The War You Know
Right now, U.S. defense spending costs every American
$2,455
per year
$839.2B FY2026 enacted DoD appropriation ÷ 341,800,000 people (Census Population Estimates, July 1, 2025)
Ongoing wars
As of Jul 13, 2026
US-Iran War — Operation Epic Fury
Started Feb 28, 2026 • Day 136 and counting
Cost to date
$30B–$42B
Red — verified floor: $30B (OMB, operational costs only). Gray — contested upper estimate: $42B (CSIS, incl. ~$12B base damage).
That’s roughly $88–$123 per American for this one conflict ($30B–$42B ÷ 341.8M, Census PEP July 2025).
Emergency supplemental
$87.6B requested (submitted to Congress June 24 2026), not enacted
Congressional funding request, not money yet spent.
Killed in the US–Israel air campaign (non-US)
at least 3,636
as of Apr 7, 2026 — floor; likely higher
⚠ Combined US+Israel attribution — monitors do not separate US-caused deaths. Counts contested.
US military deaths
13as of Apr 8, 2026
⚠ Pentagon's last official figure is from April 8, 2026 — no updated count has been released since. The actual number is likely higher.
Numbers change daily in active conflicts; figures are re-verified weekly. Methodology & full sources →
As of Jul 13, 2026
US-Venezuela / Caribbean Operations — Operation Southern Spear
Started Aug 15, 2025 • Day 333 and counting
Estimated cost to date
~$8B
Verified floor of $4.7B through Mar 31, 2026, plus ~$31M/day since (105 days).
Red — verified through Mar 31, 2026 (Brown University’s Costs of War): $4.7B. Gray — extrapolated since, at ~$31M/day × 105 days. CSIS rate predates the current reduced posture — treat as an upper bound.
~$2.8M/day of this was never authorized by Congress.
People killed in US strikes (non-US)
at least 215vessel-strike deaths — NON-US, people aboard targeted boats
As of Jun 21, 2026
~75killed in Jan 3, 2026 Maduro raid (Operation Absolute Resolve) — NON-US
⚠ Contested: US/Venezuela/Cuba figures differ significantly.
US combat deaths: 0
Numbers change daily in active conflicts; figures are re-verified weekly. Methodology & full sources →
Average cost per day — current wars vs. the Iraq War
Constant 2026 dollars.
Red — current-war verified segment. Gray extension — current-war contested/upper-bound segment. Dark gray — Iraq War historical average. All figures are appropriations-basis daily averages, not outlays; current-war figures are partial and in progress. The Iraq average is a floor (CRS total covers appropriations through FY2010). Iran average through Jun 24, 2026.
Look up your ZIP's historical share
This is what a community pays toward defense based on its income-tax contribution — not what is spent in it. Higher-income ZIP codes contribute more income tax, so they show a larger share. That is intended. Uses 2022 IRS data — the most recent ZIP-level income data the IRS has published (it releases roughly three to four years late).
FY2026 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 119-75), $839.2B enacted; U.S. population 341.8M (Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 — July 1, 2025 estimate, released Jan 27, 2026, rounded as published). Enacted DoD appropriation only — excludes the ~$150B mandatory defense (OBBB) and the $1.5T President's proposal.
This is a share of the federal defense appropriation spread across the whole population — not a share of your personal income tax, and not total federal spending. Defense ran about one of every nine federal dollars of FY2022 outlays.