Local governments in the United States employ over 20 million people—nearly seven times the federal workforce—and spend more than $2T annually. These governments are responsible for everything from K-12 education, roads, police, fire protection, to water and other local utility services.
Unlike the federal government and the states, local governments lack inherent constitutional authority. Because of this, they operate at the discretion of state legislatures and vary widely in structure—and in some states, a legislature could technically dissolve all of its cities overnight.
The 2022 Census of Governments counted 90,837 local government units across the country, which include 3,031 counties, 35,705 townships and municipalities, 12,546 independent school districts, and 39,555 special-purpose governments. Despite their significance, local elections consistently have the lowest voter turnout of any level of government, typically below 15%.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for funding public services. Education, roads, and social programs are funded through a complicated mix of taxes and intergovernmental transfers.
Unlike the federal government or the states, local governments have no constitutional standing—they exist only because state law allows them to. A state legislature can redraw a city's boundaries, strip its powers, or dissolve it entirely.
Counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and school districts are each created for a different purpose, operating under different rules, and answerable to the state in different ways. Special districts, the least known of the group, are created for specific purposes, such as transit or fire protection.
Local governments allocate 39% of their spending to K-12 education, while states allocate less than 1% directly—although much of local education funding actually comes from state and federal grants to local communities. States instead allocate their budgets to public welfare and health programs (45%) and higher education (15%).
Local governments collect about $886B each year to support education, infrastructure, and public health. Roughly three-quarters of this funding comes from property taxes, with the rest sourced from sales, excise, and income taxes.
When a city needs to build a school, a road, or a water treatment plant, it usually issues a municipal bond—borrowing money from investors to be paid back over time. The market for these bonds now exceeds $4T.
The GovLove podcast features interviews with mayors, city managers, planners, and public servants at every level. It covers policies, challenges, and the daily realities of running local government across the US.
Under what is known as "Dillon's Rule," local governments can only exercise powers explicitly granted by the state. Under "home rule," cities have broader self-governing authority—but the balance between the two depends entirely on state law.
Courts generally side with state law when it conflicts with a local ordinance. Whether the contradiction is explicitly stated or merely implied by the two laws, state authority typically prevails.
Based on the book of the same name by journalists James and Deborah Fallows, the 2021 documentary follows the pair as they travel across small and mid-sized American cities to show how communities handle economic setbacks and reinvent themselves locally.
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