North Carolina vs Virginia

Neighbors on the map, not on the ledger

A border pair is useful because casual readers expect similar federal footprints. The USAspending aggregates say otherwise. $6.3B versus $110.8B is roughly 1-to-18. North Carolina’s larger population (11,046,024 vs 8,811,195) makes the per-capita gap even wider. Place-of-performance reporting concentrates high-dollar services work in Virginia; North Carolina’s recorded stock is smaller even as a more populous neighbor.

This is not a ranking of research universities or private industry. It is a ranking of federal obligation stocks. North Carolina’s $6.3B is a real federal book. Next to Virginia’s $110.8B it is a different class.

A shared border makes the $6.3B versus $110.8B gap more striking, not less. Searchers who type both state names often expect similar federal footprints. The USAspending.gov aggregates say North Carolina has more people (11,046,024 vs 8,811,195) and a small fraction of Virginia’s recorded obligations. Place-of-performance, not a slight on North Carolina’s private research economy, is the measurement.

Pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing vs computer-related services

North Carolina’s top industry is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing — the same leading description Texas and New Jersey carry, on a $6.3B stock rather than Texas’s $72.7B or New Jersey’s $8.1B. Virginia’s top industry is other computer related services. Pharma versus IT services is the industry contrast for this neighbor pair.

North Carolina’s award count is 429,746, higher than several states with larger dollar totals, against Virginia’s 1,116,647. A busy action file that still sums to $6.3B is the volume-versus-value pattern again. This page does not invent an average award size.

Pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing as North Carolina’s top industry matches Texas and New Jersey. North Carolina’s $6.3B is the smallest pharma-led stock of those three, with 429,746 awards — a busy file relative to the dollars, still below Virginia’s 1,116,647 awards and $110.8B in other computer related services.

Questions

Does North Carolina have more federal spending than Virginia?

No. North Carolina shows $6.3B in USAspending obligations; Virginia shows $110.8B. North Carolina has more residents, 11,046,024 versus 8,811,195. Totals are obligations, not Treasury outlays. FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

What is North Carolina’s top federal industry vs Virginia?

North Carolina’s top industry is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Those NAICS descriptions are the leading slices in SpendingVault’s aggregates, not a complete list of either state’s federal awards. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

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

North Carolina’s spending per capita is $66.77. Virginia’s is $1,344.24. Both divide USAspending obligations by Census population (11,046,024 and 8,811,195). Per-capita is a scaling statistic, not a payment to residents. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

How many federal awards are in North Carolina vs Virginia?

North Carolina has 429,746 awards in this aggregate; Virginia has 1,116,647. Award counts include contracts, grants, and modifications. Virginia also leads on dollars, $110.8B versus North Carolina’s $6.3B. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.