Policing and Corrections Spending by State

Amid mounting cases of excessive force by law enforcement officers and discussions about states' budgets, MoneyGeek analyzed the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data to determine how much states spend on policing and corrections. We also compared spending in Democratic and Republican-controlled states to see how political leaning influenced state expenditures. Here's what we found.

• The U.S. spent nearly $215 billion on law enforcement, up $10 billion from the previous year. Nearly $129 billion was spent on policing and $86 billion on corrections.
• Washington, D.C. and Alaska spent the most on police and corrections per capita, spending around $1,300 and $1,000 per capita, respectively.
• Despite being considered tax-friendly states, Florida and Nevada spent the highest percentages of their budgets on law enforcement (7.3% and 7%, respectively).
• While Democratic states spent 39% more per capita on law enforcement, both Republican and Democratic states spent about the same percentage of their budgets on policing and corrections (5.09% and 5.07%, respectively).

MoneyGeek analyzed police and corrections spending data for each state to find the places that spend the most money on law enforcement. States were ranked using per capita spending and the proportion of total state and local spending to learn which states spend the most on policing and corrections. Each state was assessed on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more spending on policing and corrections per capita.

While police and corrections expenditures may be associated with geographically large areas with high populations, data shows Nevada (ranked No. 1) and Washington, D.C. (ranked No. 2) spend a more significant portion of their budgets on law enforcement than areas with more people.

While national per capita spending on law enforcement and corrections was $655 in 2020, per capita state spending ranged from $1,337 in Washington, D.C., to $390 in Kentucky. Nevada, one of MoneyGeek’s 10 most tax-friendly states in the U.S., spent 7% of its budget on law enforcement. Florida, another tax-friendly state, spent 7.3% of its budget on policing. Both states spent the highest proportion of their local and state expenditures on law enforcement, well above the national average of 5.1%.

Our analysis of per capita spending found that blue states spent 39% more on policing and corrections than red states in 2020. Interestingly, red states spent about the same percentage of their state budgets on policing and corrections as blue states, with each spending 5.09% and 5.07%, respectively.

The detailed findings of MoneyGeek's analysis break down the spending on policing and corrections individually. Some states vary widely, with increased or decreased spending on one category over the other.

To determine which states spend the most and least on policing and corrections, MoneyGeek reviewed expenditures for each state, including state and local (municipal and county) government expenditures using the most recent data available, which is from 2020. We then used the following metrics to determine final scores and rankings:

• Per Capita Spend on Policing and Corrections (full weight, 50%): This value is calculated as the combined expenditures on policing and corrections divided by the state's population and is scaled to a range from 0 to 100.
• Police and Corrections Spend as a Percentage of All Spend (full weight, 50%): This value is calculated as the combined policing and corrections expenditures divided by the total amounts spent by state and local governments and is scaled to a range from 0 to 100.

Red and blue labels were used to define each state by the voting history in the past five presidential elections. States where the republican candidate won three out of the five elections were labeled as red, and states where the Democratic candidate won three out of the five elections were labeled as blue.