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2026 Chicago budget resources
Chicago Budget is an independent project organizing published budgets for the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District into explorable, source-linked boxes. It shows what was budgeted and where published records do not support a finer breakdown. It is not affiliated with these governments and does not report final spending.
Reuse this description
Chicago Budget is an independent, source-linked guide to the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park District 2026 budgets. Browse budget categories, inspect official citations and download the versioned data. Budgeted amounts are not actual spending, and the three governments have different reporting periods.
The text above can be copied with attribution to Chicago Budget resources. These figures are derived from the site's published tree export dated . These are three separate governments, not one official consolidated City budget. The City and Park District use 2026 budgets, while CPS FY2026 runs July 2025 through June 2026. Transfers across governments may overlap.
Three charts and exact tables
Each graphic is an SVG generated from the same box records as its accessible table and downloadable CSV. Bars compare categories within one government, not across governments. Follow the stable claim URL for each chart and the linked box for row-level evidence.
City of Chicago 2026 adopted net budget: top-level categories
Scope: 2026 calendar-year adopted appropriation. Net City appropriation excludes the cross-fund counted-twice view; gross is shown separately. These are direct children of the published root, not payments made. The chart excludes zero or negative rows; consult the full tree for reconciliation.
| # | Category | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Streets, water, trash and airports | $4,609,570,640.00 | budget |
| 2 | Keeping people safe | $3,266,555,360.00 | budget |
| 3 | Retirement (pensions) | $2,843,221,414.00 | budget |
| 4 | Paying back loans | $1,846,978,405.00 | budget |
| 5 | Health, families and libraries | $1,101,178,733.00 | budget |
| 6 | Other citywide costs | $1,008,734,181.00 | budget |
| 7 | Running the city government | $852,200,340.00 | budget |
| 8 | Employee health care and benefits | $817,275,272.00 | budget |
| 9 | Housing, neighborhoods and culture | $381,253,438.00 | budget |
| 10 | Inspections and rules | $151,737,198.00 | budget |
| 11 | City Council and elections | $80,836,524.00 | budget |
Download category CSV (integer cents) · Dataset, schema and checksums · Claim URL: https://chicagobudget.com/resources/#city-categories
Official primary source: 2026 Annual Appropriation Ordinance. Individual rows link to their own evidence and qualifications.
Chicago Public Schools FY2026 approved budget: top-level categories
Scope: FY2026, July 2025 through June 2026. School boxes do not contain all centrally budgeted services. These are direct children of the published root, not payments made. The chart excludes zero or negative rows; consult the full tree for reconciliation.
| # | Category | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schools | $5,275,481,723.32 | budget |
| 2 | Citywide programs | $1,811,758,301.37 | budget |
| 3 | Teacher pensions and insurance | $1,102,703,360.47 | budget |
| 4 | Paying back loans | $1,063,342,455.26 | budget |
| 5 | Building projects | $555,945,321.00 | budget |
| 6 | Central and network offices | $444,096,302.26 | budget |
Download category CSV (integer cents) · Dataset, schema and checksums · Claim URL: https://chicagobudget.com/resources/#cps-categories
Official primary source: CPS FY2026 Budget Book. Individual rows link to their own evidence and qualifications.
Chicago Park District 2026 operating appropriations: top-level categories
Scope: 2026 operating budget. All-funds operating total; net appropriation removes internal service earnings. Not a multi-year capital plan. These are direct children of the published root, not payments made. The chart excludes zero or negative rows; consult the full tree for reconciliation.
| # | Category | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parks and recreation | $146,505,400.00 | budget |
| 2 | Maintaining the parks | $122,680,109.00 | budget |
| 3 | Soldier Field, harbors, golf and other managed venues | $79,556,554.00 | budget |
| 4 | Paying back loans | $70,556,546.00 | budget |
| 5 | Retirement (pensions) | $69,332,412.00 | budget |
| 6 | Running the District | $57,424,109.00 | budget |
| 7 | Utilities, benefits and other shared costs | $43,752,792.00 | budget |
| 8 | Museums and the zoo | $36,369,287.00 | budget |
| 9 | Building and fixing parks (capital) | $10,523,042.00 | budget |
| 10 | Not itemised on any department page | $880,099.00 | residual |
Download category CSV (integer cents) · Dataset, schema and checksums · Claim URL: https://chicagobudget.com/resources/#parks-categories
Official primary source: Chicago Park District 2026 Budget Appropriations. Individual rows link to their own evidence and qualifications.
Reuse and limitations
CSV files contain selected positive top-level categories, amounts in integer cents, and box URLs. They are not the complete dataset. For full hierarchy, version, schema, file checksums and source terms, use the dataset catalog. The project's original work has separate terms from upstream government publications; consult licenses and attribution before redistribution.
Appropriations are authorizations, not year-end payments. Some estimates, proxies, unassigned grants and unresolved categories have limited detail. Do not add these three totals into an official combined budget or interpret a school allocation as all services received by that school. Read the methods, gaps and source index. No search visibility, citation or ranking is promised.