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Arkansas
$101,530
Virginia
$20,078
Kentucky
$18,743
Alaska
$18,423
New Mexico
$15,772
Maryland
$14,253
Alabama
$13,666
West Virginia
$13,655
Mississippi
$13,621
Hawaii
$12,846
Louisiana
$12,743
Vermont
$11,262
Oklahoma
$11,213
Maine
$11,132
Arizona
$10,774
South Carolina
$10,700
Montana
$9,794
Tennessee
$9,649
North Dakota
$9,572
Missouri
$9,571
Pennsylvania
$9,389
Rhode Island
$9,272
Ohio
$9,201
Delaware
$9,061
Michigan
$8,876
South Dakota
$8,645
Georgia
$8,548
North Carolina
$8,543
Indiana
$8,354
Oregon
$7,735
Iowa
$7,633
Kansas
$7,548
Florida
$7,463
Nevada
$7,438
Illinois
$7,392
Idaho
$7,027
Wyoming
$6,836
Wisconsin
$6,686
Texas
$6,220
Nebraska
$6,066
New York
$5,802
Minnesota
$5,213
California
$5,155
Colorado
$4,612
New Jersey
$3,925
New Hampshire
$3,575
Massachusetts
$3,153
Washington
$3,101
Utah
$3,075
Connecticut
$921

Federal Aid by State [Updated June 2023]

Federal Aid by State [Updated June 2023]

Federal aid is allocated to states for a variety of purposes. After the federal government generates revenue from taxes, it is redistributed to the states based on need. Not all states benefit equally from this redistribution. Federal aid is distributed to states for transportation, public education, Medicaid, community development, and other programs vital to residents.

States that receive more federal aid tend to have poorer populations, lower tax revenues, and have more assistance programs such as Medicaid. States with higher income residents tend to receive less federal aid. Federal aid can be allocated in the form of competitive grants, which are likely to fluctuate from year to year. Federal aid is also awarded from formula grants that incorporate population and poverty statistics. California receives the highest total amount of federal funding at $43.61 billion. California, however, only receives net federal funding of $12 per resident.

The ten states with the highest total federal funding are:

  1. California ($43.61 billion)
  2. Texas ($26.90 billion)
  3. Florida ($23.77 billion)
  4. New York ($22.06 billion)
  5. Virginia ($17.68 billion)
  6. Pennsylvania ($15.58 billion)
  7. Illinois ($13.18 billion)
  8. Ohio ($12.57 billion)
  9. North Carolina ($11.31 billion)
  10. Michigan ($10.84 billion)

Net federal funding per resident is the amount that a state received per capita from the government minus the amount that residents and organizations paid the government per capita. Virginia has the highest net federal funding per resident at $10,301 per resident. Unlike the previously mentioned trend, Virginia receives disproportionately high federal aid despite being one of the U.S.'s wealthier states. This could be attributed to their large defense contracting sectors. On the opposite end, some states have negative net federal funding. These states have paid to the federal government in taxes more than they receive back in aid. New Jersey has the largest negative net federal funding of -$2,368 per resident, followed by Massachusetts with -$2,343 per resident.

The ten states with the lowest net federal funding per resident are:

  1. New Jersey (-$2,368)
  2. Massachusetts (-$2,343)
  3. New York (-$1,792)
  4. North Dakota (-$720)
  5. Illinois (-$364)
  6. New Hampshire (-$234)
  7. Washington (-$184)
  8. Nebraska (-$164)
  9. Colorado (-$95)
  10. California ($12)

Federal Aid by State [Updated June 2023]

Notes:
- All data pertains to year 2021.
- Funding levels expressed as a negative number indicate states, such as Connecticut, that paid more in taxes to the federal government than they received in funding.
- Data is listed both with and without COVID-19 relief, which had a disproportionate impact on the taxes-to-funding ratios of states such as New York and California, which include large population centers.

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Federal Aid by State [Updated June 2023]

Sources