How do I use the Cost of Deportations Calculator?

When you first view the Cost of Deportations Calculator, it is populated with data at the federal level, or for the entire country. To drill down to the spending in your area:

1. Select your state name from the dropdown. The calculator will repopulate with the tax dollars from your selected state that are being spent on deportations, and what that amount of money could be spent on instead in the various categories.
2. To get even more local, select your county, congressional district, or city from the second dropdown. The calculator will repopulate with the tax dollars from your selected locality that are being spent on deportations, and what that amount of money could be spent on instead.
3. To see more categories, click the ➕ symbol at the bottom of the calculator.

What does the Cost of Deportations Calculator do?

The Cost of Deportations Calculator shows you how much U.S. taxpayer money is being spent on mass deportations through the remainder of Trump’s term at the national, state, county, congressional district, city, and average federal taxpayer level.

It also shows what that money could be spent on—such as teachers, nurses, firefighters, veterans’ health care, and nutritional support—instead. For each option, it shows what the full amount being spent on mass deportations could fund.

Can I see how much of MY taxes pay for mass deportations?

Yes! The average amount per taxpayer appears in the dark box at the top of the calculator, immediately after the large number (representing the total amount spent in the country, your state, county, congressional district, or town). This is the average per taxpayer for the area selected. Every taxpayer’s situation will be different.

Where can I get the full dataset for the Cost of Deportations Calculator?

If you are an academic, student, non-profit researcher or advocate, or a journalist, you may download and use all the Cost of Deportations Calculator related materials without requesting permission.

This is permitted under a non-commercial use Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

If you are a commercial enterprise looking to incorporate the Cost of Deportations Calculator data in any product that will be sold or as part of services and data you provide to paying customers, you may request commercial use by contacting EPI.

Download the Cost of Deportations full dataset

Here’s our suggested citation: Economic Policy Institute. 2026. The Cost of Deportations Calculator.

What is the methodology EPI economists and their partners used to create the Cost of Deportations Calculator?

The Cost of Deportations Calculator’s technical documentation outlines the methodology and defines the areas, and various components of the calculator. Any updates to the methodology will be released at the same time as the calculator data.

Read the methodology and technical documentation.