Rankings
Top federal agencies by spending: FY2024
FY2024 · complete year · data as of 2026-07-03
≈ computed · obligations
Department 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. FY2020 to FY2026 are loaded. Rank vs FY2023 is each name's change in position from FY2023; a dash means the name was not in FY2023's data.
Quick findings
Computed- The top 10 account for 93% of the $4.9T combined total of all 78 agencies listed.
- Small Business Administration rose the most, from #50 in FY2023 to #27 in FY2024.
- Selective Service System fell the most among those listed, from #63 in FY2023 to #72 in FY2024.
| Rank | Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | Change | Rank vs FY2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Department of Health and Human Services609 recipients | $1.9T | $1.8T | +2% | same |
| 02 | Social Security Administration69 recipients | $1.5T | $1.4T | +7% | same |
| 03 | Department of Defense705 recipients | $456.8B | $467.2B | −2% | same |
| 04 | Department of Veterans Affairs179 recipients | $238.4B | $256.9B | −7% | same |
| 05 | Department of Agriculture379 recipients | $173.2B | $206.7B | −16% | same |
| 06 | Department of Transportation295 recipients | $119.6B | $112.2B | +7% | same |
| 07 | Department of Education278 recipients | $92.3B | $86.8B | +6% | same |
| 08 | Department of Housing and Urban Development175 recipients | $75.2B | $73B | +3% | same |
| 09 | Department of Energy305 recipients | $64.5B | $56B | +15% | ▲ 1 |
| 10 | Department of Homeland Security395 recipients | $62.2B | $61.3B | +1% | ▼ 1 |
| 11 | Environmental Protection Agency220 recipients | $46.7B | $15.6B | +198% | ▲ 7 |
| 12 | Department of Commerce268 recipients | $34.7B | $10.7B | +224% | ▲ 11 |
| 13 | Agency for International Development92 recipients | $30.3B | $38B | −20% | ▼ 1 |
| 14 | General Services Administration237 recipients | $27B | $24.4B | +10% | ▼ 1 |
| 15 | Department of State142 recipients | $23.6B | $23.9B | −1% | ▼ 1 |
| 16 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration225 recipients | $21.4B | $22.2B | −4% | ▼ 1 |
| 17 | Department of the Interior281 recipients | $20.6B | $18.5B | +11% | ▼ 1 |
| 18 | Federal Communications Commission51 recipients | $15.7B | $13.3B | +18% | ▲ 2 |
| 19 | Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation13 recipients | $15B | $46.4B | −68% | ▼ 8 |
| 20 | Railroad Retirement Board4 recipients | $14.4B | $14.2B | +2% | ▼ 1 |
| 21 | Department of Justice278 recipients | $14.3B | $16.1B | −11% | ▼ 4 |
| 22 | Department of Labor112 recipients | $10.6B | $11.7B | −9% | same |
| 23 | Department of the Treasury123 recipients | $9.8B | $13.1B | −25% | ▼ 2 |
| 24 | National Science Foundation160 recipients | $8.9B | $9.1B | −2% | same |
| 25 | U.S. International Development Finance Corporation8 recipients | $1.9B | $1.4B | +37% | same |
| 26 | Millennium Challenge Corporation7 recipients | $1.6B | $670.3M | +142% | ▲ 2 |
| 27 | Small Business Administration33 recipients | $997.5M | $46.6M | — | ▲ 23 |
| 28 | Corporation for National and Community Service32 recipients | $831.2M | $1.1B | −21% | ▼ 2 |
| 29 | Securities and Exchange Commission5 recipients | $552.4M | $701.8M | −21% | ▼ 2 |
| 30 | Office of Personnel Management9 recipients | $537.3M | $496.4M | +8% | same |
| 31 | Smithsonian Institution0 recipients | $496.8M | $493.4M | +1% | same |
| 32 | U.S. Agency for Global Media2 recipients | $492.3M | $515.5M | −5% | ▼ 3 |
| 33 | Executive Office of the President15 recipients | $374.7M | $380.6M | −2% | ▼ 1 |
| 34 | Institute of Museum and Library Services21 recipients | $280M | $280.6M | 0% | ▼ 1 |
| 35 | Appalachian Regional Commission11 recipients | $278.6M | $273.8M | +2% | same |
| 36 | National Archives and Records Administration11 recipients | $267.1M | $274.5M | −3% | ▼ 2 |
