Rhode Island vs South Dakota
Federal spending comparison
South Dakota’s stacked USAspending.gov obligation stock is $1.0B; Rhode Island’s is $880.6M. Fiscal year 2026 is the close cut: $73.9M in South Dakota versus $79.5M in Rhode Island. Spending per capita is $79.92 versus $71.48 on 924,669 residents against 1,112,308. Award counts are 8,274 versus 11,923. Electronic computer manufacturing leads South Dakota; nonchocolate confectionery manufacturing leads Rhode Island. The figures are obligations, not outlays.
Key figures
- Rhode Island $880.6M vs South Dakota $1.0B in stacked USAspending obligations.
- Per capita $71.48 vs $79.92 on 1,112,308 vs 924,669 residents.
- Awards 11,923 vs 8,274; FY2026 $79.5M vs $73.9M.
- Top industries: nonchocolate confectionery manufacturing in Rhode Island; electronic computer manufacturing in South Dakota.
- Figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays.
A close FY2026 slice on unmatched mix labels
Stacked stocks of $1.0B versus $880.6M favor South Dakota. FY2026 of $73.9M versus $79.5M favors Rhode Island, narrowly. Recency and all-years stocks disagree, and they disagree by a small latest-year margin. Cite USAspending.gov. Treat FY2026 as an obligation slice, not Treasury cash.
Mix is not close. Electronic computer manufacturing leads South Dakota’s 8,274-award file. Nonchocolate confectionery manufacturing leads Rhode Island’s 11,923-award file. Computer manufacturing versus confectionery is a first-read contrast, not a ranking of state economies.
Population of 924,669 versus 1,112,308 favors Rhode Island on headcount. Intensity of $79.92 versus $71.48 still favors South Dakota. A larger Census count does not produce the hotter ratio here. Outlays are omitted. Census counts belong with those ratios on USAspending.gov obligations.
Nonchocolate confectionery versus electronic computer manufacturing
Those NAICS peaks sit on $880.6M and $1.0B. Use the Rhode Island and South Dakota state hubs for agencies and recipients. Both peaks are USAspending.gov obligation mixes. Outlays are not listed.
Rhode Island’s extra awards (11,923 vs 8,274) sit beside the slightly larger FY2026 slice. South Dakota’s thinner log sits beside the larger stacked stock and the hotter $79.92 ratio. Row count is not average award size.
Full analysis: Rhode Island vs South Dakota on USAspending: $880.6M vs $1.0B →
Questions
- Does Rhode Island or South Dakota have more federal spending?
- Stacked USAspending.gov obligations are $880.6M in Rhode Island and $1.0B in South Dakota. Spending per capita is $71.48 versus $79.92 on 1,112,308 and 924,669 residents. Award counts are 11,923 versus 8,274. FY2026 obligations are $79.5M in Rhode Island and $73.9M in South Dakota. Both dollar series are obligations, not outlays.
- What industries lead in Rhode Island and South Dakota?
- Rhode Island's top industry is nonchocolate confectionery manufacturing. South Dakota's is electronic computer manufacturing. Those labels are the largest NAICS slices on $880.6M and $1.0B. Award counts are 11,923 in Rhode Island and 8,274 in South Dakota. The rest of each mix sits outside those peaks on USAspending.gov obligation files.
- How do Rhode Island and South Dakota compare on a per-capita basis?
- The packet reports $71.48 per capita in Rhode Island on 1,112,308 residents and $79.92 in South Dakota on 924,669 residents. Stacked stocks are $880.6M versus $1.0B. Award counts are 11,923 versus 8,274. These figures are USAspending.gov obligations, not outlays. FY2026 amounts are $79.5M versus $73.9M.
- Are Rhode Island vs South Dakota figures Treasury outlays?
- No. The $880.6M and $1.0B totals, and FY2026 amounts of $79.5M and $73.9M, are USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag behind commitments. Spending per capita ($71.48 vs $79.92) uses Census population where present. This packet does not publish outlays.
State comparison from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending obligations. Per-capita uses Census population where present.
| Rhode Island | Metric | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| $7.18B | Total Spending | $5.43B |
| $6K | Per Capita | $6K |
| N/A | % of GDP | N/A |
| 1.1M | Population | 925K |
| 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 — Rhode Island
- Department of Health and Human Services$19.76B
- Social Security Administration$14.98B
- Department of Defense$5.43B
- General Services Administration$1.84B
- Department of Transportation$1.77B
Top Agencies — South Dakota
- Social Security Administration$11.65B
- Department of Health and Human Services$9.00B
- Department of Agriculture$3.30B
- Department of the Treasury$2.72B
- Department of Defense$2.57B
Top Industries — Rhode Island
- ENGINEERING SERVICES$2.42B
- SEARCH, DETECTION, NAVIGATION, GUIDANCE, AERONAUTICAL, AND NAUTICAL SYSTEM AND INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURING$959.9M
- COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$326.5M
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHYSICAL, ENGINEERING, AND LIFE SCIENCES (EXCEPT NANOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY)$319.6M
- AMMUNITION (EXCEPT SMALL ARMS) MANUFACTURING$234.7M
Top Industries — South Dakota
- COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION$1.76B
- OTHER HEAVY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION$334.5M
- COMPUTER FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SERVICES$219.2M
- HIGHWAY, STREET, AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION$170.1M
- ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MANUFACTURING$166.5M
Source: USAspending.gov · More Comparisons · Rhode Island · South Dakota