Massachusetts vs New York

Massachusetts’s $13.5B edges New York’s $11.9B

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Massachusetts’s $13.5B exceeds New York’s $11.9B even though New York has 19,867,248 residents and Massachusetts has 7,136,171. Place of performance in the award file is not a population contest. The stacked ranking favors the smaller New England state in this aggregate.

Award counts run the other way. New York has 705,506 awards; Massachusetts has 294,824. New York’s file is busier in rows and lighter in dollars. Massachusetts’s file is heavier in dollars on fewer actions — a higher typical booking. The $13.5B versus $11.9B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

A five-to-one intensity gap: $364.70 versus $70.36

New York’s 19,867,248 residents nearly triple Massachusetts’s 7,136,171. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, Massachusetts shows $364.70 per capita and New York shows $70.36. Intensity favors Massachusetts by about 5.2 times. Population is not the engine of this ranking.

A $70.36 per-person reading in New York on 19,867,248 residents means a huge private economy can coexist with a thinner federal-award intensity than Massachusetts shows at $364.70. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. New York’s larger Census count does not produce a larger obligation stock.

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, Massachusetts or New York?

Massachusetts leads in USAspending.gov obligations: $13.5B versus New York’s $11.9B. New York has more awards (705,506 vs 294,824) and more people (19,867,248 vs 7,136,171). Spending per capita is $364.70 in Massachusetts and $70.36 in New York. FY2026 obligations are $2.6B and $1.4B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does Massachusetts show more federal obligations than New York despite fewer people?

Massachusetts’s $13.5B on 7,136,171 residents produces $364.70 per capita. New York’s $11.9B on 19,867,248 residents produces $70.36. New York actually logs more awards (705,506 vs 294,824), so Massachusetts’s lead is dollars per action and intensity, not more rows. FY2026 also favors Massachusetts ($2.6B vs $1.4B).

What industries lead Massachusetts and New York federal awards?

Massachusetts’s top industry is aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing. New York’s is other communications equipment manufacturing. Those slices sit on $13.5B and $11.9B in obligations. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 294,824 in Massachusetts and 705,506 in New York.

Are Massachusetts vs New York figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $13.5B and $11.9B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $2.6B and $1.4B measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments. Place of performance can differ from where the paying agency sits.