Putting NASA's Budget in Perspective

The federal government spent roughly $14 billion (B) on NASA in fiscal year 1999. That's a lot of money! But what does that mean? How much is $14B? For most folks $14B is merely an abstract concept.

This webpage aims to put NASA's budget in perspective by comparing this $14B figure with other governmental and private expenditures in the United States.

For example, in fiscal year (FY) 1999, total federal expenditures were $1,699,217 million (M) -- approximately $1.7 trillion! NASA's budget of $14B, thus, represented only about 0.8% of total federal expenditures during FY '99. In fact, since 1975 NASA's budget has varied only between 0.7% and 1.0% of total federal expenditures. NASA's highest ever share of total federal expenditures was 5.5%, which occurred in 1966. (Click here to see a graph illustrating NASA's share of federal expenditures for the past 40 years.)

Many other interesting comparisons can be made:

• Microsoft's corporate revenues in 1998 were roughly the same as NASA's budget that year.
• NASA's budget is roughly the same size as the budgets of each of the following states: Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. 
• The federal government spends over 30 times as much money on Social Security as it does on NASA. 
• Americans spent over 19 times as much at restaurants in 1997 as the federal government spent on NASA that year. 
• NASA's budget represents approximately 0.2% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

What follows are a set of tables further illustrating how much -- or how little -- the federal government spends on NASA. Note that these comparisons do not necessarily imply a cause-effect relationship between the governmental or private expenditure in question and NASA's budget. These comparisons are meant merely to illustrate the size of NASA's budget.

Table Menu

Table 1 -- NASA's budget compared to other federal government expenditures
Table 2 -- NASA's budget compared to various consumer expenditures
Table 3 -- NASA's budget compared to the budgets of the 50 state governments
Table 4 -- NASA's budget compared to revenues of various large corporations

 

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Table 1 -- NASA's budget compared to other federal government expenditures

Explanatory Notes
The blue row near the top, illustrating NASA's data, is provided for reference purposes. Using the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) as an example . . . . The VA's budget in 1999 was about $43 B (2nd column). NASA's budget, of about $14 B, was thus about 32% the size of the VA's budget (3rd column). Put another way, the VA's budget was over 3 times the size of NASA's budget (4th column). Put yet another way, for every dollar the federal government spent on NASA, the federal government spent $3.16 on the VA (5th column).

Federal Department/Agency	Dollar Amount (in millions)	NASA budget as % of Dept./Agency budget	Ratio of Dept./Agency budget to NASA budget	Dept./Agency budget per NASA dollar
NASA	13,664	100%	1	$1.00
VA	43,169	32%	3 1/6	$3.16
Congress	2,621	521%	1/5	$0.19
Judiciary	3,793	360%	2/7	$0.28
Executive	416	3285%	0	$0.03
International Assistance Programs	10,059	136%	3/4	$0.74
Agriculture (includes food stamps)	62,885	22%	4 3/5	$4.60
Food Stamps [alone]	19,051	72%	1 2/5	$1.39
Commerce	5,036	271%	3/8	$0.37
Defense	293,387	5%	21 1/2	$21.47
Education	33,521	41%	2 4/9	$2.45
Energy	16,079	85%	1 1/6	$1.18
HHS	359,700	4%	26 1/3	$26.32
HUD	32,736	42%	2 2/5	$2.40
Interior	7,773	176%	4/7	$0.57
Justice	18,318	75%	1 1/3	$1.34
Labor	32,459	42%	2 3/8	$2.38
State	6,464	211%	1/2	$0.47
Transportation	41,819	33%	3	$3.06
Treasury	387,280	4%	28 1/3	$28.34
EPA	6,752	202%	1/2	$0.49
Social Security	419,790	3%	30 5/7	$30.72

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Table 2 -- NASA's budget compared to various consumer expenditures

Explanatory Notes
The blue row near the top, illustrating NASA's data, is provided for reference purposes. Using consumer expenditures on groceries as an example . . . . Consumers as a whole spent about $494 B on groceries in 1997 (2nd column). NASA's budget, of about $14 B, was thus about 3% the size of what all consumers spent on groceries that year (3rd column). Put another way, consumers spent over 34 times as much money on groceries as they did on NASA* (4th column). Put yet another way, for every dollar the federal government happened to spend on NASA in 1997, consumers happened to spend $34.32 on groceries (5th column).

