Developing Federal Government Spending Statistics by State
Government expenditures play a vital role in supporting productivity, economic growth, and regional development. In the United States, these expenditures represent about 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Of this, federal government spending, totaling $1.87 trillion in 2024, represented roughly 6.4 percent of GDP, with the remainder attributed to state and local governments. Despite their importance to the economy, detailed government spending statistics have not traditionally been available at the subnational level.
A recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) working paper by Christian Awuku-Budu, Kyle Hood, and Kun Li introduces a methodology for producing such statistics and presents experimental estimates of federal government spending by state. This effort complements a related BEA initiative focused on measuring the effects of state and local government spending at the state level.
The study's approach integrates a broad range of source data and aligns with the methodology used for national statistics. When state-level detail is present in the source data underlying national estimates, it is incorporated directly. For components without explicit state-level detail, the methodology adopts alternative data sources with tailored allocation techniques. In general, the estimates are based on allocators developed for each detailed component of federal government expenditures, which distribute national totals across states.
The experimental statistics reveal substantial variation in federal spending across states and its influence on state economies over time. As shown in the chart, the four states with the largest average shares of federal spending between 2012 and 2023 were California (12.2 percent), Virginia (11.5 percent), Maryland (7.3 percent), and Texas (7.1 percent). The District of Columbia (DC) accounted for 5.5 percent. As a group, these states and DC represent more than 40 percent of total federal spending.
[View larger chart]
The results also indicate the average federal spending as a share of state GDP between 2012 and 2023 ranged from 2.5 percent in Delaware to 27.6 percent in Virginia, with DC at 51.9 percent. Over the same period, the average annual growth rate of federal spending varied from 0.8 percent in California to 8.4 percent in South Dakota, while DC recorded an increase of 4.5 percent.
As these estimates are preliminary, BEA welcomes feedback from stakeholders and data users to refine the methodology and enhance accuracy. A downloadable Excel file containing the full set of experimental statistics on federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment by state is available with the paper for further exploration.
