Kentucky vs Virginia

A high award count that still sums to $3.8B

USAspending.gov obligations — not Treasury outlays — put Kentucky at $3.8B and Virginia at $110.8B. Kentucky’s 140,157 awards are the distinctive count in this pair among many smaller-dollar states. That is a busy file. Dividing $3.8B by 140,157 implies a much smaller typical action than dividing $110.8B by Virginia’s 1,116,647 awards would hide if one only looked at totals.

Courier and parcel-related federal work often produces many modest delivery and logistics actions. That pattern fits a state whose top industry is couriers and express delivery services. Virginia’s other computer related services slice sits on a different price-per-award distribution.

Per capita: $142.10 vs $1,344.24

Census population is 4,588,372 in Kentucky and 8,811,195 in Virginia — Virginia has about 1.9 times as many people. Obligations are about 29 times Kentucky’s $3.8B. The leftover is the per-capita spread: $142.10 versus $1,344.24.

Kentucky is not empty of federal work. It is lightly loaded per resident relative to Virginia. Rankings by total dollars and rankings by per-person dollars both put Virginia first; the per-person ranking is the one that survives a population adjustment.

Questions

How much federal spending is in Kentucky vs Virginia?

Kentucky has $3.8B in USAspending.gov obligations and Virginia has $110.8B. Kentucky’s award count is 140,157; Virginia’s is 1,116,647. Spending per capita is $142.10 versus $1,344.24 on populations of 4,588,372 and 8,811,195. FY2026 obligations are $652.0M and $11.8B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does Kentucky have so many federal awards for a $3.8B total?

Kentucky shows 140,157 awards on $3.8B in obligations, a high count relative to the dollar stock. Its top industry is couriers and express delivery services, a mix that often includes many discrete logistics actions. Virginia’s $110.8B sits on 1,116,647 awards led by other computer related services. Count and dollars are separate columns.

What is Kentucky’s federal spending per capita compared with Virginia?

Kentucky is at $142.10 per resident; Virginia is at $1,344.24. Those figures use $3.8B and $110.8B in obligations and Census populations of 4,588,372 and 8,811,195. Population explains only part of the dollar gap; per capita shows the rest. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Do these Kentucky and Virginia numbers include Treasury outlays?

No. They are obligations from USAspending.gov. Outlays are later cash payments. The stacked totals ($3.8B and $110.8B) and the FY2026 amounts ($652.0M and $11.8B) can cover work that pays out across years. SpendingVault does not substitute Monthly Treasury Statement outlays here. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.