Federal Investment in Military Less Effective for Jobs than Investments in Education or Healthcare

The majority of the federal workforce involves militarized sectors, including the military, homeland security, and more. But military spending is inefficient for employment: spending on education and healthcare would create more jobs while reducing the federal budget, according to a new report from the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson School of International and Public Affairs.

The analysis, an update to a previous report from 2023, reveals that military spending (including both federal defense spending and various private military industries) produces an average of five jobs per $1 million in spending, including both direct jobs and jobs in the supply chain. By contrast, 13 jobs are created for every $1 million in education spending – nearly three times as much employment. Healthcare spending creates 84% more jobs than military spending, while infrastructure and clean energy create from 24% to 64% more.

“In 2025 the federal government is making large cuts in personnel and spending in various programs that Americans value – including education, healthcare, environmental programs, public parks and lands, and many others,” writes Heidi Peltier, Director of Programs for the Costs of War project. “At the same time, the Trump administration is increasing the size of the federal budget by devoting more spending and resources to the military and homeland security, further exacerbating a disproportional federal budget and workforce.”

Federal spending on the Department of Defense accounts for half of all discretionary spending (49%) and more than half (60%) of federal employment as of the end of fiscal year 2024. Adding funding for the Departments of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, the military sectors make up almost two-thirds (61%) of the federal discretionary budget and 78% of the federal workforce (including both civilians and active-duty military). This is a seven percent increase in the militarized workforce since Costs of War’s previous report based on fiscal year 2022 data.

Of the 3,669,000 federal workers in 2024, 2,846,077 were employed in either DHS, VA, or DoD.

It is precisely because military spending is so exorbitant that so many jobs have been created in the militarized sectors of the federal government. However, a shift in funding from military to non-military programs would result in an increase in employment (since other programs are better job creators than the military) without an increase in the budget, concludes the report.

“When we as Americans hear that investing in the military or military industries is great for creating jobs, we need to think twice,” said Stephanie Savell, Director of the Costs of War project. “This data illustrates that the superior job creation potential of sectors like healthcare and education is vastly under-appreciated.”