Michigan vs North Carolina

Matched award files, unmatched dollars

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Michigan’s $8.4B stock sits $2.1 billion above North Carolina’s $6.3B. Place of performance in the award file is the scoring rule. The unusual fact is the row count. Michigan logs 416,538 awards; North Carolina logs 429,746. On stocks this large, those files are effectively the same size.

Matched rows with unmatched dollars imply a heavier typical booking in Michigan. North Carolina’s $6.3B is spread across slightly more actions. Michigan’s $8.4B sits on a similar number of records. Dollars favor Michigan; paperwork volume does not. The $8.4B versus $6.3B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

Michigan’s 416,538 awards and North Carolina’s 429,746 awards are close enough that typical booking size, not paperwork volume, carries the $8,395,413,599 versus $6,340,179,185 gap. People of 10,140,459 versus 11,046,024 are also close, which is why $175.18 versus $66.77 is a clean intensity split. FY2026 of $1,776,433,740 versus $737,511,771 favors Michigan. Automobiles versus pharmaceuticals is mix, not a census of either stock.

Similar Census counts, 2.6 times the intensity

North Carolina’s 11,046,024 residents slightly exceed Michigan’s 10,140,459. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, Michigan shows $175.18 per capita and North Carolina shows $66.77. Intensity in Michigan is more than 2.6 times North Carolina’s even though the populations are close.

A $175.18 per-person reading on 10,140,459 residents is an intensity fact attached to $8.4B. North Carolina’s $66.77 on 11,046,024 residents is attached to $6.3B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Similar people and similar rows can still hide a wide dollar gap and a wider intensity gap.

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, Michigan or North Carolina?

Michigan leads in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8,395,413,599 versus North Carolina’s $6,340,179,185. Award counts are close (416,538 vs 429,746). North Carolina has slightly more people (11,046,024 vs 10,140,459). Spending per capita is $175.18 in Michigan and $66.77 in North Carolina. FY2026 obligations are $1.78B and $737.5M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Are Michigan and North Carolina award counts similar?

Yes. Michigan logs 416,538 awards on $8.4B. North Carolina logs 429,746 awards on $6.3B. The files are nearly the same size in rows. Intensity is not: $175.18 versus $66.77. Populations are 10,140,459 and 11,046,024. FY2026 favors Michigan ($1.78B vs $737.5M).

What industries lead Michigan and North Carolina federal awards?

Michigan’s top industry is automobile manufacturing. North Carolina’s is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $8.4B and $6.3B obligation stocks. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award in either state. Award counts are 416,538 in Michigan and 429,746 in North Carolina.

Are Michigan vs North Carolina figures Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $8.4B and $6.3B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $1.78B and $737.5M measure award commitments by place of performance, not Monthly Treasury Statement payments.