As of now, the US has spent an estimated $20+ billion on the war with Iran (Operation Epic Fury). The Pentagon confirmed $11.3 billion in costs during the first 6 days of operations, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated the cumulative cost at $16.5 billion by day 12. Sustained operations currently cost approximately $200 million per day.

The cost varies by phase. During the initial strikes (February 28 - March 5), the war cost approximately $1.88 billion per day due to heavy use of expensive munitions like Tomahawk cruise missiles ($3.5M each). The current sustained operations phase costs approximately $200 million per day, or about $2,315 per second.

We use a piecewise linear model anchored to verified official data points. Phase 1 (Days 1-6): $0 to $11.3 billion (Pentagon confirmed). Phase 2 (Days 7-12): $11.3B to $16.5 billion (CSIS analysis). Phase 3 (Day 13+): $200 million per day sustained rate. See our methodology page for full details.

1. Pentagon briefing to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (March 11, 2026) — confirmed $11.3B for first 6 days. 2. CSIS "Iran War Cost Estimate Update" — estimated $16.5B by day 12. 3. Penn Wharton Budget Model — projects $40-95B direct costs, up to $210B total economic impact. 4. Congressional Budget Office estimates. 5. IRS Statistics of Income (~150M taxpayers) and US Census Bureau (~131M households).

The Iran war's first month has been significantly more expensive than most recent US conflicts. The Afghanistan war's first month (2001) cost approximately $3.5 billion in 2026 dollars. The Iraq war's first month (2003) cost approximately $10 billion. The entire 1991 Gulf War cost approximately $116 billion in 2026 dollars.

The money spent on the Iran war could fund hundreds of thousands of public school teacher salaries, millions of full Pell Grant scholarships, or tens of thousands of affordable homes. Our live tracker shows real-time comparisons updated every second.

With approximately 150 million individual US tax returns filed annually, each taxpayer's share is currently over $130 and rising. This represents only direct military operational costs. The true per-taxpayer burden — including veteran care, debt interest, and economic impacts — will be significantly higher.

Yes. Our tracker covers direct military operational costs only: munitions, personnel deployment, naval forces, aircraft operations, fuel, logistics, C4ISR/cyber/space operations, and operational overhead. Not included: long-term veteran healthcare, interest on war-related debt, intelligence operations, economic disruption, oil price impacts, and allied nation contributions.