The Bureau of Economic Analysis
Summary
BEA built the GDP number Commerce calls its greatest 20th-century achievement, on a $118 million FY2026 account and 458 people -- about 35 cents per U.S. resident.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
BEA builds the accounts behind the headline number: gross domestic product, released quarterly in three successive estimates⧉, plus monthly personal income and outlays, monthly international trade, corporate profits, the international investment position, and broken out by state, county, and industry (BEA's FY2026 budget submission⧉). Its regional accounts do real work: the federal government uses BEA's formulas to help allocate more than $500 billion in federal funds a year⧉, and 26 states tie constitutional or statutory spending limits directly to BEA's state personal income statistics.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress funded BEA's home account, "Economic and Statistical Analysis," at $118 million for fiscal year 2026⧉ -- down from $125 million in FY2025⧉. About $110 million funds BEA's own statistical programs⧉; the remaining $8 million supports the Under Secretary's oversight office. That account carries 458 full-time staff⧉, unchanged from FY2025. Against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, that's about $0.35/person -- per U.S. resident.
View data as table
| BEA statistical programs | 110 | GDP, trade, and regional accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Under Secretary for Economic Affairs (oversight) | 8 | policy support; oversees BEA and Census |
Why is it good for society?
Commerce itself calls its "greatest achievement of the 20th century"⧉ -- the number recessions are dated against and the Federal Reserve sets rates around. Without BEA's independent, methodologically consistent accounts, the machinery built on top of them stalls: the funding formulas that route over $500 billion a year⧉ to states and localities lose their input, and the 26 states whose spending or revenue limits are pegged to BEA's income statistics lose their statutory anchor. The counterfactual isn't silence -- it's each state and agency measuring the economy its own incompatible way.
- BEA's FY2026 account fell to $118 million from $125 million in FY2025, but its 458-person staff held flat -- Congress funded more staff than it funded dollars.
- About $110 million of the account runs BEA's own statistics; the other $8 million funds the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs' oversight of BEA and the Census Bureau.
Your handles.* BEA doesn't take fraud tips or citizen complaints -- it takes data questions. Ask BEA's economists a methodology or data question directly through Ask an Expert. If your business receives one of BEA's mandatory economic surveys, BEA's survey-respondent help page explains why the survey is required and how to file. To see new , trade, and income releases the moment they post, sign up for BEA's email notifications.
Sources(7) ▾
- 119th Congress / U.S. Government Publishing Office, Public Law 119-74 -- Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water; Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 6938, enacted) (2026-01-23) — The enacted FY2026 appropriations text (P.L. 119-74, signed January 23, 2026); the 'ECONOMIC AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS -- SALARIES AND EXPENSES' heading gives the enacted dollar figure this entry's budget KPI is built on. Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded; verified with pdftotext extraction of the full enrolled text. govinfo.gov · original document
- Executive Office of the President / Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2027 -- Appendix, Department of Commerce chapter (2026-04-03) — 's own post-enactment budget schedule for the 'Economic and Statistical Analysis' account (Bureau of Economic Analysis), published after the FY2026 appropriation was signed. Its '2026 est.' column ($118M appropriation, 458 direct ) independently corroborates the enacted bill text, and its obligations-by-program table splits the account between BEA's own statistical programs (~$110M) and the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs' 'Policy support' line (~$8M). Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded; verified with pdftotext extraction (Dept. of Commerce chapter, pp. 202-203 as printed). govinfo.gov · original document
- Bureau of Economic Analysis / U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs & Bureau of Economic Analysis, Budget Estimates, Fiscal Year 2026 (Congressional Submission) (2025-06-01) — BEA's own congressional budget justification: organization chart and mission narrative (Exhibit 2), the Regional Economics program's $500B-allocation and 26-state justification (Exhibit 12), and the appropriation-language/code-citation exhibit naming BEA's statutory mandates (Exhibit 33). Direct bea.gov fetch succeeded; verified with pdftotext extraction. bea.gov · original document
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Who We Are | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) (2025-12-18) — BEA's own mission statement, its ' as Commerce's greatest achievement of the 20th century' framing, and its headquarters address (4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD). Direct fetch succeeded (page footer shows 'last modified 12/18/25'). bea.gov · original document
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Release Schedule (Full Schedule, 2026) | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) (2026-07-16) — BEA's own rolling 2026 release calendar, showing the advance/second/third-estimate cadence and the monthly personal-income and international-trade releases. Direct fetch succeeded, but graded B2 (not A1) because the calendar is a live, continuously-updated page rather than a fixed historical record -- the specific rows quoted here were current as of the 2026-07-16 access. bea.gov · original document
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Guide to Federal Records -- Records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce [BFDC] (Record Group 151) (2026-01-01) — 's official administrative history for Record Group 151: the 1912 establishment of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (37 Stat. 407) and the agency-lineage table showing the Office of Business Economics (1953-72) becoming the Bureau of Economic Analysis in 1972. Direct archives.gov fetch succeeded. archives.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. Same figure cited by good-citizen-gao and good-citizen-cbo. Direct census.gov fetch succeeded. census.gov · original document
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The Bureau of Economic Analysis traces to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, established in the Department of Commerce and Labor effective July 1, 1912, by an appropriations act signed August 23, 1912 (37 Stat. 407)⧉. Commerce reorganized its direct successor, the Office of Business Economics, into BEA in 1972; BEA now sits under the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs⧉, who also oversees the Census Bureau. Two statutes still define its work: the Bretton Woods Agreements Act (22 U.S.C. 286f) requires its balance-of-payments reporting, and a companion law (22 U.S.C. 3101) requires its foreign-investment surveys.