Every dollar leaves a footprint.
A tale of one tax dollar
You wake up, clock in, and trade your hours for a paycheck. That makes you the hero of this story.
But at the top of a very tall beanstalk lives a giant who takes his share first. His name is Uncle Sam. He's big, he's loud, and he only ever says four words.
Fee. Fi. Fo. Fund.
This is the story of where his share goes, and how it finds its way back down to you.
Chapter one of four
fee /fē/ noun
The slice of every paycheck that goes to taxes before you ever see it.
Earnings statementYour pay stub
See the yellow dot on the map? That's one of your tax dollars. Keep scrolling to follow it.
Social Security and Medicare come out of your paycheck too, each on its own line.
Chapter two of four
fi /fī/ short for fiscal
The government's money pot. Your dollar climbs the beanstalk and lands in the federal budget in Washington.
Via federal mail
Dollars from all 50 states end up in one big pot, and Congress decides how to spend it. Out of every $100:
Federal is only one trip. Your state and city taxes take their own.
Chapter three of four
fo /fō/ short for formula
The rules Uncle Sam uses to split the pot. Some money follows formulas based on population and need. Some follows people, like Social Security. Some follows federal jobs and contracts.
Uncle Sam's ledger2023
New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington State. Every other state got back more than its people and businesses paid in. New Jersey's gap was the biggest: $18.9 billion, about $2,011 a person.
Biggest net receivers, per person
Yellow dots: paid in more. White dots: the five biggest receivers. Source: Rockefeller Institute of Government, federal fiscal year 2023 (preliminary).
Virginia and Maryland border Washington, D.C., so they're home to lots of federal workers and contractors.
Uncle Sam's ledger, page 2California
$101 billion
That was the gap in 2022, not counting COVID relief, and the same was true in 6 of the 9 years from 2015 to 2023.
Source: California Budget & Policy Center, using Rockefeller Institute data.
In 2023, pandemic money tipped it the other way, by about $342 a person.
Chapter four of four
fund /fənd/ verb
What your dollar builds when it finally comes back down to you.
Greetings from home
Add in your state and city taxes, and your dollars become the road you drive, the school down the street, the park on the corner, and the fire truck that shows up in minutes. Some come back as checks, like your grandparents' Social Security.
Watch the map: the color spreads out from home.
The happy ending
Turns out Uncle Sam isn't the villain. He's more like a very large accountant, and you get to check his math.
You don't have to climb the beanstalk to have a say. Budgets are public, hearings are open, and you get a vote. One move for each chapter:
Every dot on the map is a zip code. Pick yours to see where your dollars went. See every way to leave a footprint.
Santa Clara
95050 · California
One bill for every dollar. Point at a color to find its sticker.
