Colorado vs Michigan

Nearly matched stocks: $8.1B versus $8.4B

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Michigan’s $8.4B edges Colorado’s $8.1B by a thin margin. The comparison scores place of performance in the award file. Among two states with similar dollar stocks, the files diverge on every other cut: people, rows, intensity, and recency.

Award counts are not close. Michigan has 416,538 awards; Colorado has 91,723. Michigan’s file is busier in rows on a dollar stock that is only modestly larger. Colorado’s $8.1B on 91,723 actions implies a much heavier typical booking than Michigan’s $8.4B spread across 416,538 records.

Michigan’s $175.18 versus Colorado’s $97.34

Michigan’s 10,140,459 residents exceed Colorado’s 5,957,493. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, Michigan shows $175.18 per capita and Colorado shows $97.34. Intensity favors Michigan in the same direction as the $8.4B versus $8.1B ranking, and by more than the thin dollar gap would suggest.

A $97.34 per-person reading in Colorado on 5,957,493 residents is an intensity fact attached to $8.1B. Michigan’s $175.18 on 10,140,459 residents is attached to $8.4B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Similar stocks can hide different intensity.

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, Colorado or Michigan?

Michigan leads slightly in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8.4B versus Colorado’s $8.1B. Michigan has far more awards (416,538 vs 91,723) and more people (10,140,459 vs 5,957,493). Spending per capita is $97.34 in Colorado and $175.18 in Michigan. FY2026 obligations are $579.9M and $1.8B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does Colorado have so few awards relative to Michigan on similar dollars?

Colorado logs 91,723 awards on $8.1B. Michigan logs 416,538 awards on $8.4B. Colorado’s file is lighter in rows on a nearly matched stock, which implies a heavier typical booking. Colorado’s top industry is nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation. Populations are 5,957,493 and 10,140,459. Per capita is $97.34 versus $175.18.

What industries lead Colorado and Michigan federal awards?

Colorado’s top industry is nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation. Michigan’s is automobile manufacturing. Those slices sit on $8.1B and $8.4B in obligations. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 91,723 in Colorado and 416,538 in Michigan.

Are Colorado vs Michigan figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $8.1B and $8.4B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $579.9M and $1.8B measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments. Place of performance can differ from where the paying agency sits.