Louisiana vs New Jersey
Federal spending comparison
New Jersey accounts for $8,084,032,234 in federal obligations on USAspending.gov. Louisiana accounts for $4,707,913,049. New Jersey’s stacked stock is about 1.7 times Louisiana’s. The award file is the extreme split: 1,162,765 actions in New Jersey against 72,577 in Louisiana. Intensity and recency both favor Louisiana. Spending per capita is $268.17 versus $92.49. FY2026 obligations are $1.23B in Louisiana and $878.7M in New Jersey. Populations are 4,597,740 in Louisiana and 9,500,851 in New Jersey. Mix is ship building and repairing versus pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing.
Key figures
- New Jersey $8.1B vs Louisiana $4.7B in USAspending obligations.
- Populations: Louisiana 4,597,740 vs New Jersey 9,500,851; per capita $268.17 vs $92.49.
- New Jersey has far more awards (1,162,765 vs 72,577); FY2026 favors Louisiana $1.23B vs $878.7M.
- Top industries: ship building and repairing (LA) vs pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing (NJ).
- Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
Sixteen New Jersey awards for each Louisiana award
These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. New Jersey’s $8.1B stock sits $3.4 billion above Louisiana’s $4.7B. Place of performance in the award file is the scoring rule. New Jersey has more people (9,500,851 versus 4,597,740) and a vastly busier file. Louisiana still posts the higher per-capita reading and the larger FY2026 window.
New Jersey’s $8,084,032,234 is spread across 1,162,765 records. Louisiana’s $4,707,913,049 sits on 72,577. That is about 16 New Jersey awards for each Louisiana award. Dollars favor New Jersey; paperwork volume favors New Jersey as well. Intensity and recency do not.
New Jersey’s 1,162,765 awards on $8,084,032,234 versus Louisiana’s 72,577 awards on $4,707,913,049 is a 16-to-1 paperwork gulf. FY2026 of $878,702,039 versus $1,232,995,601 already favors Louisiana. People of 9,500,851 versus 4,597,740 produce $92.49 versus $268.17. Ships versus pharmaceuticals is mix. A million-row file can still trail on the latest year and on intensity.
Louisiana’s $268.17 versus New Jersey’s $92.49
Louisiana’s 4,597,740 residents against $4.7B produce $268.17 per capita. New Jersey’s 9,500,851 residents against $8.1B produce $92.49. Intensity in Louisiana is nearly three times New Jersey’s even though New Jersey holds the larger stacked total and the million-row file.
A $268.17 per-person reading is an intensity fact attached to $4.7B, not a household check. New Jersey’s $92.49 is attached to $8.1B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. A 72,577-award file on $4.7B is consistent with a heavier typical booking than a 1,162,765-award file on $8.1B.
Full analysis: Louisiana vs New Jersey on USAspending: $4.7B vs $8.1B →
Questions
- Which state has more federal spending, Louisiana or New Jersey?
- New Jersey leads in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8,084,032,234 versus Louisiana’s $4,707,913,049. New Jersey has far more awards (1,162,765 vs 72,577) and more people (9,500,851 vs 4,597,740). Spending per capita is $268.17 in Louisiana and $92.49 in New Jersey. FY2026 obligations are $1.23B and $878.7M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.
- Does Louisiana outpace New Jersey in FY2026?
- Yes. FY2026 obligations are $1,232,995,601 in Louisiana versus $878,702,039 in New Jersey. The stacked ranking still favors New Jersey ($8.1B vs $4.7B). Per capita is $268.17 versus $92.49. Award counts are 72,577 and 1,162,765. Populations are 4,597,740 and 9,500,851.
- What industries lead Louisiana and New Jersey federal awards?
- Louisiana’s top industry is ship building and repairing. New Jersey’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $4.7B and $8.1B obligation stocks. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 72,577 in Louisiana and 1,162,765 in New Jersey.
- Are Louisiana vs New Jersey figures Treasury outlays?
- No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $4.7B and $8.1B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $1.23B and $878.7M 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.
| Louisiana | Metric | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| $42.09B | Total Spending | $46.16B |
| $9K | Per Capita | $5K |
| N/A | % of GDP | N/A |
| 4.6M | Population | 9.5M |
| 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 — Louisiana
- Department of Health and Human Services$78.42B
- Social Security Administration$54.78B
- Department of Homeland Security$21.72B
- Department of Defense$19.37B
- Department of Agriculture$12.04B
Top Agencies — New Jersey
- Social Security Administration$114.07B
- Department of Health and Human Services$101.46B
- Department of Defense$46.63B
- Department of Transportation$14.94B
- Department of Veterans Affairs$12.27B
Top Industries — Louisiana
- SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRING$9.58B
- OTHER HEAVY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION$4.88B
- FACILITIES SUPPORT SERVICES$3.06B
- GUIDED MISSILE AND SPACE VEHICLE PROPULSION UNIT AND PROPULSION UNIT PARTS MANUFACTURING$2.87B
- COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$1.76B
Top Industries — New Jersey
- SEARCH, DETECTION, NAVIGATION, GUIDANCE, AERONAUTICAL, AND NAUTICAL SYSTEM AND INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURING$17.07B
- ENGINEERING SERVICES$6.78B
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$5.94B
- COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN SERVICES$4.71B
- COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS$2.05B
Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · Louisiana · New Jersey