What Else Could $8T Buy?
The War on Terror alone cost $8T. That money is gone — spent on wars that killed 929,000 people and destabilized four countries. Here's what it could have done instead.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Every dollar listed below came from American taxpayers. The average household contributed roughly $60,000 to the War on Terror. What could your family's share have bought?
→ Calculate your personal war tax receiptFrom the Data
101×
Free public college for all Americans (4 years)
Could have funded free college for over a century.
Unit cost: $79B
222×
Universal pre-K for every child
Over 200 years of universal pre-K.
Unit cost: $36B
400×
Clean drinking water for entire world
400 years of clean water for every human on earth.
Unit cost: $20B
400×
End homelessness in America
Could end homelessness 400 times over.
Unit cost: $20B
127M×
Elementary school teachers' annual salary
127 million teacher-years.
Unit cost: $63K
107M×
Average American household income
A year's income for 107 million families.
Unit cost: $75K
1.1B×
Pell Grants at max amount ($7,395)
Over 1 billion Pell Grants.
Unit cost: $7K
667×
Veterans mental health care (per year)
667 years of fully funded VA mental health.
Unit cost: $12B
64×
Rebuild every bridge in America
Could rebuild every US bridge 64 times.
Unit cost: $125B
13,333×
Flint, MI water system fix
Fix 13,333 Flints.
Unit cost: $600M
Side-by-Side: War vs. Investment
What We Spent
$2.3T Afghanistan War (20 years)
What We Could Have Had
Free college for all Americans for 29 years
$79B/yr × 29
What We Spent
$2.0T Iraq War
What We Could Have Had
End homelessness in America for 100 years
$20B/yr × 100
What We Spent
$8T War on Terror (total)
What We Could Have Had
Clean drinking water for the entire world for 400 years
$20B/yr × 400
What We Spent
$886B annual defense budget
What We Could Have Had
14 million new teachers' salaries per year
$63K × 14M
What We Spent
$55B/yr overseas bases
What We Could Have Had
Triple the EPA budget + double NASA's budget
$24B EPA + $28B NASA
More Perspectives
32M
New affordable homes ($250K each)
32 million new homes — enough to end the housing crisis entirely.
5M
Hospital beds ($1.5M each to build/equip)
5.3 million new hospital beds — 5× the current US total.
127M
Teacher salaries for a year ($63K)
127 million teacher-years of employment.
4.7
Total US student loan debt forgiven
Could wipe out all student debt 4.7 times over.
2.3
Years of universal healthcare ($3.5T/yr)
Over 2 years of healthcare for every American.
160
Lead pipe replacement for every US city
Replace all lead pipes in America 160 times over.
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower, “The Chance for Peace” speech, 1953
💡 Did You Know?
- • The US spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined.
- • The War on Terror cost roughly $60,000 per US household.
- • $8 trillion in $100 bills, stacked, would reach 5,400 miles high — past the International Space Station.
- • The cost of one F-35 fighter jet ($80M) could fund 1,270 teacher salaries for a year.
- • At $886B/yr, the US spends $28,095 per second on defense.