29. Connecticut | $9,228 |
| 30. Wisconsin | $9,034 |
| 31. South Carolina | $8,949 |
| 32. Ohio | $8,683 |
| 33. Oklahoma | $8,607 |
| 34. Alabama | $8,594 |
| 35. Arkansas | $8,482 |
| 36. Indiana | $8,302 |
| 37. Arizona | $8,113 |
| 38. North Carolina | $8,097 |
| 39. Nebraska | $8,090 |
| 40. Colorado | $8,007 |
| 41. Montana | $7,942 |
| 42. South Dakota | $7,895 |
| 43. New Hampshire | $7,601 |
| 44. Missouri | $7,584 |
| 45. Nevada | $7,536 |
| 46. Idaho | $7,346 |
| 47. Tennessee | $6,829 |
| 48. Texas | $6,740 |
| 49. Georgia | $6,310 |
| 50. Florida | $5,583 |
Spending by agency
This breakdown is from Idaho Legislative Services Office, on a different basis than the headline figure above. Actual expenditure by agency, all funds (General, dedicated, and federal), on the Legislature's budgetary basis. Source: Legislative Fiscal Report, All Funds Three-Year Summary by Agency, Actual column.
Dollars
Source: Idaho Legislative Services Office, Legislative Fiscal Report, General Fund. Data period fiscal year 2025. Published .
Data table (43 rows)
| Agency | fiscal year 2025 (usd) |
|---|---|
| Medicaid, Division of | $4,853,750,700 |
| Public School Support | $3,195,769,900 |
| Transportation Department, Idaho | $1,060,802,600 |
| College and Universities | $718,856,700 |
| Health and Welfare, Department of | $690,720,200 |
| Correction, Department of | $393,138,100 |
| Governor, Office of the | $320,290,800 |
| Self-Governing Agencies | $170,017,200 |
| Fish and Game, Department of | $141,960,500 |
| Environmental Quality, Department of | $140,391,500 |
| Police, Idaho State | $111,366,600 |
| Career Technical Education | $98,177,800 |
| Judicial Branch | $97,671,800 |
| Parks and Recreation, Department of | $97,611,600 |
| Labor, Department of | $70,173,900 |
| Water Resources, Department of | $66,538,200 |
| Community Colleges | $64,696,000 |
| Land, Board of Commissioners | $62,921,400 |
| Department of Education | $61,354,200 |
| Commerce, Department of | $57,263,800 |
| Juvenile Corrections, Department of | $56,195,600 |
| Agriculture, Department of | $55,115,700 |
| Revenue and Taxation, Department of | $53,984,300 |
| Education, Office of the State Board of | $50,784,500 |
| Agricultural Research & Extension Service | $38,361,500 |
| Attorney General | $33,430,300 |
| Special Programs | $30,478,400 |
| Administration, Department of | $28,476,500 |
| Health Education Programs | $28,053,700 |
| Vocational Rehabilitation | $25,717,300 |
| State Controller | $22,803,900 |
| Legislative Branch | $20,219,000 |
| Industrial Commission | $19,543,200 |
| Finance, Department of | $10,657,800 |
| Insurance, Department of | $9,562,400 |
| Secretary of State | $6,413,600 |
| Public Utilities Commission | $6,308,400 |
| State Treasurer | $6,285,100 |
| Idaho Public Television | $4,037,600 |
| Permanent Building Fund | $2,583,400 |
| Charter School Commission | $582,900 |
| State Independent Living Council | $498,700 |
| Lieutenant Governor | $268,900 |
- Fiscal years 2026 and 2027 appropriations are enacted amounts for years not yet fully executed as of retrieval.
- Spending by agency and the General Fund spending total cover fiscal years 2024 to 2025 only; each report's summary table carries one year of actual spending.
- Actual figures are budgetary-basis, all-funds expenditure, not the modified-accrual figure under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) reports; the two disagree for fiscal year 2025.
- Agency names are the report's own labels, in its comma-inverted style (e.g. 'Correction, Department of').
- Function subtotal rows and the Statewide Total row are excluded; the agency breakdown lists agencies only.
- This dataset's fiscal year 2025 total ($15,233,737,000) is actual expenditure for governmental funds only, on the modified accrual basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). The Legislative Services Office's figure is fiscal year 2025 actual expenditure on the state's budgetary basis, all funds (General, dedicated, and federal funds tracked through the appropriation process), which excludes the governmental-funds report's proprietary funds and component units and uses cash and encumbrance appropriation accounting rather than modified accrual. Both figures are real and correctly sourced; they answer different questions about the same fiscal year.
Spending by function
Actual expenditures by function, all governmental funds, modified accrual basis: General Government, Public Safety and Correction, Health and Human Services, Education, Economic Development, Natural Resources, Capital Outlay, Intergovernmental Revenue Sharing, and the two Debt Service components. Source: ACFR Schedule 4.
Thousands of dollars
Source: Transparent Idaho, Office of the Idaho State Controller, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section. Data period fiscal year 2025. Published .
