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New Jersey vs North Carolina

Federal spending comparison

New Jersey accounts for $8,084,032,234 in federal obligations on USAspending.gov. North Carolina accounts for $6,340,179,185. New Jersey leads stacked dollars by about $1.7 billion. Both files lead with the same NAICS slice: pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. The files are not the same size. New Jersey logs 1,162,765 awards against North Carolina’s 429,746. Populations are 9,500,851 in New Jersey and 11,046,024 in North Carolina. Spending per capita is $92.49 versus $66.77. FY2026 obligations are $878.7M in New Jersey and $737.5M in North Carolina.

Key figures

  • New Jersey $8.1B vs North Carolina $6.3B in USAspending obligations.
  • Populations: New Jersey 9,500,851 vs North Carolina 11,046,024; per capita $92.49 vs $66.77.
  • New Jersey has more awards (1,162,765 vs 429,746); FY2026 $878.7M vs $737.5M.
  • Both top industries are pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing.
  • Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Same top industry, different dollar stocks

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. New Jersey’s $8.1B stock sits $1.7 billion above North Carolina’s $6.3B. Place of performance in the award file is the scoring rule. The pair is unusual because the top industry label is identical—pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing—while scale, rows, people, and intensity still diverge.

New Jersey’s $8,084,032,234 is spread across 1,162,765 records. North Carolina’s $6,340,179,185 sits on 429,746. New Jersey’s file is busier even after adjusting for the larger stock. Shared industry family does not mean shared paperwork volume. The $8.1B versus $6.3B ranking is a dollar ranking, not a row ranking.

Two pharmaceutical-preparation leads sit on $8,084,032,234 and $6,340,179,185. New Jersey’s 1,162,765 awards versus North Carolina’s 429,746 awards still differ. People of 9,500,851 versus 11,046,024 produce $92.49 versus $66.77. FY2026 of $878,702,039 versus $737,511,771 stays with New Jersey. Matching top slices does not match paperwork volume, Census counts, or stacked stocks. Both files remain USAspending.gov obligation books.

Fewer people in New Jersey, higher intensity

North Carolina’s 11,046,024 residents exceed New Jersey’s 9,500,851. After dividing the obligation stocks by those Census counts, New Jersey shows $92.49 per capita and North Carolina shows $66.77. Intensity favors New Jersey even though North Carolina has more people.

A $92.49 per-person reading on 9,500,851 residents is an intensity fact attached to $8.1B. North Carolina’s $66.77 on 11,046,024 residents is attached to $6.3B. This table scores USAspending place of performance, not GDP. Two pharmaceutical-led files can still hide a wide row-count gap and a quieter intensity gap.

Full analysis: New Jersey vs North Carolina on USAspending: $8.1B vs $6.3B

Questions

Which state has more federal spending, New Jersey or North Carolina?
New Jersey leads in stacked USAspending.gov obligations: $8,084,032,234 versus North Carolina’s $6,340,179,185. New Jersey has more awards (1,162,765 vs 429,746). North Carolina has more people (11,046,024 vs 9,500,851). Spending per capita is $92.49 in New Jersey and $66.77 in North Carolina. FY2026 obligations are $878.7M and $737.5M. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.
Do New Jersey and North Carolina have the same top federal industry?
Yes. Both files lead with pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. That shared NAICS label sits on $8.1B in New Jersey and $6.3B in North Carolina. Award counts still differ: 1,162,765 versus 429,746. Matching top slices does not make the files the same size. Per capita is $92.49 versus $66.77.
Why does New Jersey have more awards than North Carolina?
New Jersey logs 1,162,765 awards on $8.1B. North Carolina logs 429,746 awards on $6.3B. New Jersey’s file is busier in rows on a larger stock. Populations are 9,500,851 and 11,046,024. FY2026 favors New Jersey ($878.7M vs $737.5M). Both top industries are pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing.
Are New Jersey vs North Carolina figures Treasury outlays?
No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $8.1B and $6.3B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $878.7M and $737.5M 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.

Side-by-side federal spending and demographic comparison between New Jersey and North Carolina.
New JerseyMetricNorth Carolina
$46.16BTotal Spending$60.72B
$5KPer Capita$5K
N/A% of GDPN/A
9.5MPopulation11.0M
N/AMedian IncomeN/A
N/APoverty RateN/A
N/ABachelor Degree %N/A
N/AMedian AgeN/A
N/AUnemploymentN/A
N/AGDP (Millions)N/A

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 Agencies — North Carolina

  • Social Security Administration$140.77B
  • Department of Health and Human Services$132.20B
  • Department of Veterans Affairs$27.30B
  • Department of Defense$24.88B
  • Department of Agriculture$17.02B

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

Top Industries — North Carolina

  • COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$6.05B
  • ENGINEERING SERVICES$3.28B
  • COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN SERVICES$2.30B
  • OTHER WASTE COLLECTION$1.99B
  • FOOD SERVICE CONTRACTORS$1.84B