While you might not always see them, the scale of municipal services is staggering, as U.S. local governments alone spent a monumental $2.1 trillion in 2022 to power our communities.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, U.S. local governments spent $2.1 trillion on municipal services including education, utilities, and public works
- Municipal property tax revenue totaled $539 billion in 2021 across all U.S. local governments
- Sales tax collections by municipalities reached $147 billion in fiscal year 2022
- Total municipal expenditures on public welfare reached $145 billion in 2022
- Education spending by local governments was $812 billion in fiscal 2022
- Highways and streets maintenance cost municipalities $98 billion annually in 2021
- Total full-time equivalent employees in U.S. local governments numbered 14.1 million in 2022
- Municipal police officers employed totaled 463,000 full-time in 2022
- Firefighters in local governments: 1,014,000 total personnel in 2021
- U.S. municipalities served 223 million residents with water services in 2022
- Average daily water use per capita in cities: 88 gallons in 2021
- 95% of U.S. population covered by municipal wastewater treatment in 2022
- Total road lane-miles under local control: 3.8 million in 2022
- Municipal bridges: 205,000 structurally deficient in 2021
- Water mains length: 2.2 million miles nationwide 2022
American local governments provide essential services funded by taxes and fees that support millions of residents daily.
Budget and Revenue
- In 2022, U.S. local governments spent $2.1 trillion on municipal services including education, utilities, and public works
- Municipal property tax revenue totaled $539 billion in 2021 across all U.S. local governments
- Sales tax collections by municipalities reached $147 billion in fiscal year 2022
- Average municipal general fund revenue per capita was $3,456 in 2021 for cities over 100,000 population
- Intergovernmental revenue from state sources accounted for 28% of local government total revenue in 2022
- Utility enterprise revenue for water and sewer services generated $78 billion in 2021
- Municipal bond issuance for infrastructure reached $417 billion in 2022
- Pension contributions by local governments totaled $112 billion in fiscal 2022
- Local sales tax rates averaged 2.1% in U.S. municipalities in 2023
- Grants from federal sources to municipalities increased 15% to $210 billion in 2022
- Average municipal debt per capita stood at $2,800 for large cities in 2022
- Property tax levies grew 4.2% year-over-year to $582 billion in 2022
- Charges for services contributed 22% of local revenues, equaling $404 billion in 2021
- Municipal income tax revenue was $38 billion in cities with such taxes in 2022
- Total local government revenue reached $2.3 trillion in 2022
- User fees for recreation services generated $12.5 billion annually in 2021
- Hotel occupancy taxes yielded $8.7 billion for municipalities in 2022
- Franchise fees from utilities provided $25 billion to local coffers in 2021
- Impact fees for development totaled $7.2 billion in 2022
- Local option sales taxes added $45 billion to municipal revenues in 2023
Budget and Revenue Interpretation
In total, America's cities are a $2 trillion-plus enterprise funded by a remarkably diverse, often ingenious, and sometimes precarious mix of property owners' payments, utility charges, state aid, visitor taxes, and borrowed future dollars, all to keep the lights on, the streets paved, and the schools running.
Employment and Workforce
- Total full-time equivalent employees in U.S. local governments numbered 14.1 million in 2022
- Municipal police officers employed totaled 463,000 full-time in 2022
- Firefighters in local governments: 1,014,000 total personnel in 2021
- Average municipal employee salary was $65,400 in 2022 for cities over 50,000 pop
- Local government education sector employed 7.8 million in 2022
- Public works employees numbered 1.2 million in municipalities in 2021
- Turnover rate for municipal workers averaged 12.5% in 2022
- 28% of municipal employees are over age 55 in 2023 surveys
- Diversity: 25% of local government executives are women in 2022
- Average pensions for retired municipal workers: $45,000 annually in 2021
- Training hours per employee averaged 40 annually in large cities 2022
- Unionized municipal workforce covers 43% of employees in 2022
- Part-time local government employees: 3.4 million in 2022
- Average benefits cost per employee: $22,000 in 2022
- Vacancy rates in municipal police departments: 10.2% in 2023
- Sanitation workers: 145,000 full-time in U.S. cities 2021
- Administrative staff in municipalities: 2.1 million FTEs 2022
- Remote work adoption: 15% of municipal jobs in 2023
- Overtime pay for public safety: $12 billion total 2022
- Librarians employed by locals: 142,000 in 2021
- IT specialists in government: 250,000 in municipalities 2022
- Average tenure for city managers: 6.8 years in 2023
- Emergency medical technicians: 850,000 in local services 2022
- Water utility operators: 48,000 certified in 2021
- Planners in municipal planning depts: 18,000 in 2022
Employment and Workforce Interpretation
Behind the 14.1 million faces making your town run—from librarians and sanitation crews to firefighters and IT staff—lies a complex and aging machine that is simultaneously dedicated, understaffed, cautiously modernizing, and worrying about who will fill its shoes.
