Rankings
Top federal agencies by spending: FY2021
FY2021 · complete year · data as of 2026-07-12
≈ computed · obligations
Department of Health and Human Services obligated $1.7T in FY2021, more than any other federal agency. Cabinet departments and independent agencies at the top tier, ranked by what they obligated. Sub-agencies roll up into their parent here and are ranked separately. Computed
Ranked from USASpending records. FY2020 to FY2026 are loaded. Rank vs FY2020 is each name's change in position from FY2020; a dash means the name was not in FY2020's data.
Quick findings
Computed- The top 10 account for 94% of the $5.3T combined total of all 77 agencies listed.
- Millennium Challenge Corporation rose the most, from #50 in FY2020 to #26 in FY2021.
- Election Assistance Commission fell the most among those listed, from #25 in FY2020 to #76 in FY2021.
| Rank | Name | FY2021 | FY2020 | Change | Rank vs FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Department of Health and Human Services710 recipients | $1.7T | $1.7T | +1% | same |
| 02 | Social Security Administration76 recipients | $1.2T | $1.1T | +3% | same |
| 03 | Department of the Treasury385 recipients | $450.1B | $183.2B | +146% | ▲ 3 |
| 04 | Department of Defense525 recipients | $395.3B | $431.9B | −8% | same |
| 05 | Small Business Administration65 recipients | $334.1B | $580.4B | −42% | ▼ 2 |
| 06 | Department of Education345 recipients | $313.1B | $110.3B | +184% | ▲ 3 |
| 07 | Department of Veterans Affairs184 recipients | $254.2B | $226.7B | +12% | ▼ 2 |
| 08 | Department of Agriculture389 recipients | $224.8B | $168.1B | +34% | ▼ 1 |
| 09 | Department of Transportation339 recipients | $108.1B | $112.7B | −4% | ▼ 1 |
| 10 | Department of Housing and Urban Development270 recipients | $83.1B | $56.8B | +46% | ▲ 1 |
| 11 | Department of Homeland Security360 recipients | $65.9B | $92.9B | −29% | ▼ 1 |
| 12 | Department of Energy232 recipients | $42.4B | $39.7B | +7% | same |
| 13 | Agency for International Development80 recipients | $23.3B | $21.2B | +10% | ▲ 1 |
| 14 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration191 recipients | $20.4B | $20.1B | +1% | ▲ 1 |
| 15 | Department of State125 recipients | $20.3B | $18.3B | +10% | ▲ 1 |
| 16 | General Services Administration178 recipients | $18.3B | $17.6B | +4% | ▲ 1 |
| 17 | Department of Labor114 recipients | $16.9B | $15.2B | +11% | ▲ 1 |
| 18 | Department of the Interior254 recipients | $13.6B | $11.6B | +17% | ▲ 3 |
| 19 | Railroad Retirement Board6 recipients | $13.5B | $13.5B | 0% | same |
| 20 | Department of Justice388 recipients | $12.6B | $13.2B | −5% | same |
| 21 | National Science Foundation151 recipients | $8.4B | $8B | +5% | ▲ 2 |
| 22 | Federal Communications Commission48 recipients | $7.8B | $33.1B | −77% | ▼ 9 |
| 23 | Department of Commerce219 recipients | $7.6B | $9.1B | −17% | ▼ 1 |
| 24 | Environmental Protection Agency189 recipients | $6.1B | $6B | +2% | same |
| 25 | U.S. International Development Finance Corporation4 recipients | $2B | $394.5M | +419% | ▲ 6 |
| 26 | Millennium Challenge Corporation6 recipients | $962.7M | $31.9M | — | ▲ 24 |
| 27 | Corporation for National and Community Service54 recipients | $934.5M | $670.9M | +39% | ▼ 1 |
| 28 | U.S. Agency for Global Media4 recipients | $631.7M | $453.7M | +39% | ▲ 1 |
| 29 | Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation8 recipients | $605.5M | $531.7M | +14% | ▼ 2 |
| 30 | Securities and Exchange Commission9 recipients | $550M | $521.5M | +5% | ▼ 2 |
| 31 | Office of Personnel Management25 recipients | $471.3M | $358M | +32% | ▲ 1 |
| 32 | Institute of Museum and Library Services31 recipients | $432.2M | $288.9M | +50% | ▲ 2 |
| 33 | Smithsonian Institution0 recipients | $402.3M | $410.3M | −2% | ▼ 3 |
| 34 | Executive Office of the President30 recipients | $361.3M | $327.7M | +10% | ▼ 1 |
| 35 | National Endowment for the Humanities14 recipients | $214.2M | $199.7M | +7% | ▲ 1 |
| 36 | National Endowment for the Arts21 recipients | $188M | $208.9M | −10% | ▼ 1 |
| 37 | Nuclear Regulatory Commission13 recipients | $181.3M | $179.4M | +1% | same |
| 38 | National Archives and Records Administration10 recipients | $177.6M | $150.6M | +18% | same |
| 39 | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau10 recipients | $118.1M | $98.6M | +20% | ▲ 3 |
| 40 | Peace Corps6 recipients | $109.7M | $126.5M | −13% | same |
| 41 | Government Accountability Office3 recipients | $108.8M | $85.7M | +27% | ▲ 2 |
| 42 | Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council0 recipients | $97.2M | $138.9M | −30% | ▼ 3 |
| 43 | Federal Trade Commission3 recipients | $83.8M | $83.8M | 0% | ▲ 1 |
