How many kinds of public entities exist in America?
America's 97,241 public entities
1Special districts40,199
2General-purpose governments38,704
3Independent school districts12,535
4Public pension systems4,485
5Dependent school systems1,318
Local government · sourced historical data
Types of U.S. governments and public systems in 2025
The official Census count of general-purpose governments, special districts, school systems, and public pension systems.
What this chart says
The 2025 Census inventory includes 40,199 special districts—more than any other single category.
How to read it
Uses the category totals published in Election.org's verified import of every tab in the Census Bureau 2025 Government Units Listing.
Important limits
- The inventory establishes public entities, not whether each entity has an elected board or which people currently serve.
- Public pension systems are included in the 97,241-record release but are not themselves counted as governments by the Census government-and-school-system subtotal.
The data behind the view
Every plotted value.
| Group | Entities |
|---|---|
| Special districts | 40,199 |
| General-purpose governments | 38,704 |
| Independent school districts | 12,535 |
| Public pension systems | 4,485 |
| Dependent school systems | 1,318 |