| 37 | Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council3 recipients | $234.3M | $219.2M | +7% | ▼ 1 |
| 38 | Nuclear Regulatory Commission15 recipients | $216.1M | $199.4M | +8% | ▼ 1 |
| 39 | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau6 recipients | $188.3M | $148.6M | +27% | ▲ 1 |
| 40 | National Endowment for the Humanities19 recipients | $166.3M | $167.8M | −1% | ▼ 2 |
| 41 | National Endowment for the Arts7 recipients | $164.5M | $162.2M | +1% | ▼ 2 |
| 42 | Government Accountability Office4 recipients | $126M | $132M | −4% | ▼ 1 |
| 43 | Federal Trade Commission2 recipients | $105.6M | $112.5M | −6% | same |
| 44 | District of Columbia Courts7 recipients | $101.5M | $36.9M | +175% | ▲ 7 |
| 45 | Peace Corps4 recipients | $100.1M | $126.9M | −21% | ▼ 3 |
| 46 | Commodity Futures Trading Commission3 recipients | $89.6M | $87.5M | +2% | ▼ 2 |
| 47 | Delta Regional Authority0 recipients | $67.4M | $18.4M | +267% | ▲ 9 |
| 48 | Denali Commission5 recipients | $60.3M | $46.9M | +29% | ▲ 1 |
| 49 | Election Assistance Commission1 recipient | $58M | $61.5M | −6% | ▼ 3 |
| 50 | National Gallery of Art0 recipients | $54.7M | $57.1M | −4% | ▼ 3 |
| 51 | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission5 recipients | $51.8M | $63.6M | −19% | ▼ 6 |
| 52 | Consumer Product Safety Commission26 recipients | $40.8M | $55.2M | −26% | ▼ 4 |
| 53 | Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency1 recipient | $39M | $29.4M | +33% | ▲ 1 |
| 54 | National Labor Relations Board0 recipients | $25.7M | $30.7M | −16% | ▼ 2 |
| 55 | Inter-American Foundation0 recipients | $24.9M | $30.5M | −19% | ▼ 2 |
| 56 | National Transportation Safety Board1 recipient | $22.4M | $17.9M | +25% | ▲ 1 |
| 57 | United States Trade and Development Agency0 recipients | $20.1M | $25.8M | −22% | ▼ 2 |
| 58 | International Trade Commission1 recipient | $16.3M | $15.7M | +4% | ▲ 1 |
| 59 | Federal Election Commission2 recipients | $16.3M | $17.5M | −7% | ▼ 1 |
| 60 | United States Institute of Peace0 recipients | $8.6M | — | — | — |
| 61 | Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service0 recipients | $8.1M | $7.9M | +2% | same |
| 62 | John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts0 recipients | $7.5M | $8.7M | −14% | ▼ 2 |
| 63 | Federal Maritime Commission0 recipients | $6.5M | $4.4M | +48% | ▲ 2 |
| 64 | Merit Systems Protection Board2 recipients | $4.6M | $4.9M | −8% | same |
| 65 | Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board0 recipients | $4.5M | $6.8M | −34% | ▼ 3 |
| 66 | National Credit Union Administration0 recipients | $3.3M | $2.7M | +20% | ▲ 2 |
| 67 | Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled1 recipient | $2.2M | $4.1M | −46% | ▼ 1 |
| 68 | Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency0 recipients | $2.2M | $2.8M | −23% | ▼ 1 |
| 69 | United States Chemical Safety Board0 recipients | $2M | $2.4M | −17% | ▲ 1 |
| 70 | Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation0 recipients | $1.9M | $1.8M | +9% | ▲ 2 |
| 71 | Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission0 recipients | $1.9M | $1.8M | +4% | same |
| 72 | Selective Service System0 recipients | $1.8M | $6.8M | −74% | ▼ 9 |
| 73 | Federal Labor Relations Authority0 recipients | $1.5M | $2.5M | −41% | ▼ 4 |
| 74 | Federal Housing Finance Agency0 recipients | $733.7K | $723.1K | — | same |
| 75 | Administrative Conference of the U.S.0 recipients | $102.4K | $93.3K | — | same |
| 76 | Library of Congress0 recipients | $6K | $87K | — | same |
| 77 | Export-Import Bank of the United States3 recipients | $0 | $0 | — | same |
| 78 | Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission1 recipient | $0 | $859.9K | — | ▼ 5 |
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.
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.