Does California or Wisconsin have more federal spending?

California leads stacked USAspending.gov obligations $39.5B to Wisconsin’s $10.0B. Wisconsin leads spending per capita, $407.2 versus $135.64, on 5,960,975 residents against California’s 39,431,263. Award counts are 639,340 in California and 181,419 in Wisconsin. FY2026 obligations are $5.3B in California and $2.4B in Wisconsin.

Why is Wisconsin’s per-capita figure higher than California’s?

The packet reports $407.2 per capita in Wisconsin on 5,960,975 residents and $135.64 in California on 39,431,263. Stacked stocks are $10.0B versus $39.5B, a smaller multiple than the population gap. Award counts are 181,419 versus 639,340. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not outlays.

What industries lead in California and Wisconsin?

California’s top industry is commercial and institutional building construction. Wisconsin’s is direct health and medical insurance carriers. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $39.5B and $10.0B. Award counts are 639,340 in California and 181,419 in Wisconsin. Those peaks are mix labels on the stacked stocks, not inventories of every award.

Are California vs Wisconsin figures Treasury outlays?

No. The $39.5B and $10.0B totals, and FY2026 amounts of $5.3B and $2.4B, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Spending per capita ($135.64 vs $407.2) uses Census population where present. Award counts in the packet are all-years totals, not a single fiscal year’s actions.

California vs Wisconsin

Federal spending comparison

California’s USAspending.gov obligation stock is $39.5B; Wisconsin’s is $10.0B. California leads on dollars. Wisconsin leads on intensity: $407.2 per capita on 5,960,975 residents against California’s $135.64 on 39,431,263. Award counts are 639,340 in California and 181,419 in Wisconsin. FY2026 obligations are $5.3B in California and $2.4B in Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s latest-year slice is large relative to its $10.0B stock. Commercial and institutional building construction leads California; direct health and medical insurance carriers lead Wisconsin. These figures are obligations, not outlays.

Key figures

California $39.5B vs Wisconsin $10.0B in stacked USAspending obligations.
Wisconsin leads per capita $407.2 vs California $135.64 on 5,960,975 vs 39,431,263 residents.
Awards: 639,340 vs 181,419; FY2026 $5.3B vs $2.4B.
Wisconsin’s peak is direct health insurance carriers; California’s is commercial construction.
Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Wisconsin’s $407.2 reading inverts the intensity rank

California’s 39,431,263 residents are about 6.6 times Wisconsin’s 5,960,975. California’s $39.5B is about 4.0 times Wisconsin’s $10.0B. Dollars lag population, which is why Wisconsin’s $407.2 per capita sits well above California’s $135.64. This pairing is a scale win for California and an intensity win for Wisconsin.

Award volume follows scale more than intensity. California files 639,340 awards; Wisconsin files 181,419. California still has more rows. Wisconsin’s 181,419 actions sit on a heavier load per resident. Cite USAspending.gov for both the stacked totals and the per-capita figures.

Insurance carriers versus commercial construction

Wisconsin’s lead NAICS is direct health and medical insurance carriers. California’s lead NAICS is commercial and institutional building construction. A health-insurance peak on $10.0B is a different federal buying pattern than a facilities peak on $39.5B. The packet names those peaks; it does not give dollar shares.

The 181,419 Wisconsin awards and 639,340 California awards include many other industries. Use the California and Wisconsin state hubs for agencies and recipients. Do not treat the insurance-carrier peak as an outlay category.

Full analysis: California vs Wisconsin on USAspending: $39.5B against $10.0B →

Questions

Does California or Wisconsin have more federal spending?: California leads stacked USAspending.gov obligations $39.5B to Wisconsin’s $10.0B. Wisconsin leads spending per capita, $407.2 versus $135.64, on 5,960,975 residents against California’s 39,431,263. Award counts are 639,340 in California and 181,419 in Wisconsin. FY2026 obligations are $5.3B in California and $2.4B in Wisconsin.
Why is Wisconsin’s per-capita figure higher than California’s?: The packet reports $407.2 per capita in Wisconsin on 5,960,975 residents and $135.64 in California on 39,431,263. Stacked stocks are $10.0B versus $39.5B, a smaller multiple than the population gap. Award counts are 181,419 versus 639,340. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not outlays.
What industries lead in California and Wisconsin?: California’s top industry is commercial and institutional building construction. Wisconsin’s is direct health and medical insurance carriers. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $39.5B and $10.0B. Award counts are 639,340 in California and 181,419 in Wisconsin. Those peaks are mix labels on the stacked stocks, not inventories of every award.
Are California vs Wisconsin figures Treasury outlays?: No. The $39.5B and $10.0B totals, and FY2026 amounts of $5.3B and $2.4B, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Spending per capita ($135.64 vs $407.2) uses Census population where present. Award counts in the packet are all-years totals, not a single fiscal year’s actions.

State comparison from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending obligations. Per-capita uses Census population where present.

Side-by-side federal spending and demographic comparison between California and Wisconsin.
California	Metric	Wisconsin
$222.27B	Total Spending	$57.75B
$6K	Per Capita	$10K
N/A	% of GDP	N/A
39.4M	Population	6.0M
N/A	Median Income	N/A
N/A	Poverty Rate	N/A
N/A	Bachelor Degree %	N/A
N/A	Median Age	N/A
N/A	Unemployment	N/A
N/A	GDP (Millions)	N/A

Top Agencies — California

Department of Health and Human Services$961.70B
Social Security Administration$397.49B
Department of Defense$301.91B
Department of Energy$116.54B
Department of Agriculture$85.61B

Top Agencies — Wisconsin

Department of Health and Human Services$186.65B
Social Security Administration$83.56B
Department of Defense$20.74B
Department of Veterans Affairs$16.17B
Department of Agriculture$9.91B

Top Industries — California

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES$84.92B
AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING$48.92B
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$45.14B
DIRECT HEALTH AND MEDICAL INSURANCE CARRIERS$42.95B
COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS$37.36B

Top Industries — Wisconsin

OFFICES OF PHYSICIANS (EXCEPT MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS)$5.99B
MILITARY ARMORED VEHICLE, TANK, AND TANK COMPONENT MANUFACTURING$5.66B
TRUCK TRAILER MANUFACTURING$4.15B
DIRECT HEALTH AND MEDICAL INSURANCE CARRIERS$2.74B
SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRING$2.73B

Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · California · Wisconsin