Pennsylvania vs Texas
Federal spending comparison
Texas shows $72.7B in USAspending.gov obligations; Pennsylvania shows $28.1B. Pennsylvania’s award file is far busier: 1,468,918 actions against Texas’s 530,634. That is the inversion. Pennsylvania has 13,078,751 residents and $239.68 per capita; Texas has 31,290,831 residents and $686.10 per capita. Lead industries are medicinal and botanical manufacturing in Pennsylvania and pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing in Texas. FY2026 obligations are $3.1B and $21.5B.
Key figures
- Pennsylvania $28.1B vs Texas $72.7B in USAspending obligations.
- Per capita $239.68 vs $686.10 on 13,078,751 vs 31,290,831 residents.
- Awards: 1,468,918 vs 530,634; FY2026 $3.1B vs $21.5B.
- Top industries: medicinal and botanical manufacturing (PA) vs pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing (TX).
- Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
1,468,918 Pennsylvania awards on $28.1B vs 530,634 Texas awards on $72.7B
Pennsylvania logs 1,468,918 awards on $28.1B. Texas logs 530,634 awards on $72.7B. Row volume and dollar stock are different rankings in this pair. A busier file is not automatically the heavier file, and a heavier file is not automatically the busier one. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays. Cash payments can lag award dates. Headquarters can differ from the state coded on the award.
Readers who sort only by award count will miss $28.1B versus $72.7B. Readers who sort only by dollars will miss 1,468,918 versus 530,634. Hold both. Typical booking size moves with that split: fewer rows on more dollars means a heavier average action, not a moral grade. Pennsylvania’s 1,468,918 awards make Texas’s 530,634 look sparse even though Texas holds $72.7B to Pennsylvania’s $28.1B.
People, intensity, and a medicinal-versus-pharma mix
Census counts are 13,078,751 in Pennsylvania and 31,290,831 in Texas. Spending per capita is $239.68 versus $686.10. That ratio uses stacked obligations, not FY2026 alone and not GDP. A higher per-person reading means a thicker federal-award intensity on the Census denominator, nothing else.
Medicinal and botanical manufacturing versus pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing is a near-neighbor NAICS contrast: both are drug-related manufacturing peaks, sitting on very different dollar stocks and very different row counts. Population can lead while dollars trail, or the reverse. The table reports both. It does not convert either into outlays.
Full analysis: Pennsylvania vs Texas on USAspending: more awards, fewer dollars →
Questions
- Which has more federal spending, Pennsylvania or Texas?
- Pennsylvania shows $28.1B in USAspending.gov obligations; Texas shows $72.7B. Award counts are 1,468,918 and 530,634. Populations are 13,078,751 and 31,290,831. Spending per capita is $239.68 versus $686.10. FY2026 obligations are $3.1B and $21.5B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
- What industries lead Pennsylvania and Texas federal awards?
- Pennsylvania’s top industry is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. Texas’s top industry is pharmaceutical preparation manufacturing. Those slices sit on $28.1B and $72.7B in USAspending.gov obligations and on 1,468,918 versus 530,634 awards. They mark the largest grouping in each file, not every award.
- How do Pennsylvania and Texas compare on spending per capita?
- Spending per capita is $239.68 in Pennsylvania on 13,078,751 residents and $686.10 in Texas on 31,290,831 residents. Those ratios use stacked USAspending.gov obligations of $28.1B and $72.7B, not FY2026 alone and not GDP. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
- Are Pennsylvania vs Texas figures Treasury outlays?
- No. The $28.1B and $72.7B stacked totals, and FY2026 amounts of $3.1B and $21.5B, are USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. Award counts are 1,468,918 and 530,634. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
State comparison from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending obligations. Per-capita uses Census population where present.
| Pennsylvania | Metric | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| $123.59B | Total Spending | $147.74B |
| $9K | Per Capita | $5K |
| N/A | % of GDP | N/A |
| 13.1M | Population | 31.3M |
| 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 — Pennsylvania
- Department of Health and Human Services$489.40B
- Social Security Administration$184.58B
- Department of Defense$124.00B
- Department of Agriculture$22.57B
- Department of Veterans Affairs$17.67B
Top Agencies — Texas
- Department of Defense$483.10B
- Social Security Administration$284.97B
- Department of Health and Human Services$218.33B
- Department of Veterans Affairs$107.92B
- Department of Homeland Security$55.28B
Top Industries — Pennsylvania
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$29.49B
- POWER BOILER AND HEAT EXCHANGER MANUFACTURING$17.61B
- AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING$17.42B
- MILITARY ARMORED VEHICLE, TANK, AND TANK COMPONENT MANUFACTURING$11.80B
- MEDICINAL AND BOTANICAL MANUFACTURING$11.30B
Top Industries — Texas
- AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING$299.18B
- GUIDED MISSILE AND SPACE VEHICLE MANUFACTURING$62.54B
- OTHER AIRCRAFT PARTS AND AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING$29.46B
- PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATION MANUFACTURING$29.13B
- COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$26.71B
Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · Pennsylvania · Texas