Facts About Local Government

There are over 3000 counties and 20,000 municipalities across the country, and when you add townships, school districts and other special districts, the United States has over 87,000 local units of government.   Kansas has almost 4000 local jurisdictions, while Nevada has only 250.

Most counties are small, and nearly three quarters of them have fewer than 50,000 residents.  Populations range from Los Angeles  County with 9.5 million residents to Loving County Texas which has only 120 people.

As reported by the  National Association of Counties:

• Forty-eight of the fifty states have operational county governments.
• Alaska and Louisiana call their county type governments boroughs and parishes.
• Connecticut and Rhode Island are divided into geographic regions called counties, but they do not have functioning governments, as defined by the Census Bureau.
• Hawaii and Delaware each have the fewest counties (3); Texas has the most (254).
• In addition to the 3,033 counties, there are 33 city-county governments
• Counties vary greatly in size, from 26 square miles of Arlington County,Virginia to 87,860 square miles of North Slope,Alaska.

Local Finances

According to a 2001 NACO Study, property taxes accounted for the single most important revenue source for counties, reporting 30.6% of general revenue funds.  The sales tax is the second most significant revenue source for counties, with counties reporting collecting 14% of the general fund from this tax. 

The following states with a state sales tax do not permit local government to levy a local sales tax: Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

Public welfare, hospitals and other general health related issues comprised nearly 64% of total county government expenditures in FY 1998 – 1999.  Spending on education services in local communities was second for counties, comprising 13.2% of finances

Employment Growth

County governments employ more than two million professional, technical, and clerical personnel. Employment by county governments increased by nearly 73% between 1967 and 1997, rising from 1,582,000 full time-equivalent (FTE) personnel to 2,181,000 in 1997.  Moreover, the total cost of a typical one month payroll for all county employees climbed from $1,489,300 to $5,750,400 over that 20 year period.

Web Sites

www.naco.org

www.census.gov

www.gfoa.gov

www.municode.com

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