Data table (10 rows)
| Function | fiscal year 2025 (usd thousands) |
|---|---|
| Health and Human Services | $5,242,781 |
| Education | $4,639,460 |
| Capital Outlay | $1,613,648 |
| Intergovernmental Revenue Sharing | $1,457,712 |
| Economic Development | $670,133 |
| Public Safety and Correction | $581,397 |
| Natural Resources | $469,209 |
| General Government | $273,558 |
| Debt Service - Principal | $184,643 |
| Debt Service - Interest | $101,196 |
Spending per resident
$7,346 in fiscal year 2024 (estimate). Census Bureau total state government expenditure for the fiscal year divided by the Census Bureau's July 1 population estimate for the calendar year in which that fiscal year ends.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State government spending per resident (computed by Understand Idaho).
Data table (13 rows)
| Period | State government spending per resident (dollars) |
|---|---|
| fiscal year 2012 | $5,170 |
| fiscal year 2013 | $5,262 |
| fiscal year 2014 | $5,325 |
| fiscal year 2015 | $5,340 |
| fiscal year 2016 | $5,418 |
| fiscal year 2017 | $5,572 |
| fiscal year 2018 | $5,955 |
| fiscal year 2019 | $6,227 |
| fiscal year 2020 | $6,583 |
| fiscal year 2021 | $7,006 |
| fiscal year 2022 | $6,505 |
| fiscal year 2023 | $7,295 |
| fiscal year 2024 | $7,346 |
Source
- Organization
- Transparent Idaho, Office of the Idaho State Controller
- Dataset
- Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section
- Geography
- Idaho (statewide)
- Time coverage
- Fiscal years 2016 to 2025
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Published
- Original file
- https://www.sco.idaho.gov/CAFRDocuments/2025%20Annual%20Comprehensive%20Financial%20Report.pdf
- Methodology
- https://www.sco.idaho.gov/CAFRDocuments/2025%20Annual%20Comprehensive%20Financial%20Report.pdf
- License
- Public domain. State of Idaho government work.
- Our copy
- Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section
Caveats
- Spending figures are actual expenditure on the modified accrual basis for governmental funds only; they exclude proprietary funds and component units, in thousands of dollars.
- The source labels its fiscal year 2024 spending column "as restated"; fiscal year 2024 spending observations carry a note saying so.
- Dashboard-only figures on transparent.idaho.gov (vendor payment, agency transaction, and pay tools) are not part of this dataset; only the ACFR PDF was used.
- Schedule 12's underlying employee counts are published only as ranges, never a single figure; percentages are stored as observations, ranges are kept in records only.
State comparison:
- Organization
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Dataset
- State government spending per resident (computed by Understand Idaho)
- Geography
- Nation and every state (the District of Columbia has no state-government row in this survey; see caveats)
- Time coverage
- Fiscal years 2012 to 2024
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Original file
- https://api.census.gov/data/timeseries/govsstatefin?get=AGG_DESC,AMOUNT&for=state:*&time=2024&GOVTYPE=002&CATEGORY=02
- License
- Public domain. U.S. federal government work.
- Our copy
- State government spending per resident (computed by Understand Idaho)
Caveats
- Computed by Understand Idaho from Annual Survey of State Government Finances and Population Estimates Program; it is not a figure the publisher releases.
- This total differs from the Office of the Idaho State Controller's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report in fund basis and scope; both figures are kept, see disagreements.
- Periods are labeled by the Census Bureau's reference year, not each state's own fiscal year end.
- Coverage is fiscal years 2012 to 2024; earlier years use a different item-code layout and are not included.
- District of Columbia is excluded: the Census Bureau does not treat it as a state government for this survey.
- The Census Bureau's Data API requires a registered key; one request is made per year.
- Totals for 2010-2019 are Vintage 2019 estimates and 2020-2025 are Vintage 2025; the two series are not reconciled, so a change at the seam includes the vintage revision.
- City (incorporated place) totals cover 2020-2025 only; no 2010-2019 city series is included.
- Components of change are published for the nation, states and Idaho's 44 counties; other states' county components are not included.
- The ten places are Boise City, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Coeur d'Alene, Twin Falls, Post Falls and Rexburg, the ten largest by 2025 population estimate.
- Group quarters estimates, the residual component, population-based rates, and Puerto Rico are not included.
- The national domestic migration cell is 0 by construction (moves between states net to nothing) and is not stored as an observation; the United States has international migration and natural change only.
Where sources disagree
- State government expenditure (total), Idaho, FY2024: Office of the Idaho State Controller, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report publishes $13.3 billion. The Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State Government Finances gives Idaho total expenditure of 14,699,129 thousand dollars for fiscal year 2024, versus the report's governmental-funds spending of 13,331,872 thousand dollars. The survey's total covers general, utility and liquor store expenditure on the Census classification and excludes insurance trust spending; the report's figure is governmental funds only, on the state's own fund basis. Both are kept.
- Population, Idaho, 2020: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census apportionment counts publishes 1,839,106. The Vintage 2025 Population Estimates Program's April 1, 2020 population base for Idaho is 1,839,123, 17 more than the 1,839,106 the Census Bureau delivered as Idaho's official 2020 Census apportionment count. This population base is not itself shipped as an observation (it is not a July 1 estimate), but it is the starting point this dataset's 2020-2025 state and county totals build forward from, so the same 17-person gap is not reconciled in those totals.
Inputs: Annual Survey of State Government Finances and Population Estimates Program.
Cite
Cite this page as Understand Idaho, “Idaho state spending”, https://understandidaho.com/government/spending/, retrieved on the date you read it, and the publisher named above for the figures themselves. The dataset behind it is described in the data catalog.
This page was last updated .