SPEND THE WAR BUDGET
Take what the war has cost, by the only published estimate we use, and buy something else with it.
$38.0 billion
DoD cost of combat operations against Iran (CBO)
- Source
- Estimating the Cost of Combat Operations Against Iran · published Sep 15, 2026
- As of
- Aug 1, 2026
- Kind
- CBO estimate (model)
- Scope
- "As of August 1, 2026, the armed conflict with Iran has cost DoD approximately $38 billion." Includes replacing expended munitions and lost equipment, increased flying hours, other operations and fuel. Excludes costs borne by other parts of the federal government and costs already in the budget (basic operating costs of the forces involved).
0%100%
100% of the budget · $38.0 billion
510,101 public school teacher salaries for a year
= $38.0 billion at $74,495 each (NPR (republished by KPBS), Apr 27, 2026)
“The average salary for a public school teacher in the U.S. rose to $74,495 in the last school year”
ALL $38.0 billion BUYS
- 510,101 public school teacher salaries for a yearat $74,495 · NPR (republished by KPBS), Apr 27, 2026
- 3,179,916 years of in-state tuition at a public four-year collegeat $11,950 · College Board, Nov 6, 2025
- 96,520 new houses at the median priceat $393,700 · U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 24, 2026
- 10,857 Tomahawk cruise missilesat around $3,500,000 · CSIS, Mar 13, 2026
RULES · One published total, never added to another. Every unit cost is the figure printed by its source (linked, with the sentence it came from); none is computed by us. Counts are whole units the money covers at that price, rounded down. Prices are from different dates and are not inflation-adjusted. Nothing here says the money could actually be moved.