Budget Explorer · State of Hawaii

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for Hawaii's state government, on the same Census classification used for all fifty states and every city and county in the Library. Transfers to local governments and school districts are broken out, since for most states they are the single largest line. Latest year: FY ending Jun 30, 2024.

Audited actuals · Census classification · 1.44M residents

Total revenue

$20.5B

$14,266 per resident

Total spending

$18.5B

$12,832 per resident

Spending per resident

$12,832

87th percentile of 50

Debt outstanding

$11.7B

$8,137 per resident · 91st percentile of 50

Own-source share

74%

95th percentile of 50

Capital share

8%

69th percentile of 50

Where the money comes from

$20.5B total

Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.

  • General sales tax$4.79B23%
  • Selective sales taxes$1.51B7%
  • Income taxes$3.80B18%
  • License & other taxes$484M2%
  • Federal aid$4.82B23%
  • State & local aid$468M2%
  • Charges & fees$2.07B10%
  • Interest, fines, other$2.16B11%
  • Liquor & insurance trust$456M2%

Own-source share of general revenue 74% · federal aid 24% · property tax is 0% of taxes

Where it goes

$18.5B total

Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.

  • Education$6.27B34%
  • Public welfare$4.18B23%
  • General government$3.93B21%
  • Transportation$1.57B8%
  • Health & hospitals$1.28B7%
  • Environment & housing$424M2%
  • Public safety$421M2%
  • Culture & recreation$145M1%
  • Interest on debt$132M1%
  • Transfers to other governments$122M1%
  • Other$916K0%
Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸
FunctionCategoryOperatingCapitalTotal
Public welfarePublic welfare$4.14B$44M$4.18B
General (unallocable)General government$3.17B$101M$3.27B
K-12 educationEducation$2.70B$427M$3.13B
Higher educationEducation$2.69B$129M$2.82B
Air transportationTransportation$524M$241M$766M
HighwaysTransportation$451M$268M$718M
HealthHealth & hospitals$687M$21M$709M
HospitalsHealth & hospitals$564M$11M$575M
Judicial & legalGeneral government$275M$26M$301M
Corrections (institutions)Public safety$239M$3.2M$242M
Financial administrationGeneral government$226M$11M$237M
Housing & community developmentEnvironment & housing$209M$18M$227M
Higher education (auxiliary)Education$142M$65M$206M
Natural resourcesEnvironment & housing$172M$24M$196M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.

Revenue

+3% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$19.9B$20.5B

Spending

+12% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$16.5B$18.5B

Debt outstanding

-2% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$11.9B$11.7B

How it compares · the 50 states

Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.

MeasureHawaiiCohort medianPercentileHigher means
Spending per resident$12,832$9,466
87th
more spent per resident
Revenue per resident$14,266$9,800
93rd
more raised per resident
Taxes per resident$7,342$4,114
97th
heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident$8,137$3,139
91st
more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue74%64%
95th
less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue24%35%
3rd
more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending8%7%
69th
more building, less operating
Interest share of spending1%1%
23rd
more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue0.57×0.29×
87th
more leveraged
  • Census classification categories, not this government's own budget structure. Figures are audited actuals for the fiscal year shown, not the adopted budget.
  • The Census Bureau edits unit-level data only to produce state and national aggregates and advises against reading it as a precise time series for any single government; treat year-over-year moves under ~5% as noise.
  • Employee-retirement-system revenue is excluded (published separately by Census). Utility and insurance-trust revenue are shown separately from general revenue.
  • Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (Individual Unit public-use files), unit 150000227524 (Hawaii). Retrieved 2026-09-07. Classification manual.

Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.

For how this shapes what Hawaii and its cities can deliver — preemption posture, revenue authority, the binding constraint — see the Hawaii state profile.

The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.