Category	Dollar Amount (in billions)	NASA budget as % of Consumer Expenditures	Ratio of Consumer Expenditures to NASA budget	Consumer Expenditures per NASA dollar
NASA	14.4	100%	1	$1.00
Groceries	494.2	3%	34 1/3	$34.32
Restaurants	277.2	5%	19 1/4	$19.25
Tobacco	51.4	28%	3 4/7	$3.57
Shoes	39.8	36%	2 3/4	$2.76
Clothing & accessories	237.9	6%	16 1/2	$16.52
Jewelry & Watches	43.1	33%	3	$2.99
Toilet articles, preparations	52.6	27%	3 2/3	$3.65
Barber shops, beauty parlors, health clubs	26.8	54%	1 6/7	$1.86
Household Operation	620.7	2%	43 1/9	$43.10
Furniture (including bedding)	54.8	26%	3 4/5	$3.81
Kitchen & other household appliances	29.7	48%	2	$2.06
China, glassware, tableware, utensils	28.6	50%	2	$1.99
Household Utilities	178.5	8%	12 2/5	$12.40
Medical Care	957.3	2%	66 1/2	$66.48
Drug preparations & sundries	98.1	15%	6 4/5	$6.81
Health insurance	58	25%	4	$4.03
Funeral & Burial Expenses	13.8	104%	1	$0.96
New Autos	86.2	17%	6	$5.99
Used Autos	57.3	25%	4	$3.98
Gasoline & oil	126.5	11%	8 7/9	$8.78
Airline	31.5	46%	2 1/5	$2.19
Recreation	462.9	3%	32 1/7	$32.15
Books, maps	25.2	57%	1 3/4	$1.75
Magazines, newspapers, sheet music	29.1	49%	2	$2.02
Non-durable toys and sport supplies	47.8	30%	3 1/3	$3.32
Flowers, seeds, potted plants	15.9	91%	1 1/9	$1.10
Spectator sports	6.7	215%	1/2	$0.47
Clubs, fraternal organizations	13.8	104%	1	$0.96
Education & Research	129.4	11%	9	$8.99
Higher education	69.6	21%	4 5/6	$4.83
Nursery, elementary and secondary schools	25.7	56%	1 7/9	$1.78
Religious & Welfare Activities	157.6	9%	11	$10.94

* [Editorial Comment: Of course, consumers don't really "spend" money on NASA. People are forced to support NASA through their taxes.]

to Table 2

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Table 3 -- NASA's budget compared to the budgets of the 50 state governments

Explanatory Notes
The blue row near the top, illustrating NASA's data, is provided for reference purposes. Using California as an example . . . . California's state expenditures in 1997 were about $118 B (2nd column). NASA's budget, of about $14 B, was thus about 12.2% the size of California's budget (3rd column). Put another way, California's budget was over 8 times the size of NASA's budget (4th column). Put yet another way, for every dollar the federal government happened to spend on NASA, California happened to spend $8.19 on all of its state government programs (5th column).

State	Dollar Amount (in millions)	NASA budget as % of state budget	Ratio of state budget to NASA budget	State budget per NASA dollar
NASA	14,358	100%	1	$1.00
Alabama	12,945	110.9%	1	$0.90
Alaska	5,722	250.9%	2/5	$0.40
Arizona	12,419	115.6%	6/7	$0.86
Arkansas	7,685	186.8%	1/2	$0.54
California	117,643	12.2%	8 1/5	$8.19
Colorado	10,861	132.2%	3/4	$0.76
Connecticut	13,826	103.8%	1	$0.96
Delaware	3,404	421.8%	1/4	$0.24
Florida	37,464	38.3%	2 3/5	$2.61
Georgia	21,975	65.3%	1 1/2	$1.53
Hawaii	6,093	235.6%	3/7	$0.42
Idaho	3,674	390.8%	1/4	$0.26
Illinois	35,302	40.7%	2 1/2	$2.46
Indiana	16,370	87.7%	1 1/7	$1.14
Iowa	9,348	153.6%	2/3	$0.65
Kansas	7,496	191.5%	1/2	$0.52
Kentucky	12,949	110.9%	1	$0.90
Louisiana	14,286	100.5%	1	$0.99
Maine	4,441	323.3%	1/3	$0.31
Maryland	16,200	88.6%	1 1/8	$1.13
Massachusetts	25,791	55.7%	1 4/5	$1.80
Michigan	36,092	39.8%	2 1/2	$2.51
Minnesota	18,443	77.9%	1 2/7	$1.28
Mississippi	9,006	159.4%	5/8	$0.63
Missouri	14,230	100.9%	1	$0.99
Montana	3,204	448.1%	2/9	$0.22
Nebraska	4,802	299.0%	1/3	$0.33
Nevada	5,130	279.9%	1/3	$0.36
New Hampshire	3,324	431.9%	1/4	$0.23
New Jersey	29,430	48.8%	2	$2.05
New Mexico	7,059	203.4%	1/2	$0.49
New York	83,243	17.2%	5 4/5	$5.80
North Carolina	22,864	62.8%	1 3/5	$1.59
North Dakota	2,426	591.8%	1/6	$0.17
Ohio	37,407	38.4%	2 3/5	$2.61
Oklahoma	9,593	149.7%	2/3	$0.67
Oregon	12,388	115.9%	6/7	$0.86
Pennsylvania	39,296	36.5%	2 3/4	$2.74
Rhode Island	4,002	358.8%	2/7	$0.28
South Carolina	12,847	111.8%	8/9	$0.89
South Dakota	2,070	693.6%	1/7	$0.14
Tennessee	14,284	100.5%	1	$0.99
Texas	48,887	29.4%	3 2/5	$3.40
Utah	6,818	210.6%	1/2	$0.47
Vermont	2,123	676.3%	1/7	$0.15
Virginia	19,287	74.4%	1 1/3	$1.34
Washington	22,207	64.7%	1 5/9	$1.55
West Virginia	7,145	201.0%	1/2	$0.50
Wisconsin	18,200	78.9%	1 1/4	$1.27
Wyoming	2,127	675.0%	1/7	$0.15

