Policing and Corrections Spending by State

Police and corrections budgets became a flashpoint in 2020 due largely to nationwide protests and social unrest brought on by highly publicized cases of excessive force by some law enforcement officers.

Law enforcement budgets are being reevaluated as some jurisdictions consider police spending cuts or reallocation of funds. Local and state government budgets for policing and corrections include sentencing, incarceration and probation. MoneyGeek’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that law enforcement spending in the U.S. was $200 billion in 2018, which breaks down to $119 billion on policing and $81 billion on corrections.

MoneyGeek analyzed police and corrections spending data for each state to determine which states spend the most on policing and corrections. States were ranked using per capita spending and the proportion of total state and local spending. 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 larger or more densely populated states, data shows Nevada (ranked No. 1) and Alaska (ranked No. 2) spend a larger portion of their budgets on law enforcement than states with higher populations and more metropolitan areas.

While national per capita spending on law enforcement and corrections was $612 in 2018, per capita state spending ranged from $1,254 in Washington, D.C. to $393 in Indiana. Nevada, one of MoneyGeek’s 10 most tax-friendly states in the U.S., spent 7.8% of its budget on law enforcement. Florida, another tax-friendly state, spent 7.3% of its budgets on policing. Both states spent the highest proportion of their local and state expenditures on law enforcement, well above the national average of 5.3%.

Analysis of per capita spending finds that blue states spend 38% more on policing and corrections than red states. When analyzing the proportion of their budgets on policing and corrections, both red and blue spend about 5.3% of their state budgets.

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. 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.