Expenditure and Spending
- Total municipal expenditures on public welfare reached $145 billion in 2022
- Education spending by local governments was $812 billion in fiscal 2022
- Highways and streets maintenance cost municipalities $98 billion annually in 2021
- Police protection expenditures totaled $138 billion for local governments in 2022
- Fire protection spending by municipalities was $52 billion in 2022
- Sewerage system operations cost $64 billion in 2021
- Solid waste management expenditures reached $28 billion for U.S. municipalities in 2022
- Parks and recreation spending averaged $1,200 per capita in large cities in 2022
- Health and hospitals expenditures by locals were $112 billion in 2021
- Housing and community development spending totaled $42 billion in 2022
- Judicial and legal expenditures for municipalities were $22 billion in 2022
- Financial administration costs averaged 5% of budgets, $115 billion total in 2021
- Public utilities spending (electricity, gas) was $156 billion in enterprise funds 2022
- Debt service payments by local governments reached $98 billion in 2022
- Capital outlay for infrastructure was $248 billion in 2021
- Employee benefits costs consumed 32% of payroll, $210 billion in 2022
- Transit subsidies by municipalities totaled $18 billion in 2022
- Libraries operating expenditures were $14 billion in 2021
- Airports managed by municipalities spent $22 billion on operations in 2022
- Water supply expenditures totaled $52 billion for local utilities in 2021
- Employee retirement contributions were $120 billion in 2022
Expenditure and Spending Interpretation
While we spend more than twice as much keeping our streets smooth ($98 billion) as we do keeping our citizens housed ($42 billion), it seems our municipal checkbook reveals a nation that is meticulously paved, judicially processed, and generously pensioned, yet still wrestling with the fundamental price tags of care, equity, and well-being.
Infrastructure and Assets
- Total road lane-miles under local control: 3.8 million in 2022
- Municipal bridges: 205,000 structurally deficient in 2021
- Water mains length: 2.2 million miles nationwide 2022
- Wastewater pipes: 800,000 miles needing replacement 2021
- Average age of municipal water infrastructure: 45 years in 2022
- Storm sewers: 1 million miles in U.S. municipalities 2021
- Public parking spaces: 75 million managed by locals 2022
- Municipal dams: 91,000 owned by local governments 2021
- LED streetlight conversions: 50% of 50 million fixtures by 2023
- EV charging stations in cities: 45,000 public in 2022
- Bike lanes added: 2,500 miles annually 2021
- Playground replacements: 1,200 per year in parks 2022
- Wastewater treatment plants: 16,000 operated by municipalities 2021
- Landfills owned by locals: 1,900 active sites 2022
- Airport runways municipal: 15,000 miles total 2021
- Harbor facilities: 300 major ports managed locally 2022
- Fiber optic networks municipal: 25,000 miles deployed 2023
- Solar panels on public buildings: 500 MW capacity 2022
- Flood control structures: 4,000 levees maintained 2021
- Traffic cameras: 100,000 installed in cities 2022
- Skate parks: 2,200 nationwide in municipal parks 2021
- WiFi hotspots public: 50,000 in municipalities 2023
- Sewage pumping stations: 25,000 operational 2022
- Athletic fields: 120,000 maintained by rec depts 2021
- Median bridge age: 50 years for local structures 2022
- Potable water storage tanks: 170,000 nationwide 2021
Infrastructure and Assets Interpretation
Beneath the flicker of our new LED streetlights and the quiet hum of EV chargers, the aging arteries of this nation are hardening, reminding us that you can't build a 21st-century future on a 20th-century spine that's already halfway to retirement.
Service Delivery Metrics
- U.S. municipalities served 223 million residents with water services in 2022
- Average daily water use per capita in cities: 88 gallons in 2021
- 95% of U.S. population covered by municipal wastewater treatment in 2022
- Municipal recycling rates averaged 32% of MSW in 2021
- Police response time average: 10.5 minutes for priority 1 calls in large cities 2022
- Fire department response time: 4.8 minutes average nationwide 2021
- Public transit ridership in municipal systems: 9.9 billion trips in 2022
- Street paving: 12,000 lane-miles resurfaced annually by cities 2021
- Park acreage per 1,000 residents: 10.1 acres average in 2022
- Library visits: 1.3 billion annually pre-pandemic baseline 2019
- 911 calls handled: 240 million in U.S. local systems 2022
- Solid waste collection: 292 million tons MSW managed by locals 2021
- Building permits issued: 1.4 million residential in municipal jurisdictions 2022
- Animal control calls responded to: 7.5 million annually 2021
- Vaccination rates in municipal clinics: 75% for routine shots 2022
- Pothole repairs: average 5,200 per large city annually 2022
- Bus fleet size: 65,000 vehicles in municipal transit 2022
- Stormwater management projects: 4,200 completed in 2021
- Senior center participants: 10 million served annually 2022
- Code enforcement violations resolved: 2.8 million in 2021
- Municipal broadband subscribers: 5 million in community networks 2023
- Farmers markets supported: 8,140 by local govs in 2022
- Youth programs enrolled: 15 million in rec depts 2021
- Traffic signals managed: 300,000 nationwide 2022
- Municipal miles of roads maintained: 2.1 million 2021
- Miles of sidewalks: 1.2 million maintained by cities 2022
Service Delivery Metrics Interpretation
While we each splash through 88 daily gallons, dodge potholes, and wait for the bus, an intricate, often unseen municipal machine quietly ensures 223 million of us are watered, safe, answered in 10.5 minutes, connected, and—despite our best efforts with only a 32% recycling rate—hauled away.
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