Cost of National Security

Try using Cost of National Security with our Trade-Offs tool. Curious about these counters? Visit our notes & sources page.

Our counters show the costs of the United States’ wars since September 11, 2001. Counters reflect costs estimated by the Costs of War project at Brown University.

Last updated September 3, 2021.

Costs of the War on Terror since 2001

Care for Veterans of the War on Terror

Cost To:

$3,564,874,080,287

Homeland Security Costs of War

Cost To:

$1,163,166,178,386

Interest on War Debt

Cost To:

$1,205,713,030,135

Military Costs of War on Terror

Cost To:

$3,075,133,967,325

State Department in War on Terror

Cost To:

$231,502,195,974

Total Cost of War on Terror

Cost To:

$9,240,389,452,108

Trade-Offs: What else could these dollars buy?

Does our budget reflect your priorities?

  • Use our Trade-Offs tool to see the possibilities for how tax dollars from your state and city could be reallocated to different federal spending priorities.
  • Want to get involved? Visit our Take Action page to contact your legislators and the media and find additional ways to make your priorities heard.
  • Want to learn more about where your taxes go and stay updated? Sign up for our email list.
  • Think your friends would like to know about this tool? Join NPP on Facebook and share.
  • Love NPP's work? Make a donation to support more tools like this one.

Why are these numbers different from the numbers in our Trade-Offs tool?

The numbers in Trade-Offs are projected total costs for a federal program in a given year. The numbers in the Cost of National Security counters are changing in real time to show how much has been spent on a program this year to date.