Arkansas vs Virginia on USAspending: poultry-led $1.7B vs $110.8B

A $1.7B file with 79,590 awards

USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays, put Arkansas at $1.7B and Virginia at $110.8B. Arkansas’s 79,590 awards are numerous relative to $1.7B, which implies many modest actions rather than a few huge ones. Virginia’s 1,116,647 awards sit under $110.8B.

Food-processing federal work — school, military, and other institutional purchasing — can generate lots of delivery-style actions. That pattern fits a poultry-processing lead industry better than it fits Virginia’s computer-services stack. Count is high; dollars stay at $1.7B.

Eighty-five dollars per person vs $1,344

Arkansas’s $85.06 per capita uses $1.7B and 3,088,354 residents. Virginia’s $1,344.24 uses $110.8B and 8,811,195 residents. Population differs by about 2.9-to-1. Obligations differ by far more. Per capita is the remainder.

Arkansas is not empty of federal purchasing. It is lightly loaded per resident next to Virginia. Total-dollar rankings and per-person rankings both put Virginia first; per person is the ranking that survives a population adjustment.

Arkansas’s 79,590 awards on $1.7B imply many modest actions, which fits a poultry-processing lead better than it fits a handful of huge professional-services task orders. Virginia still leads on every dollar measure: $110.8B, 1,116,647 awards, $1,344.24 per capita on 8,811,195 residents versus Arkansas’s $85.06 on 3,088,354. FY2026’s $262.7M versus $11.8B is recency and can reflect annual food-supply awards as well as other actions. Largest slice is not whole file: poultry processing is Arkansas’s top grouping, not a claim that every award is a processing plant. Cite USAspending.gov obligations. Do not convert $1.7B or $110.8B into outlays or farm-policy scores.

Poultry processing vs other computer related services

Arkansas’s top industry is poultry processing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. A processing-plant slice and an IT-services slice are different federal industrial bases. One is food manufacturing; the other is professional services around agencies.

Those labels sit on 79,590 versus 1,116,647 awards and on $1.7B versus $110.8B. They mark the largest grouping in each file. They do not mean every Arkansas award is a chicken contract or every Virginia award is an IT task order.

FY2026: $262.7M vs $11.8B

FY2026 obligations are $262.7M in Arkansas and $11.8B in Virginia. Arkansas’s latest year is a sizable share of $1.7B; Virginia’s $11.8B is one year of $110.8B. Food-supply awards can be annual and repetitive, which is one reason FY2026 and the stacked total can look different as shares. Both columns are obligations from USAspending.gov.

Arkansas’s $262.7M in FY2026 is recency inside $1.7B. Food-supply awards can renew, which may make the latest year look like a sizable share of a small stack. Virginia’s $11.8B inside $110.8B is still a much larger current booking. Do not divide $262.7M by Arkansas’s 79,590 all-years awards. Per capita of $85.06 on 3,088,354 residents versus $1,344.24 on 8,811,195 residents is the intensity comparison. Cite USAspending.gov obligations, not Treasury outlays, in both time cuts.

Processing plants are not contractor corridors

This comparison does not value agricultural policy or IT programs. It reports $1.7B vs $110.8B in obligations. Outlays can follow on a different calendar. Open the Arkansas and Virginia state pages for agencies and recipients. Institutional food purchasing can repeat annually and raise Arkansas’s count toward 79,590 without raising the stacked total toward $110.8B. That mechanic is specific to this pair’s mix and should not be copied onto construction-led states as a generic explanation.

Poultry processing as Arkansas’s largest slice of $1.7B is a food-manufacturing fact, not a joke and not a complete census. Virginia’s other computer related services slice of $110.8B is likewise a largest-slice fact. Award counts of 79,590 versus 1,116,647 show Arkansas as relatively high-count for its dollars. Use the Arkansas and Virginia hubs for agencies and recipients. Keep the comparison labeled as obligations.

How to read a poultry-led $1.7B file

Arkansas’s $1.7B, 79,590 awards, and $85.06 per capita on 3,088,354 residents describe a low-intensity, relatively high-count file. Virginia’s $110.8B, 1,116,647 awards, and $1,344.24 on 8,811,195 residents describe a dense services file. Poultry processing versus other computer related services is the mix contrast.

FY2026 ($262.7M vs $11.8B) is recency. Stacked totals are scale. USAspending.gov obligations are not Treasury outlays and are not a score of agricultural policy. Use the Arkansas and Virginia state hubs for agencies and recipients.

Questions

How much federal spending is in Arkansas vs Virginia?

Arkansas has $1.7B in USAspending.gov obligations and 79,590 awards; Virginia has $110.8B and 1,116,647 awards. Spending per capita is $85.06 versus $1,344.24 on populations of 3,088,354 and 8,811,195. FY2026 obligations are $262.7M and $11.8B. These are 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 Arkansas’s top federal contracting industry vs Virginia’s?

Arkansas’s top industry is poultry processing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Those slices sit on $1.7B and $110.8B in obligations. Poultry processing is a food-manufacturing grouping; Virginia’s lead slice is computer-related services. Neither label inventories every award in the state file.

Why does Arkansas have 79,590 awards on $1.7B?

A $1.7B stock spread across 79,590 awards implies many modest actions. A poultry-processing lead industry is consistent with repetitive institutional food purchasing. Virginia’s $110.8B sits on 1,116,647 awards with a computer-services lead slice — a different count-and-dollar pattern. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Are Arkansas vs Virginia totals Treasury outlays?

No. SpendingVault uses USAspending.gov obligations. Outlays are cash payments and can lag. The $1.7B and $110.8B stacked totals and FY2026 amounts of $262.7M and $11.8B measure award commitments by place of performance, not cash already paid. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.