Oregon vs Virginia

Pacific Northwest dollars vs National Capital dollars

These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Oregon’s $2.7B is about 2 percent of Virginia’s $110.8B. Award counts are 36,965 in Oregon and 1,116,647 in Virginia. Oregon’s federal-award file is real and relatively thin.

Population (4,272,371 vs 8,811,195) is about a 2-to-1 ratio. Obligations are not. Anyone expecting Oregon’s tech and timber economy to look like Virginia’s contractor economy on this table will not find that result in $2.7B versus $110.8B.

Fifty-six dollars per person vs $1,344

Oregon’s $56.06 per capita is the low intensity marker in this pair. Virginia’s $1,344.24 is the high one. Dividing $2.7B by 4,272,371 residents and $110.8B by 8,811,195 residents leaves a gap that population cannot close.

Low per-capita obligations are not a measure of state prosperity. They measure federal award commitments booked to the state in this aggregate. Oregon can have a large private sector and still show $56.06 on this column.

Oregon’s $56.06 per capita is the intensity marker in this pair. It uses $2.7B and 4,272,371 residents. Virginia’s $1,344.24 uses $110.8B and 8,811,195 residents. Support activities for forestry as Oregon’s top industry on 36,965 awards is a land-management mix, not a professional-services mix. FY2026’s $239.5M versus $11.8B can move with fire-year schedules on the Oregon side without changing the stacked order. A thin row file and a low per-capita rate can coexist with a real private economy that simply does not book as USAspending.gov place-of-performance obligations at Virginia scale. Outlays remain a separate cash concept.

Questions

How do Oregon and Virginia compare on USAspending?

Oregon has $2.7B in obligations and 36,965 awards; Virginia has $110.8B and 1,116,647 awards. Spending per capita is $56.06 versus $1,344.24 on Census populations of 4,272,371 and 8,811,195. FY2026 obligations are $239.5M and $11.8B. Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

What is Oregon’s top federal contracting industry vs Virginia’s?

Oregon’s top industry is support activities for forestry. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Those slices sit on $2.7B and $110.8B in obligations. Forestry support and computer services are different federal customers; the labels mark the largest grouping in each file. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Why is Oregon’s per-capita federal spending so much lower than Virginia’s?

Oregon’s $56.06 per capita uses $2.7B in obligations and 4,272,371 residents. Virginia’s $1,344.24 uses $110.8B and 8,811,195 residents. Population differs by about 2-to-1; obligations differ by much more. Per capita records the intensity gap after headcount is removed. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Are Oregon vs Virginia figures Treasury outlays?

No. They are obligations from USAspending.gov. Outlays are cash payments that can lag, including on multi-year land-management awards. The $2.7B and $110.8B totals and FY2026 amounts of $239.5M and $11.8B are commitment figures, not checks already issued by Treasury. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.