Illinois vs Pennsylvania
Federal spending comparison
Pennsylvania accounts for $28.1B in USAspending.gov obligations; Illinois accounts for $15.9B. Award counts are both enormous and close: 1,544,633 in Illinois and 1,468,918 in Pennsylvania. Populations are close too — 12,710,158 and 13,078,751 — so per capita follows dollars, $143.78 versus $239.68. Illinois’s top industry is all other miscellaneous manufacturing; Pennsylvania’s is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. FY2026 obligations are $1.8B and $3.1B. Illinois’s 1,544,633 awards versus Pennsylvania’s 1,468,918 awards are a thin row lead on a $15.9B versus $28.1B dollar trail. Award counts remain 1,544,633 in Illinois and 1,468,918 in Pennsylvania. Both totals are obligations.
Key figures
- Illinois $15.9B vs Pennsylvania $28.1B in USAspending obligations.
- Per capita $143.78 vs $239.68 on 12,710,158 vs 13,078,751 residents.
- Awards: 1,544,633 vs 1,468,918; FY2026 $1.8B vs $3.1B.
- Top industries: all other miscellaneous manufacturing (IL) vs medicinal and botanical manufacturing (PA).
- Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
Two crowded row files, one heavier stock
Illinois at $15.9B and Pennsylvania at $28.1B are both large statewide files. The interesting question is which ranking disagrees. Award counts are 1,544,633 versus 1,468,918. Populations are 12,710,158 versus 13,078,751. Per capita is $143.78 versus $239.68. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays. Cash payments can lag award dates. Headquarters can differ from the state coded on the award.
Illinois’s 1,544,633 awards slightly top Pennsylvania’s 1,468,918 even while dollars trail $15.9B to $28.1B. A close or mid-range dollar gap can hide a wide row gap or a wide intensity gap. This pair is built for that kind of split, not for a blowout stock ranking.
Miscellaneous manufacturing vs medicinal manufacturing
Illinois’s top industry is all other miscellaneous manufacturing. Pennsylvania’s top industry is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. Two large files can still wear different NAICS peaks. All other miscellaneous manufacturing versus medicinal and botanical manufacturing is a manufacturing-versus-manufacturing split on two of the busiest award files in this set. People are nearly tied; dollars are not.
Industry tags on $15.9B and $28.1B are peaks inside mixed statewide aggregates. They do not license a one-industry story for 1,544,633 or 1,468,918 awards. Use the comparison hub for the side-by-side tables, then the Illinois and Pennsylvania state hubs for agencies and recipients.
Full analysis: Illinois vs Pennsylvania on USAspending: two million-plus award files →
Questions
- Which has more federal spending, Illinois or Pennsylvania?
- Illinois shows $15.9B in USAspending.gov obligations; Pennsylvania shows $28.1B. Award counts are 1,544,633 and 1,468,918. Populations are 12,710,158 and 13,078,751. Spending per capita is $143.78 versus $239.68. FY2026 obligations are $1.8B and $3.1B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
- What industries lead Illinois and Pennsylvania federal awards?
- Illinois’s top industry is all other miscellaneous manufacturing. Pennsylvania’s top industry is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. Those slices sit on $15.9B and $28.1B in USAspending.gov obligations and on 1,544,633 versus 1,468,918 awards. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award.
- How do Illinois and Pennsylvania compare on spending per capita?
- Spending per capita is $143.78 in Illinois on 12,710,158 residents and $239.68 in Pennsylvania on 13,078,751 residents. Those ratios use stacked USAspending.gov obligations of $15.9B and $28.1B, not FY2026 alone and not GDP. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
- Are Illinois vs Pennsylvania figures Treasury outlays?
- No. The $15.9B and $28.1B stacked totals, and FY2026 amounts of $1.8B and $3.1B, are USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Award counts are 1,544,633 and 1,468,918. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
State comparison from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending obligations. Per-capita uses Census population where present.
| Illinois | Metric | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|
| $64.30B | Total Spending | $123.59B |
| $5K | Per Capita | $9K |
| N/A | % of GDP | N/A |
| 12.7M | Population | 13.1M |
| N/A | Median Income | N/A |
| N/A | Poverty Rate | N/A |
| N/A | Bachelor Degree % | N/A |
| N/A | Median Age | N/A |
| N/A | Unemployment | N/A |
| N/A | GDP (Millions) | N/A |
Top Agencies — Illinois
- Social Security Administration$145.62B
- Department of Health and Human Services$138.77B
- Department of Defense$30.68B
- Department of Energy$29.77B
- Department of Agriculture$25.00B
Top Agencies — Pennsylvania
- Department of Health and Human Services$489.40B
- Social Security Administration$184.58B
- Department of Defense$124.00B
- Department of Agriculture$22.57B
- Department of Veterans Affairs$17.67B
Top Industries — Illinois
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES$24.99B
- ENGINEERING SERVICES$2.83B
- SEARCH, DETECTION, NAVIGATION, GUIDANCE, AERONAUTICAL, AND NAUTICAL SYSTEM AND INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURING$2.69B
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$2.33B
- ALL OTHER MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURING$2.26B
Top Industries — Pennsylvania
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$29.49B
- POWER BOILER AND HEAT EXCHANGER MANUFACTURING$17.61B
- AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING$17.42B
- MILITARY ARMORED VEHICLE, TANK, AND TANK COMPONENT MANUFACTURING$11.80B
- MEDICINAL AND BOTANICAL MANUFACTURING$11.30B
Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · Illinois · Pennsylvania