State Health Compare

Funding is an essential component for public health activities and functions in the United States, such as disease prevention, emergency preparedness, health promotion, and environmental health monitoring. Most public health funding in the U.S. is provided by state governments from their own revenues (e.g., taxes, fees), while some funding also comes from the federal government. Public health funding remains inconsistent across the country, with some states well-positioned to absorb a potential decrease in federal funding while other states would struggle in this scenario to adequately fund their public health activities. Variations in state public health funding levels are therefore an important consideration in efforts to improve underfunded programs and identify where limited resources can be most effectively distributed among the states.

State Health Compare provides annual, state-level rates of public health funding per capita based on data collected by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).

Users should be cautious in making comparisons between states on this measure, as the scope of what states report can vary considerably.  This measure is more useful as a way to interpret changes in a given state's funding over time.