NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: Although the federal government's spending on citizens has never been greater, Americans continue to feel the burden accessibility crisis.
The conservative fiscal watchdog group Open The Books, which tracks various measures of government growth and spending, determined in its latest report that since 1916, government spending per capita, or how much money the government spends on average per person in the United States, has increased by 9,800%.
In 1916, the government spent an average of $208.36 per person in today's dollars, according to Open The Books. Since then, the fiscal watchdog group says the trend line has risen “almost continuously” and the federal government's current per capita spending is $20,474.19.
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan government agency that conducts economic and budgetary analysis, found that the federal government spent a record $7.035 trillion in fiscal year 2025.
WHITE HOUSE CONTROLS BIDEN'S ECONOMIC IMPACT AS VOTERS UNHAPPY WITH 'AFFORDABILITY'
The federal government's per capita spending for a family of four is almost the same as the median household income in 2024, according to Open The Books. (Photo by Vin McNamee/Getty Images)
“While American families and businesses are finding ways to do more with less, the government is doing less with more,” Open The Books CEO John Hart told Fox News Digital. “Today's federal government is 98 times larger per person than it was just over a century ago. The best affordability and incentive program imaginable is to reduce waste, fraud and central planning in government. Every dollar saved in Washington is a dream realized somewhere in America.”
The level of government spending per capita is about $82,000 for a family of four. In its report outlining the findings, the group noted that this is almost the same as the median household income in 2024, which was $83,730.
Open The Books also notes that according to national averages of how much people spend annually on mortgages and groceries, government spending per capita dwarfs average spending on these two basic needs. The Department of Agriculture recommends spending between $12,000 and $20,000 a year on groceries for a family of four, while the average mortgage payment in 2025 will be just under $28,000, according to Open The Books. Rocket mortgage.
AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HAD ACCESS TO MORE LUXURY, BUT WHY DO WE FEEL SO POOR?
A graphic created by Open The Books shows how much federal spending has increased per capita since 1916. (Open the books)
At the beginning of the period Donald Trump In the first term, when Elon Musk's Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) began to take shape, Open The Books also worked to track all the savings created by the Musk-led group. Ultimately, DOGE's cuts were just a drop in the bucket compared to how much the government spends each year on mandatory spending on programs like Medicare and Social Security, Open The Books found.
While DOGE has helped save about $150 billion in discretionary spending, and congressional Republicans passed a repeal package in July that saved about $9 billion, Medicare spending in 2024 was about $912 billion, and Social Security received $1.5 trillion.
Meanwhile, another recent report from Open The Books found that government spending was growing much faster than it was rising. For example, the number of personnel in Department of Education have declined since 2000, but agency costs have increased by 749%, according to Open The Books.
The graphs show Department of Education figures obtained by Open The Books. Since 2000, the department's number of personnel has decreased, but the department's expenses have increased almost 8 times. (Open the books)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Much of the cost growth is now set in stone as Americans are forced to service a massive national debt. But taxpayers should also scrutinize all aspects of federal spending,” Open The Books wrote in its report on per capita spending.
“Has quality of life, affordability, or innovation improved along with per capita spending? Besides interest, what else does the government buy that wasn't there before when we became a global superpower? Open the Books will spend 2026 continuing to expose waste, fraud and abuse wherever it exists and achieve real-time transparency for taxpayers. Simply put, they deserve more bang for their buck.”