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Table 4 -- NASA's budget compared to revenues of various large corporations

Explanatory Notes
The blue row near the top, illustrating NASA's data, is provided for reference purposes. Using Sears Roebuck as an example . . . . Sears' revenues in 1998 were about $41 B (2nd column). NASA's budget, of about $14 B, was thus about 34% the size of Sears' revenues (3rd column). Put another way, Sears' revenues were approximately 3 times the size of NASA's budget (4th column). Put yet another way, for every dollar the federal government happened to spend on NASA, Sears happened to earn $2.91 in revenues (5th column).

Company	Corporate Revenues (in millions)	NASA budget as % of corporate revenues	Ratio of corporate revenues to NASA budget	Corporate revenue per NASA dollar
NASA	14,206	100%	1	$1.00
Sears Roebuck	41,322	34%	3	$2.91
Wal-Mart Stores	139,208	10%	9 4/5	$9.80
Kmart	33,674	42%	2 3/8	$2.37
J.C. Penney	30,678	46%	2 1/6	$2.16
BankAmerica Corp.	50,777	28%	3 4/7	$3.57
Chase Manhattan Corp.	32,379	44%	2 2/7	$2.28
Bank One Corp.	25,595	56%	1 4/5	$1.80
Wells Fargo	20,482	69%	1 4/9	$1.44
Walt Disney	22,976	62%	1 5/8	$1.62
Time Warner	14,582	97%	1	$1.03
CBS	9,061	157%	2/3	$0.64
RJR Nabisco Holdings	17,037	83%	1 1/5	$1.20
Archer Daniels Midland	16,109	88%	1 1/7	$1.13
Kroger	28,203	50%	2	$1.99
Safeway	24,484	58%	1 5/7	$1.72
Walgreen	15,307	93%	1	$1.08
McDonald's	12,421	114%	7/8	$0.87
Boeing	56,154	25%	4	$3.95
Lockheed Martin	26,266	54%	1 6/7	$1.85
United Technologies	25,715	55%	1 4/5	$1.81
AlliedSignal	15,128	94%	1	$1.06
Delta Air Lines	14,138	100%	1	$1.00
Nike	9,553	149%	2/3	$0.67
Pepsico	22,348	64%	1 4/7	$1.57
Coca-Cola	18,813	76%	1 1/3	$1.32
Anheuser-Busch	11,246	126%	4/5	$0.79
E.I. du Pont de Nemours	39,130	36%	2 3/4	$2.75
Dow Chemical	18,441	77%	1 2/7	$1.30
Electronic Data Systems	16,891	84%	1 1/5	$1.19
Microsoft	14,484	98%	1	$1.02
IBM	81,667	17%	5 3/4	$5.75
Hewlett-Packard	47,061	30%	3 1/3	$3.31
Compaq Computer	31,169	46%	2 1/5	$2.19
Xerox	20,019	71%	1 2/5	$1.41
Dell Computer	18,243	78%	1 2/7	$1.28
Citigroup	76,431	19%	5 3/8	$5.38
Lucent Technologies	30,147	47%	2 1/8	$2.12
Motorola	29,398	48%	2	$2.07
Cigna	21,437	66%	1 1/2	$1.51
Aetna	20,604	69%	1 4/9	$1.45
Columbia/HCA Healthcare	18,681	76%	1 1/3	$1.32
Marriott International	7,968	178%	5/9	$0.56
Caterpillar	20,977	68%	1 1/2	$1.48
Deere	13,822	103%	1	$0.97
Prudential of America	34,427	41%	2 3/7	$2.42
Metropolitan Life	26,735	53%	1 7/8	$1.88
New York Life (Mutual)	19,849	72%	1 2/5	$1.40
Northwestern Mut. Life	14,645	97%	1	$1.03
State Farm Ins.	48,114	30%	3 2/5	$3.39
Allstate	25,879	55%	1 5/6	$1.82
United Parcel Service	24,788	57%	1 3/4	$1.74
FedEx	15,873	89%	1 1/9	$1.12
Alcoa	15,489	92%	1	$1.09
General Motors	161,315	9%	11 1/3	$11.36
Ford Motor	144,416	10%	10 1/6	$10.17
Exxon	100,697	14%	7	$7.09
Mobil	47,678	30%	3 1/3	$3.36
Texaco	31,707	45%	2 1/4	$2.23
Chevron	26,801	53%	1 8/9	$1.89
