Connecticut vs New Jersey

Neighboring dollars, a 12-to-1 award file

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. New Jersey’s $8.1B edges Connecticut’s $7.5B. Place of performance in the award file is the scoring rule. Two Northeast states with stocks in the same $8 billion band still produce files that do not look alike once rows are counted.

Connecticut’s $7,483,687,896 sits on 94,990 records. New Jersey’s $8,084,032,234 is spread across 1,162,765 actions. That is more than twelve New Jersey awards for each Connecticut award. Dollars are close; paperwork volume is not. The $8.1B versus $7.5B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

New Jersey’s 1,162,765 awards versus Connecticut’s 94,990 awards is a paperwork class difference, not a rounding error. Stocks of $8,084,032,234 and $7,483,687,896 stay in the same billion. People of 9,500,851 versus 3,675,069 produce $92.49 versus $266.81. FY2026 of $878,702,039 versus $980,534,818 already favors Connecticut. Aircraft parts versus pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing is mix inside those files.

Connecticut’s $266.81 against New Jersey’s $92.49

New Jersey’s 9,500,851 residents exceed Connecticut’s 3,675,069 by a wide margin. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, Connecticut shows $266.81 per capita and New Jersey shows $92.49. Intensity in Connecticut is nearly three times New Jersey’s even though New Jersey holds the larger stacked total.

A $266.81 per-person reading on 3,675,069 residents is an intensity fact attached to $7.5B. New Jersey’s $92.49 on 9,500,851 residents is attached to $8.1B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Close stocks can hide a 12-to-1 row gap and a large intensity gap pointing the other way.

Questions

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

New Jersey leads in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8,084,032,234 versus Connecticut’s $7,483,687,896. New Jersey has far more awards (1,162,765 vs 94,990) and more people (9,500,851 vs 3,675,069). Spending per capita is $266.81 in Connecticut and $92.49 in New Jersey. FY2026 obligations are $980.5M and $878.7M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Does Connecticut outpace New Jersey in the latest fiscal year?

Yes on FY2026 obligations: $980,534,818 in Connecticut versus $878,702,039 in New Jersey. The stacked ranking still favors New Jersey ($8.1B vs $7.5B). Per capita is $266.81 versus $92.49. Award counts are 94,990 and 1,162,765. Populations are 3,675,069 and 9,500,851.

What industries lead Connecticut and New Jersey federal awards?

Connecticut’s top industry is other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturing. New Jersey’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $7.5B and $8.1B obligation stocks. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 94,990 in Connecticut and 1,162,765 in New Jersey.

Are Connecticut vs New Jersey figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $7.5B and $8.1B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $980.5M and $878.7M measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments.