February 2026

Delaware’s current budget

Former Governor John Carney released his FY 2026 budget proposal in January 2025, shortly before Governor Matt Meyer took office. Governor Matt Meyer gave the state of the state address in January 2025. The FY 2026 budget was enacted in June 2025.

Delaware enacted its FY 2025 budget in June 2024. The budget reported $6.1 billion in the operating budget, an increase of 9 percent over the previously enacted budget. (The NASBO data cited below is a different measure of general expenditures.)

Under the American Rescue Plan, Delaware received $925 million in direct state fiscal aid and $253 million in local government aid from the federal government. As of January 2025, Delaware had allocated over 75 percent of its state ARP. States must spend the funds by Dec. 31, 2026.

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Delaware’s total expenditures in fiscal year FY 2025 were $15.5 billion, including general funds, other state funds, bonds, and federal funds. NASBO reported that total expenditures across all states in FY 2025 were $2.9 trillion, ranging from $5.4 billion in Wyoming to $413.8 billion in California.

According to NASBO, Delaware’s recent expenditure totals (general fund spending/total spending, including federal transfers) were:

For more on Delaware’s budget, see

Delaware’s budget institutions, rules, and constraints

Delaware uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit into the following year. Delaware limits both spending and revenue growth with binding rules that require a legislative supermajority or a popular vote to override. A supermajority is also required for any legislation that increases taxes or revenues. Delaware also places limits on the total authorized debt and debt service the state can incur.

(Note: Some states have informal budget institutions that constrain overall spending growth or a specific expenditure’s growth.)

Overview of Delaware’s state and local expenditure and revenue sources

Each state allocates spending and taxes differently among different levels of governments, and local governments often administer programs with state funds, so combined state and local government data show a more complete picture of individual benefits and contributions when comparing states.

Per the US Census Bureau, Delaware’s combined state and local direct general expenditures were $13.4 billion in FY 2022 (the most recent year census data were available), or $13,187 per capita. (Census data exclude “business-like” activities such as utilities and transfers between state and local governments.) National per capita direct general expenditures were $12,083.

Delaware’s largest spending areas per capita were public welfare ($3,444) and elementary and secondary education ($2,511). The Census Bureau includes most Medicaid spending in public welfare but also allocates some of it to public hospitals. Per capita spending is useful for state comparisons but is an incomplete metric because it doesn’t provide any information about a state’s demographics, policy decisions, administrative procedures, or residents’ choices.

Delaware’s combined state and local general revenues were $15.1 billion in FY 2022, or $14,800 per capita. National per capita general revenues were $13,619. Delaware does not levy a general sales tax but it does have a gross receipts tax (Census counts this revenue as either general sales tax revenue or selective sales tax revenue). After federal transfers, Delaware’s largest sources of per capita revenue were individual income taxes ($2,359) and charges ($1,685), such as state university tuition and highway tolls.

Delaware also has an idiosyncratic source of tax revenue: Delaware is home to nearly 80 percent of all publicly traded companies and over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies. The state credits its “flexibility in formation” and “customer service” for attracting so many companies, but many firms locate there in large part because of its relatively lax business laws and its exemption of intangible income from tax. However, Delaware collects a corporate income tax and license fees from its corporations. As a result, this small state has the 11th-highest per capita corporate income tax revenue ($498 compared with the national average of $479) and far and away the highest per capita revenue from corporate license fees (Delaware collected $2,168 in 2022 while the next-highest state was $218 and national average was $27.) Corporate license fees accounted for 14.6 percent of Delaware’s state and local general revenue in 2022; the national average was 0.2 percent.

Delaware’s politics

Governor Matt Meyer, a Democrat, was elected in 2024 with 56 percent of the vote. The next gubernatorial election is in 2028.

Democrats control both the House of Representatives (27 Democrats to 14 Republicans) and Senate (15 Democrats to 6 Republicans), with veto-proof majorities in both houses. Control of the governor’s mansion and each house of the legislature gives Democrats a trifecta in Delaware. All Delaware House seats are on the ballot in 2026 because representatives serve two-year terms. Senators serve a combination of two- and four-year terms during each decade’s legislative district apportionment cycle. This 2-4-4 term system ensures all Senate seats are up for election after new legislative district boundaries are drawn. All senators are therefore up for election in 2026.

Delaware’s demographics

As of July 2024, Delaware’s population was 1,051,917. That was up 16.9 percent from 2010. The state’s population growth rate was faster than than the nation’s 9.9 percent growth over the same period. The Urban Institute estimates the state’s population will increase 21.2 percent between 2010 and 2030, more than the nation’s estimated growth rate of 16 percent.

Additional resources