Merck (pharmaceuticals)	26,898	53%	1 8/9	$1.89
Johnson & Johnson	23,657	60%	1 2/3	$1.67
Bristol-Myers Squibb	18,284	78%	1 2/7	$1.29
Pfizer	14,704	97%	1	$1.04
Union Pacific	10,553	135%	3/4	$0.74
McGraw-Hill	3,729	381%	1/4	$0.26
New York Times	2,937	484%	1/5	$0.21
Goodyear Tire	12,649	112%	8/9	$0.89
3M	15,021	95%	1	$1.06
Eastman Kodak	13,406	106%	1	$0.94
Merrill Lynch	35,853	40%	2 1/2	$2.52
Morgan Stanley	31,131	46%	2 1/5	$2.19
Intel	26,273	54%	1 6/7	$1.85
Procter & Gamble	37,154	38%	2 3/5	$2.62
Home Depot	30,219	47%	2 1/8	$2.13
AT&T	53,588	27%	3 7/9	$3.77
Bell Atlantic	31,566	45%	2 2/9	$2.22
GTE	25,473	56%	1 4/5	$1.79
Sprint	17,134	83%	1 1/5	$1.21
Manpower (temporary services)	8,814	161%	5/8	$0.62
Philip Morris	57,813	25%	4	$4.07
Houston Industries (utility company)	11,488	124%	4/5	$0.81
PG&E Corp. (utilities)	19,942	71%	1 2/5	$1.40

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NASA's Share of Total Federal Government Expenditures Since 1958

To view a graph showing NASA's historical share of total federal expenditures, click here. To view this graph you will need Adobe Acrobat. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat you can download it for free by clicking here.

The graph is based on the following data (in the table below) obtained from various editions of The World Almanac and Book of Facts -- beginning with the 1960 edition.

to "Putting NASA's Budget in Perspective"

 to discussion of graph

Note on the Table's Data Formats: Normally in tables like this all the numbers entail a common multiplication factor (e.g., the numbers are reported to be in "millions of dollars" or in "thousands of dollars"). However, over time the federal government changed its accounting conventions concerning the magnitude of its budgetary numbers. So, in this table the dollar amounts for the fiscal years:

• 1958 through 1966 are actual dollar figures
• 1967 through 1981 are in thousands of dollars
• 1982 through 1999 are in millions of dollars.

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As examples from the table:

• In FY 1958, NASA's budget was exactly $89,193,256.00 -- roughly $89 M -- out of roughly $72 B in federal expenditures. This means that NASA received 0.1% of total federal expenditures.
• In FY 1967, NASA's budget was approximately $5,425,815,000.00 -- roughly $5.4 B -- out of roughly $172 B in federal expenditures. This means that NASA received 3.1% of total federal expenditures.
• In FY 1982, NASA's budget was approximately $6,026,000,000.00 -- roughly $6 B -- out of roughly $728 B in federal expenditures. This means that NASA received 0.8% of total federal expenditures.

Ultimately, the magnitude of the dollar figures for any given fiscal year are not important when calculating the percentage of the total federal budget NASA received for that year (assuming, of course, that the magnitudes of NASA expenditures and total federal expenditures are the same for that year).