California vs Texas

Texas’s $72.7B outruns California’s $39.5B

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Texas’s $72.7B is about 1.8 times California’s $39.5B. Among the two most populous states, the award-dollar lead belongs to Texas in this aggregate. That is the first fact to hold before anyone reaches for familiar stories about tech, energy, or defense.

Award counts run the other way. California has 639,340 awards; Texas has 530,634. California’s file is busier in rows and lighter in dollars. Texas’s file is heavier in dollars on fewer actions — a higher typical booking, not merely more paperwork.

More people in California, more dollars per person in Texas

California’s 39,431,263 residents exceed Texas’s 31,290,831. Spending per capita still favors Texas: $686.10 versus $135.64. After dividing $72.7B and $39.5B by those Census counts, Texas remains about five times as intensive. Population is not the engine of this ranking.

A $135.64 per-person reading in California means a huge private economy can coexist with a thinner federal-award intensity than Texas shows at $686.10. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP.

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, California or Texas?

Texas leads in USAspending.gov obligations: $72.7B versus California’s $39.5B. California has more awards (639,340 vs 530,634) and more people (39,431,263 vs 31,290,831). Spending per capita is $135.64 in California and $686.10 in Texas. FY2026 obligations are $5.3B and $21.5B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does Texas show more federal obligations than California despite fewer people?

Texas’s $72.7B on 31,290,831 residents produces $686.10 per capita. California’s $39.5B on 39,431,263 residents produces $135.64. Award counts actually favor California (639,340 vs 530,634), so Texas’s lead is dollars per action and intensity, not more rows. Top industries differ: pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing (TX) vs commercial and institutional building construction (CA).

What industries lead California and Texas federal awards?

California’s top industry is commercial and institutional building construction. Texas’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $39.5B and $72.7B in obligations. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either megastate. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Are California vs Texas figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $39.5B and $72.7B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $5.3B and $21.5B measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.