Colorado vs New Jersey

Two $8.1B stocks, a 12-to-1 row gap

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. New Jersey’s $8.1B edges Colorado’s $8.1B by a thin margin. The comparison scores place of performance in the award file. Among two states with nearly identical dollar stocks, the files diverge most on rows: 1,162,765 awards in New Jersey versus 91,723 in Colorado.

That row gap implies a much heavier typical booking in Colorado. New Jersey’s $8.1B is spread across more than a million actions. Colorado’s $8.1B sits on 91,723 records. Dollars are tied; paperwork volume is not. The $8.1B versus $8.1B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

Close per capita: $97.34 versus $92.49

New Jersey’s 9,500,851 residents exceed Colorado’s 5,957,493. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, Colorado shows $97.34 per capita and New Jersey shows $92.49. Intensity is close even though New Jersey has more people. This pair is not a high-versus-low intensity contest.

A $97.34 per-person reading in Colorado on 5,957,493 residents is an intensity fact attached to $8.1B. New Jersey’s $92.49 on 9,500,851 residents is attached to $8.1B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Similar intensity and similar stocks can still hide a 12-to-1 row gap.

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, Colorado or New Jersey?

New Jersey leads by a thin margin in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8.1B versus Colorado’s $8.1B. New Jersey has far more awards (1,162,765 vs 91,723) and more people (9,500,851 vs 5,957,493). Spending per capita is $97.34 in Colorado and $92.49 in New Jersey. FY2026 obligations are $579.9M and $878.7M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does New Jersey have so many more awards than Colorado on similar dollars?

New Jersey logs 1,162,765 awards on $8.1B. Colorado logs 91,723 awards on $8.1B. New Jersey’s file is busier in rows on a matched stock, which implies a smaller typical booking. Per capita is close ($92.49 vs $97.34). Populations are 9,500,851 and 5,957,493. FY2026 favors New Jersey ($878.7M vs $579.9M).

What industries lead Colorado and New Jersey federal awards?

Colorado’s top industry is nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation. New Jersey’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on two $8.1B obligation stocks. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 91,723 in Colorado and 1,162,765 in New Jersey.

Are Colorado vs New Jersey figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The two $8.1B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $579.9M and $878.7M measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments. Place of performance can differ from where the paying agency sits.