Colorado vs Utah

Colorado’s larger stock sits on a cooler per-person ratio

Colorado’s $8.05B is about 1.98 times Utah’s $4.06B on the stacked USAspending.gov file. Population is closer: 5,957,493 versus 3,503,613, or about 1.70 times. Dollars outrun people, which is why Colorado still trails on intensity. Dividing those obligation stocks by Census counts yields $97.34 per person in Colorado and $199.06 in Utah. A smaller mountain-west file can still post the higher ratio.

Award volume tells a third story. Colorado’s 91,723 awards dwarf Utah’s 26,509. The Front Range file is busier in rows and larger in dollars, yet each Utah resident still maps to more obligated federal dollars. Do not divide $8.05B or $4.06B by those award counts and call the result a typical award; the packet reports per capita against population, not against actions.

The pair therefore splits three ways before FY2026 even enters: stacked dollars and award rows to Colorado, per-capita intensity to Utah. That split is the headline, not a claim about which state’s private economy is larger.

Chartered freight air versus nonferrous metal work

Colorado’s top industry is nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation. Utah’s top industry is nonferrous metal (except copper and aluminum) rolling, drawing, and extruding. Those NAICS labels are the tallest bars on each state’s obligation mix, not a description of every award. Colorado’s 91,723 actions and Utah’s 26,509 actions include many rows that are neither air charters nor metal mills.

A freight-air peak on $8.05B and a metal-working peak on $4.06B are useful as a first filter. They are not a full industry census. Use the Colorado and Utah state hubs for agencies and recipients if the lead NAICS is only a starting point. Both peaks sit on obligations, not cash outlays.

Questions

Does Colorado or Utah have more federal spending?

Colorado leads stacked USAspending.gov obligations $8.05B to Utah’s $4.06B. Utah leads spending per capita, $199.06 versus $97.34, on 3,503,613 residents against Colorado’s 5,957,493. Colorado has more awards (91,723 vs 26,509). In FY2026 Utah leads on dollars, $697.4M versus $579.9M. These figures are obligations, not outlays.

Why is Utah’s per-capita federal spending higher than Colorado’s?

The packet reports $199.06 per capita in Utah on 3,503,613 residents and $97.34 in Colorado on 5,957,493. Colorado has more people and more awards (91,723 vs 26,509). Stacked obligations are $8.05B versus $4.06B. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not outlays.

What are the top industries in Colorado and Utah federal awards?

Colorado’s top industry is nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation. Utah’s is nonferrous metal (except copper and aluminum) rolling, drawing, and extruding. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $8.05B and $4.06B, not the full mix. Award counts are 91,723 in Colorado and 26,509 in Utah.

Are Colorado vs Utah spending figures Treasury outlays?

No. The $8.05B and $4.06B totals, and FY2026 amounts of $579.9M and $697.4M, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Spending per capita ($97.34 vs $199.06) uses Census population against those obligations, not against outlays.