| 44 | Commodity Futures Trading Commission4 recipients | $77.5M | $66.2M | +17% | ▲ 1 |
| 45 | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission22 recipients | $62.1M | $64.2M | −3% | ▲ 1 |
| 46 | Consumer Product Safety Commission43 recipients | $41.9M | $34.1M | +23% | ▲ 3 |
| 47 | Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency0 recipients | $37.6M | $41.1M | −8% | ▲ 1 |
| 48 | National Gallery of Art0 recipients | $37.1M | $50M | −26% | ▼ 1 |
| 49 | District of Columbia Courts3 recipients | $31.2M | — | — | — |
| 50 | Inter-American Foundation0 recipients | $30.3M | $26.5M | +14% | ▲ 4 |
| 51 | Appalachian Regional Commission4 recipients | $26.8M | $104.3M | −74% | ▼ 10 |
| 52 | Export-Import Bank of the United States2 recipients | $18.7M | $12.7M | +46% | ▲ 3 |
| 53 | National Labor Relations Board1 recipient | $18.5M | $30.5M | −39% | ▼ 2 |
| 54 | United States Trade and Development Agency0 recipients | $18.2M | $26.8M | −32% | ▼ 1 |
| 55 | National Transportation Safety Board3 recipients | $16.2M | $10.5M | +54% | ▲ 2 |
| 56 | Denali Commission5 recipients | $14.6M | $8.9M | +64% | ▲ 3 |
| 57 | International Trade Commission0 recipients | $13.6M | $10.4M | +30% | ▲ 1 |
| 58 | Federal Election Commission1 recipient | $11.9M | $11.7M | +1% | ▼ 2 |
| 59 | Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board1 recipient | $6.5M | $3.5M | +85% | ▲ 6 |
| 60 | Delta Regional Authority0 recipients | $5.5M | $27.1M | −80% | ▼ 8 |
| 61 | Selective Service System0 recipients | $5.4M | $6.1M | −12% | ▲ 2 |
| 62 | Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service0 recipients | $4.4M | $4.2M | +3% | ▲ 2 |
| 63 | Merit Systems Protection Board0 recipients | $3.9M | $3.1M | +26% | ▲ 4 |
| 64 | Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients | $3.9M | $3.2M | +22% | ▲ 2 |
| 65 | Federal Maritime Commission1 recipient | $3.5M | $2.4M | +43% | ▲ 4 |
| 66 | Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled0 recipients | $3.1M | $2.5M | +25% | ▲ 2 |
| 67 | John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts2 recipients | $2.7M | $8.7M | −69% | ▼ 7 |
| 68 | Federal Labor Relations Authority0 recipients | $2.2M | $2.3M | −4% | ▲ 2 |
| 69 | Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency0 recipients | $1.6M | $7.2M | −78% | ▼ 8 |
| 70 | National Credit Union Administration0 recipients | $1.3M | $2.1M | −36% | ▲ 1 |
| 71 | Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients | $993.4K | $1.5M | −33% | ▲ 1 |
| 72 | Federal Housing Finance Agency0 recipients | $982.5K | $451.7K | — | ▲ 2 |
| 73 | Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation0 recipients | $220.9K | — | — | — |
| 74 | Administrative Conference of the U.S.0 recipients | $194.6K | $234K | — | ▲ 1 |
| 75 | Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board0 recipients | $29.8K | — | — | — |
| 76 | Election Assistance Commission1 recipient | $0 | $823.9M | −100% | ▼ 51 |
| 77 | Library of Congress0 recipients | $0 | $0 | — | ▲ 1 |
Obligations are commitments, not outlays: an agency obligates money in the year it awards, which can precede the year the money is actually paid.
Questions
- Which federal agency spends the most in FY2021?
- Department of Health and Human Services, with $1.7T obligated in FY2021, ahead of Social Security Administration at $1.2T.
- Why is the Department of Defense not first?
- Because this ranks all obligations, and the health and retirement programs run by HHS and the Social Security Administration move more money than defense procurement does. Ranked by CONTRACT dollars alone, Defense leads by a wide margin.
- Where does this ranking come from?
- It is computed from USASpending.gov award records, which are U.S. government works and in the public domain. Each figure is the agency's total obligations for FY2021. TheFiscalFinder does the ranking; the underlying figures are the government's own.
- How many agencies are shown?
- The top 77 for FY2021. Each row opens that agencie's own page, where the same money is broken out by year, by counterparty and by place.
- Does a high position mean anything is wrong?
- No. This is a description of where public money went in FY2021, computed from public records. It is not an allegation about anyone on it.
Related rankings
Why the labels? The graph is only worth anything if the links are trusted. Facts taken straight from a federal filing are Source; figures we calculate are Computed; links we infer (corporate parents, districts, similar contractors, connections between records) are Inferred, worded carefully, never asserted as fact and never a claim that one thing caused another. Spot an error? Tell us.