Rankings
Top states by federal spending received: FY2021
FY2021 · complete year · data as of 2026-07-12
≈ computed · place of performance
California received more federal work than any other state in FY2021: $510.4B by place of performance. Ranked by where the work is performed, which the source reports reliably at state level. This is not the same as where a company is headquartered. 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 49% of the $5.2T combined total of all 56 states and territories listed.
- Massachusetts rose the most, from #21 in FY2020 to #17 in FY2021.
- Wisconsin fell the most among those listed, from #12 in FY2020 to #19 in FY2021.
| Rank | Name | FY2021 | FY2020 | Change | Rank vs FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | California304 recipients | $510.4B | $463.4B | +10% | same |
| 02 | Texas237 recipients | $349.8B | $321.4B | +9% | same |
| 03 | New York134 recipients | $301.3B | $263.7B | +14% | ▲ 2 |
| 04 | Florida193 recipients | $297.6B | $277.9B | +7% | same |
| 05 | Pennsylvania174 recipients | $262.7B | $279.2B | −6% | ▼ 2 |
| 06 | Minnesota46 recipients | $182.7B | $157B | +16% | ▲ 1 |
| 07 | Indiana49 recipients | $177.3B | $186.2B | −5% | ▼ 1 |
| 08 | Virginia260 recipients | $165.7B | $149.5B | +11% | same |
| 09 | Illinois120 recipients | $156.3B | $134B | +17% | same |
| 10 | Kentucky58 recipients | $144.9B | $125.1B | +16% | ▲ 3 |
| 11 | Ohio100 recipients | $139.9B | $127.2B | +10% | same |
| 12 | Michigan80 recipients | $132B | $119.8B | +10% | ▲ 3 |
| 13 | South Carolina67 recipients | $124.9B | $134B | −7% | ▼ 3 |
| 14 | Arizona98 recipients | $122.4B | $121B | +1% | same |
| 15 | North Carolina110 recipients | $118.1B | $105.2B | +12% | ▲ 3 |
| 16 | Georgia173 recipients | $115.5B | $105.7B | +9% | ▲ 1 |
| 17 | Massachusetts96 recipients | $114.2B | $101.4B | +13% | ▲ 4 |
| 18 | Tennessee60 recipients | $113.4B | $109.7B | +3% | ▼ 2 |
| 19 | Wisconsin39 recipients | $110.5B | $126B | −12% | ▼ 7 |
| 20 | Connecticut35 recipients | $107.8B | $103.7B | +4% | ▼ 1 |
| 21 | New Jersey81 recipients | $106.8B | $95B | +12% | ▲ 1 |
| 22 | Maryland288 recipients | $104.8B | $103.3B | +1% | ▼ 2 |
| 23 | Washington103 recipients | $99.4B | $87.1B | +14% | ▲ 1 |
| 24 | Missouri76 recipients | $86B | $81.7B | +5% | ▲ 1 |
| 25 | North Dakota20 recipients | $76.3B | $91.5B | −17% | ▼ 2 |
| 26 | Alabama94 recipients | $70.3B | $63.5B | +11% | ▲ 1 |
| 27 | Colorado115 recipients | $70.2B | $64.5B | +9% | ▼ 1 |
| 28 | Louisiana63 recipients | $69B | $57B | +21% | same |
| 29 | Puerto Rico31 recipients | $65.2B | $49.3B | +32% | ▲ 1 |
| 30 | Oregon48 recipients | $58.9B | $52.5B | +12% | ▼ 1 |
| 31 | Oklahoma63 recipients | $56.3B | $46.2B | +22% | same |
| 32 | District Of Columbia276 recipients | $54.4B | $43.6B | +25% | same |
| 33 | New Mexico66 recipients | $41.4B | $35.9B | +15% | ▲ 2 |
| 34 | Mississippi41 recipients | $40.4B | $37.9B | +7% | ▼ 1 |
| 35 | Iowa33 recipients | $37.9B | $36B | +5% | ▼ 1 |
| 36 | Arkansas37 recipients | $37.2B | $33.7B | +10% | same |
| 37 | Nevada49 recipients | $35.4B | $30.4B | +17% | same |
| 38 | Kansas34 recipients | $32.8B | $30.2B | +9% | same |
| 39 | Utah51 recipients | $29.7B | $26.9B | +10% | same |
| 40 | Nebraska24 recipients | $26.5B | $24.8B | +7% | same |
| 41 | West Virginia42 recipients | $26.1B | $23.4B | +11% | same |
| 42 | Idaho21 recipients | $21.6B | $20.8B | +4% | same |
| 43 | Hawaii58 recipients | $21.6B | $19B | +13% | ▲ 1 |
| 44 | Maine18 recipients | $20.5B | $19.7B | +4% | ▼ 1 |
| 45 | Alaska43 recipients | $18.7B | $16.7B | +12% | same |
| 46 | New Hampshire20 recipients | $17B | $16.4B | +4% | same |
| 47 | Rhode Island28 recipients | $16.8B | $15.1B | +11% | same |
| 48 | Montana27 recipients | $15.7B | $14.3B | +10% | same |
| 49 | South Dakota29 recipients | $14B | $13.1B | +7% | same |
| 50 | Delaware15 recipients | $13.2B | $12B | +10% | same |
| 51 | Vermont8 recipients | $9.9B | $9.3B | +7% | same |
| 52 | Wyoming13 recipients | $8.4B | $7.8B | +7% | same |
| 53 | Guam20 recipients | $5.2B | $3.2B | +64% | same |
| 54 | U.S. Virgin Islands9 recipients | $3.2B | $2.6B | +21% | same |
| 55 | Northern Mariana Islands5 recipients | $2.3B | $762.4M | +208% | same |
| 56 | American Samoa4 recipients | $1.4B | $580.7M | +142% | same |
Place of performance is from source at state level. Congressional-district figures are INFERRED from it and live on their own pages, labeled as such.
Questions
- Which state receives the most federal spending in FY2021?
- California, with $510.4B of federal work performed there in FY2021, ahead of Texas at $349.8B.
- Is this where the money is spent or where the company is based?
- Where the work is performed, as reported on each award. A contractor headquartered in one state routinely performs the work in several others.
- 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 value of federal work performed in that state in FY2021. TheFiscalFinder does the ranking; the underlying figures are the government's own.
- How many states are shown?
- The top 56 for FY2021. Each row opens that state'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.