Calculator

What did your tax dollars buy?

What your tax dollars bought in military spending. Based on FY2025 DoD procurement unit costs from official P-40 budget justification books.

Your tax dollars spent on defense

$2,815

Federal income tax

$13,614

per year

How this works

Your federal income tax is the only tax that funds defense. Social Security and Medicare are funded by dedicated payroll (FICA) taxes and flow to separate trust funds.

In FY2025, national defense was $917 billion out of $4.4 trillion in non-earmarked federal outlays. Your proportional slice of that $917B is what gets translated into hardware quantities below.

Unit costs come from official DoD P-40 budget justification books — the same procurement exhibits Congress uses to approve weapons purchases.

munitions partial

~10.4266% of one

JDAM guidance kit (GBU-38)

$27,000 each

What is this?

GPS/INS guidance tail kit that converts unguided bombs into precision munitions. Over 450,000 kits delivered since 1997. Used extensively in every major U.S. air campaign.

FY2025 Air Force Missile Procurement Justification Book
munitions partial

~1.5816% of one

FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile

$178,000 each

What is this?

Fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile with top-attack capability. Effective range of 2.5 km. Used by infantry against tanks and fortified positions.

FY2025 Army Missile Procurement Justification Book
munitions partial

~0.2044% of one

AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missile

$1,377,000 each

What is this?

Beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. The primary medium-range air-to-air weapon for U.S. and allied aircraft. Active radar homing after launch.

FY2025 Air Force Missile Procurement Justification Book
munitions partial

~0.1490% of one

Tomahawk Block V cruise missile

$1,890,000 each

What is this?

Land-attack cruise missile with a range exceeding 1,000 miles. Used in opening strikes against hardened targets. Launched from surface ships and submarines.

FY2025 Weapons Procurement, Navy (P-40)

Prices shown are the unit purchase cost from DoD budget justification books; what the government pays per item at time of procurement. Long-term maintenance and operating costs are not included. All figures are FY2025 budget request values unless otherwise noted.

Sources