2026 The State of the Union in Numbers, NOT Rhetoric

 

The 2026 State of the Union in Numbers

Article II of the Constitution requires that the president periodically update Congress about the “state of the union,” including a budget report, legislative proposals, and national priorities. President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 24 (tomorrow or tonight, depending on when you're reading this newsletter).   After his speech, the Democratic party will provide a rebuttal. With two different views from politicians, citizens might be looking for a rhetoric-free way to determine if the country is moving in the right or wrong direction.  So, before the State of the Union, get the State of the Union in Numbers. It’s a snapshot of the data behind the issues that affect Americans — and their government — daily. Look at the data yourself and make your own judgments.  The federal budget The federal government collected $5.3 trillion in revenue in FY 2025. About 50% of that was from individual income taxes. Another 34% came from the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.   Meanwhile, the federal government spent $7.1 trillion. Spending exceeding revenue means the budget was in deficit. Five spending priorities accounted for 86% of spending: Social Security, national defense, grants to states and local governments, interest on the debt, and Medicare. Economy   Year-over-year inflation — the rate at which consumer prices increase — was 2.4% in January 2026. The average monthly inflation rate in 2025 was 2.6%. The largest contributor to inflation last year? Housing.   The unemployment rate was 4.3% in January. A couple of months prior, in November 2025, the rate was 4.5%, the highest since late 2021.  The average monthly effective tariff rate measures the percentage of the total value of imported goods that the US collects in customs duties. In 2025, monthly rates grew from 2.2% in January to a peak of 10.9% in October. Individual imports may have different tariff rates (or none at all) depending on factors such as country of origin, product type, and trade agreements.  Standard of living  Household wealth is measured as the value of all assets minus debt. In the third quarter of 2025, average middle-class household wealth was about $496,000, nearly the same value as a year prior after adjusting for inflation. For comparison, middle-class wealth hit a high in 2022 at $515,000. Since then, it’s stayed between $482,000 and $496,000.     Immigration  An average of 9,000 refugees were admitted to the US each month from January 2024 to January 2025. From February to December 2025, there were 1,226 total admissions, 1,059 of whom were from South Africa.     There were 70,805 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention as of December 31, 2025. That was 74% higher than one year prior. There were also 212 active ICE detention centers at the end of 2025 — more than double the amount at the beginning of the year.     Education  In 2024, about one-third of students in fourth, eighth, and 12th grades were proficient in reading. The proficiency rate has fallen from pre-pandemic levels for all grades.    There’s even more in the new report. Dive deep into the 2026 State of the Union in Numbers and see where the nation has been so you can decide where it should go next.   See the data Ask an Analyst: Creating a data-driven SOTU  Ever read something from USAFacts and think, “How did they find this info?” Our new series Ask an Analyst takes you on our team’s data journeys. Join them as they scour government sources for facts that answer readers’ most pressing questions.   In this installment, Lucia goes into detail on how the State of the Union in Numbers gets created. She’s headed up this effort for two years now, so she would know! See how we make the decisions on what to feature and what to cut after researching over 100 government data sets.   Join the journey Think you know the data? Take our poll to find out. When was the last time the Office of Homeland Security Statistics released its monthly report on the immigrants deported via expedited removal? Read next week's newsletter for the answer. January 2025 November 2016 November 2025 April 2020 Data behind the news Funding negotiations for the Department of Homeland Security have hit an impasse. The department shut down on February 14. Employees the department considers essential, such as people in the Transportation Security Administration or ICE, are working. Many are working without pay.  Ready to test your government data knowledge? Then take the weekly fact quiz.    One last fact Gas prices were down $0.23 from a year prior the week of February 9. The national average for regular gas was $2.90. Prices in the Rocky Mountain region fell the most year over year, down $0.35. Arizona in the West Coast region? South Dakota in the Midwest? If you’re confused about these regions, here’s a (fun?) fact: these groupings were created in 1942 with the establishment of the Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts. They’re for energy supply chain reporting, not delineations of culture or geography.