Top federal agencies by spending: FY2024
≈ computed · obligationsDepartment of Health and Human Services obligated $1.9T in FY2024, 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, data current as of 2026-07-03. FY2020 to FY2025 are loaded.
- 1Department of Health and Human Services609 recipients$1.9T
- 2Social Security Administration69 recipients$1.5T
- 3Department of Defense705 recipients$456.8B
- 4Department of Veterans Affairs179 recipients$238.4B
- 5Department of Agriculture379 recipients$173.2B
- 6Department of Transportation295 recipients$119.6B
- 7Department of Education278 recipients$92.3B
- 8Department of Housing and Urban Development175 recipients$75.2B
- 9Department of Energy305 recipients$64.5B
- 10Department of Homeland Security395 recipients$62.2B
- 11Environmental Protection Agency220 recipients$46.7B
- 12Department of Commerce268 recipients$34.7B
- 13Agency for International Development92 recipients$30.3B
- 14General Services Administration237 recipients$27B
- 15Department of State142 recipients$23.6B
- 16National Aeronautics and Space Administration225 recipients$21.4B
- 17Department of the Interior281 recipients$20.6B
- 18Federal Communications Commission51 recipients$15.7B
- 19Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation13 recipients$15B
- 20Railroad Retirement Board4 recipients$14.4B
- 21Department of Justice278 recipients$14.3B
- 22Department of Labor112 recipients$10.6B
- 23Department of the Treasury123 recipients$9.8B
- 24National Science Foundation160 recipients$8.9B
- 25$1.9B
- 26Millennium Challenge Corporation7 recipients$1.6B
- 27Small Business Administration33 recipients$997.5M
- 28Corporation for National and Community Service32 recipients$831.2M
- 29Securities and Exchange Commission5 recipients$552.4M
- 30Office of Personnel Management9 recipients$537.3M
- 31Smithsonian Institution0 recipients$496.8M
- 32U.S. Agency for Global Media2 recipients$492.3M
- 33Executive Office of the President15 recipients$374.7M
- 34Institute of Museum and Library Services21 recipients$280M
- 35Appalachian Regional Commission11 recipients$278.6M
- 36National Archives and Records Administration11 recipients$267.1M
- 37Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council3 recipients$234.3M
- 38Nuclear Regulatory Commission15 recipients$216.1M
- 39Consumer Financial Protection Bureau6 recipients$188.3M
- 40National Endowment for the Humanities19 recipients$166.3M
- 41National Endowment for the Arts7 recipients$164.5M
- 42Government Accountability Office4 recipients$126M
- 43Federal Trade Commission2 recipients$105.6M
- 44District of Columbia Courts7 recipients$101.5M
- 45Peace Corps4 recipients$100.1M
- 46Commodity Futures Trading Commission3 recipients$89.6M
- 47Delta Regional Authority0 recipients$67.4M
- 48Denali Commission5 recipients$60.3M
- 49Election Assistance Commission1 recipient$58M
- 50National Gallery of Art0 recipients$54.7M
- 51Equal Employment Opportunity Commission5 recipients$51.8M
- 52Consumer Product Safety Commission26 recipients$40.8M
- 53$39M
- 54National Labor Relations Board0 recipients$25.7M
- 55Inter-American Foundation0 recipients$24.9M
- 56National Transportation Safety Board1 recipient$22.4M
- 57United States Trade and Development Agency0 recipients$20.1M
- 58International Trade Commission1 recipient$16.3M
- 59Federal Election Commission2 recipients$16.3M
- 60United States Institute of Peace0 recipients$8.6M
- 61Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service0 recipients$8.1M
- 62John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts0 recipients$7.5M
- 63Federal Maritime Commission0 recipients$6.5M
- 64Merit Systems Protection Board2 recipients$4.6M
- 65Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board0 recipients$4.5M
- 66National Credit Union Administration0 recipients$3.3M
- 67$2.2M
- 68$2.2M
- 69United States Chemical Safety Board0 recipients$2M
- 70Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation0 recipients$1.9M
- 71Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients$1.9M
- 72Selective Service System0 recipients$1.8M
- 73Federal Labor Relations Authority0 recipients$1.5M
- 74Federal Housing Finance Agency0 recipients$733.7K
- 75Administrative Conference of the U.S.0 recipients$102.4K
- 76Library of Congress0 recipients$6K
- 77Export-Import Bank of the United States3 recipients$0
- 78$0
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 FY2024?
- Department of Health and Human Services, with $1.9T obligated in FY2024, ahead of Social Security Administration at $1.5T.
- 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 FY2024. TheFiscalFinder does the ranking; the underlying figures are the government's own.
- How many agencies are shown?
- The top 78 for FY2024. 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 FY2024, computed from public records. It is not an allegation about anyone on it.
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