Budget Explorer · State of Utah

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for Utah'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 · 3.38M residents

Total revenue

$32.5B

$9,610 per resident

Total spending

$32.8B

$9,708 per resident

Spending per resident

$9,708

57th percentile of 50

Debt outstanding

$5.39B

$1,593 per resident · 19th percentile of 50

Own-source share

73%

93rd percentile of 50

Capital share

9%

79th percentile of 50

Where the money comes from

$32.5B 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$4.63B14%
  • Selective sales taxes$1.09B3%
  • Income taxes$7.17B22%
  • License & other taxes$549M2%
  • Federal aid$8.46B26%
  • State & local aid$5.2M0%
  • Charges & fees$7.29B22%
  • Interest, fines, other$2.45B8%
  • Liquor & insurance trust$852M3%

Own-source share of general revenue 73% · federal aid 27% · property tax is 0% of taxes

Where it goes

$32.8B 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$8.04B24%
  • Public welfare$6.92B21%
  • Transfers to other governments$6.31B19%
  • Health & hospitals$4.34B13%
  • General government$2.84B9%
  • Transportation$2.02B6%
  • Public safety$959M3%
  • Environment & housing$678M2%
  • Other$366M1%
  • Interest on debt$231M1%
  • Culture & recreation$125M0%
Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸
FunctionCategoryOperatingCapitalTotal
Public welfarePublic welfare$6.86B$8.1M$6.87B
Higher educationEducation$6.09B$678M$6.77B
HospitalsHealth & hospitals$3.43B$170M$3.60B
HighwaysTransportation$535M$1.47B$2.00B
General (unallocable)General government$886M$16M$902M
Financial administrationGeneral government$779M$16M$796M
HealthHealth & hospitals$709M$27M$736M
Higher education (auxiliary)Education$711M$16M$727M
General public buildingsGeneral government$63M$508M$571M
Natural resourcesEnvironment & housing$476M$32M$508M
Education assistance & subsidiesEducation$442M$442M
Corrections (institutions)Public safety$365M$42M$407M
Liquor storesOther$359M$359M
Judicial & legalGeneral government$308M$5.7M$314M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

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

Revenue

+7% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$30.5B$32.5B

Spending

+15% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$28.4B$32.8B

Debt outstanding

-10% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$5.98B$5.39B

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.

MeasureUtahCohort medianPercentileHigher means
Spending per resident$9,708$9,466
57th
more spent per resident
Revenue per resident$9,610$9,800
47th
more raised per resident
Taxes per resident$3,975$4,114
43rd
heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident$1,593$3,139
19th
more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue73%64%
93rd
less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue27%35%
9th
more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending9%7%
79th
more building, less operating
Interest share of spending1%1%
21st
more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue0.17×0.29×
17th
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 490000226360 (Utah). 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 Utah and its cities can deliver — preemption posture, revenue authority, the binding constraint — see the Utah 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.