Does Maine or North Dakota have more federal spending?

Maine leads stacked USAspending.gov obligations $776.4M to North Dakota’s $700.4M and awards 26,048 to 7,218. North Dakota leads spending per capita $63.75 to $35.09 and FY2026 obligations $50.8M to $49.3M. Population is 1,405,012 in Maine and 796,568 in North Dakota.

What industries lead in Maine and North Dakota?

Maine’s top industry is other building equipment contractors. North Dakota’s is commercial and institutional building construction. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $776.4M and $700.4M. Award counts are 26,048 in Maine and 7,218 in North Dakota.

Why is North Dakota’s per-capita figure higher if Maine has more dollars?

The packet reports $63.75 per capita in North Dakota on 796,568 residents and $35.09 in Maine on 1,405,012. Stacked stocks are $700.4M versus $776.4M. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations divided by Census population where present. The smaller Census file sits with the hotter ratio.

Are Maine vs North Dakota figures Treasury outlays?

No. The $776.4M and $700.4M totals, and FY2026 amounts of $49.3M and $50.8M, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Spending per capita ($35.09 vs $63.75) uses Census population where present. This packet does not publish outlays or average award size.

Maine vs North Dakota

Federal spending comparison

Maine’s stacked USAspending.gov obligation stock is $776.4M; North Dakota’s is $700.4M. The stacked files are close. Award volume is not: Maine records 26,048 awards and North Dakota 7,218. Population is 1,405,012 versus 796,568, which is why spending per capita runs the other way, $63.75 in North Dakota versus $35.09 in Maine. FY2026 is nearly even, $49.3M versus $50.8M. The figures are obligations, not outlays.

Key figures

Maine $776.4M vs North Dakota $700.4M in stacked USAspending obligations.
Per capita $35.09 vs $63.75 on 1,405,012 vs 796,568 residents.
Awards 26,048 vs 7,218; FY2026 $49.3M vs $50.8M.
Top industries: other building equipment contractors in Maine; commercial building construction in North Dakota.
Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Close stocks, a 26,048-to-7,218 award gap

Maine’s $776.4M stacked stock sits only modestly above North Dakota’s $700.4M. Census population leans Maine: 1,405,012 versus 796,568. Intensity does not. $63.75 per capita in North Dakota is hotter than Maine’s $35.09. Cite those packet ratios beside the Census counts; they are not a second copy of $776.4M and $700.4M.

Award volume is the ranking that blows open. Maine’s 26,048 awards versus North Dakota’s 7,218 is a much thicker action log on a stock that is only slightly larger. Row count is not average award size. Cite USAspending.gov. Do not invent a mean from 26,048 or 7,218.

Building-equipment contractors versus commercial building construction

Maine’s lead NAICS is other building equipment contractors. North Dakota’s is commercial and institutional building construction. Both peaks sit in the construction orbit, but they are not the same label. Equipment contractors are a first read on Maine’s $776.4M mix. Commercial and institutional buildings are a first read on North Dakota’s $700.4M mix.

The 26,048 Maine awards and 7,218 North Dakota awards include many actions outside those two industries. Use the Maine and North Dakota state hubs for agencies and recipients. Both peaks are USAspending.gov obligation mixes. Outlays are not in the packet.

Full analysis: Maine vs North Dakota on USAspending: $776.4M vs $700.4M →

Questions

Does Maine or North Dakota have more federal spending?: Maine leads stacked USAspending.gov obligations $776.4M to North Dakota’s $700.4M and awards 26,048 to 7,218. North Dakota leads spending per capita $63.75 to $35.09 and FY2026 obligations $50.8M to $49.3M. Population is 1,405,012 in Maine and 796,568 in North Dakota.
What industries lead in Maine and North Dakota?: Maine’s top industry is other building equipment contractors. North Dakota’s is commercial and institutional building construction. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $776.4M and $700.4M. Award counts are 26,048 in Maine and 7,218 in North Dakota.
Why is North Dakota’s per-capita figure higher if Maine has more dollars?: The packet reports $63.75 per capita in North Dakota on 796,568 residents and $35.09 in Maine on 1,405,012. Stacked stocks are $700.4M versus $776.4M. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations divided by Census population where present. The smaller Census file sits with the hotter ratio.
Are Maine vs North Dakota figures Treasury outlays?: No. The $776.4M and $700.4M totals, and FY2026 amounts of $49.3M and $50.8M, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Spending per capita ($35.09 vs $63.75) uses Census population where present. This packet does not publish outlays or average award size.

State comparison from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending obligations. Per-capita uses Census population where present.

Side-by-side federal spending and demographic comparison between Maine and North Dakota.
Maine	Metric	North Dakota
$9.24B	Total Spending	$42.60B
$7K	Per Capita	$53K
N/A	% of GDP	N/A
1.4M	Population	797K
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 — Maine

Department of Defense$34.90B
Department of Health and Human Services$25.72B
Social Security Administration$21.93B
Department of Veterans Affairs$3.27B
Department of Agriculture$2.40B

Top Agencies — North Dakota

Department of Health and Human Services$233.80B
Social Security Administration$8.60B
Department of Agriculture$4.39B
Department of Defense$2.25B
Department of Transportation$2.07B

Top Industries — Maine

SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRING$25.67B
DIRECT HEALTH AND MEDICAL INSURANCE CARRIERS$4.61B
OTHER HEAVY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION$2.19B
COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$690.4M
ENGINEERING SERVICES$619.3M

Top Industries — North Dakota

DIRECT HEALTH AND MEDICAL INSURANCE CARRIERS$2.16B
COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$796.4M
OTHER HEAVY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION$622.4M
ALL OTHER PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND TECHNICAL SERVICES$408.7M
HIGHWAY, STREET, AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION$150.0M

Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · Maine · North Dakota