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Connecticut vs North Carolina

Federal spending comparison

Connecticut accounts for $7,483,687,896 in federal obligations on USAspending.gov. North Carolina accounts for $6,340,179,185. Connecticut leads stacked dollars by about $1.1 billion. Intensity is the louder split: $266.81 per capita in Connecticut against $66.77 in North Carolina. Populations are 3,675,069 in Connecticut and 11,046,024 in North Carolina. Award counts run the other way: 94,990 versus 429,746. FY2026 obligations are $980.5M in Connecticut and $737.5M in North Carolina.

Key figures

  • Connecticut $7.5B vs North Carolina $6.3B in USAspending obligations.
  • Populations: Connecticut 3,675,069 vs North Carolina 11,046,024; per capita $266.81 vs $66.77.
  • North Carolina has more awards (429,746 vs 94,990); FY2026 $980.5M vs $737.5M.
  • Top industries: other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment (CT) vs pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing (NC).
  • Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Connecticut’s stock, North Carolina’s rows

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Connecticut’s $7.5B stock sits $1.1 billion above North Carolina’s $6.3B. Place of performance in the award file is the scoring rule. North Carolina has about three times Connecticut’s people (11,046,024 versus 3,675,069) and still trails on stacked dollars.

North Carolina logs 429,746 awards; Connecticut logs 94,990. North Carolina’s busier file on a smaller stock implies a lighter typical booking. Connecticut’s $7.5B on 94,990 actions is the heavier book. Dollars favor Connecticut; paperwork volume favors North Carolina. The $7.5B versus $6.3B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

Connecticut’s 94,990 awards on $7,483,687,896 versus North Carolina’s 429,746 awards on $6,340,179,185 is a paperwork inversion on a ranking that still favors Connecticut in dollars. People of 3,675,069 versus 11,046,024 produce $266.81 versus $66.77. FY2026 of $980,534,818 versus $737,511,771 stays with Connecticut. Aircraft parts versus pharmaceuticals is mix. Four times the intensity can sit on fewer than one-fourth the rows.

Four times the per-capita reading

Connecticut’s 3,675,069 residents against $7.5B produce $266.81 per capita. North Carolina’s 11,046,024 residents against $6.3B produce $66.77. Intensity in Connecticut is four times North Carolina’s. That is the headline split, not the $1.1 billion stacked gap.

A $266.81 per-person reading is an intensity fact attached to $7.5B, not a household check. North Carolina’s $66.77 is attached to $6.3B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Connecticut can lead stacked dollars while trailing badly on rows because 94,990 actions carry more dollars each than 429,746 actions on $6.3B.

Full analysis: Connecticut vs North Carolina on USAspending: $7.5B vs $6.3B

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, Connecticut or North Carolina?
Connecticut leads in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $7,483,687,896 versus North Carolina’s $6,340,179,185. North Carolina has more awards (429,746 vs 94,990) and more people (11,046,024 vs 3,675,069). Spending per capita is $266.81 in Connecticut and $66.77 in North Carolina. FY2026 obligations are $980.5M and $737.5M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.
Why is Connecticut’s per-capita spending so much higher than North Carolina’s?
Connecticut’s $7.5B stock sits on 3,675,069 residents, which produces $266.81 per capita. North Carolina’s $6.3B stock sits on 11,046,024 residents, which produces $66.77. Intensity is four times higher in Connecticut. Award rows are 94,990 versus 429,746. FY2026 also favors Connecticut ($980.5M vs $737.5M).
What industries lead Connecticut and North Carolina federal awards?
Connecticut’s top industry is other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturing. North Carolina’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $7.5B and $6.3B obligation stocks. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 94,990 in Connecticut and 429,746 in North Carolina.
Are Connecticut vs North Carolina figures Treasury outlays?
No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $7.5B and $6.3B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $980.5M and $737.5M measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments.

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

Side-by-side federal spending and demographic comparison between Connecticut and North Carolina.
ConnecticutMetricNorth Carolina
$59.58BTotal Spending$60.72B
$16KPer Capita$5K
N/A% of GDPN/A
3.7MPopulation11.0M
N/AMedian IncomeN/A
N/APoverty RateN/A
N/ABachelor Degree %N/A
N/AMedian AgeN/A
N/AUnemploymentN/A
N/AGDP (Millions)N/A

Top Agencies — Connecticut

  • Department of Health and Human Services$240.36B
  • Department of Defense$228.43B
  • Social Security Administration$49.49B
  • Department of Transportation$6.66B
  • Department of Education$4.52B

Top Agencies — North Carolina

  • Social Security Administration$140.77B
  • Department of Health and Human Services$132.20B
  • Department of Veterans Affairs$27.30B
  • Department of Defense$24.88B
  • Department of Agriculture$17.02B

Top Industries — Connecticut

  • SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRING$93.65B
  • AIRCRAFT ENGINE AND ENGINE PARTS MANUFACTURING$40.66B
  • ENGINEERING SERVICES$34.53B
  • AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING$32.55B
  • OTHER AIRCRAFT PARTS AND AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING$6.67B

Top Industries — North Carolina

  • COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$6.05B
  • ENGINEERING SERVICES$3.28B
  • COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN SERVICES$2.30B
  • OTHER WASTE COLLECTION$1.99B
  • FOOD SERVICE CONTRACTORS$1.84B