Kentucky vs Virginia on USAspending: many awards, fewer dollars

A high award count that still sums to $3.8B

USAspending.gov obligations — not Treasury outlays — put Kentucky at $3.8B and Virginia at $110.8B. Kentucky’s 140,157 awards are the distinctive count in this pair among many smaller-dollar states. That is a busy file. Dividing $3.8B by 140,157 implies a much smaller typical action than dividing $110.8B by Virginia’s 1,116,647 awards would hide if one only looked at totals.

Courier and parcel-related federal work often produces many modest delivery and logistics actions. That pattern fits a state whose top industry is couriers and express delivery services. Virginia’s other computer related services slice sits on a different price-per-award distribution.

Per capita: $142.10 vs $1,344.24

Census population is 4,588,372 in Kentucky and 8,811,195 in Virginia — Virginia has about 1.9 times as many people. Obligations are about 29 times Kentucky’s $3.8B. The leftover is the per-capita spread: $142.10 versus $1,344.24.

Kentucky is not empty of federal work. It is lightly loaded per resident relative to Virginia. Rankings by total dollars and rankings by per-person dollars both put Virginia first; the per-person ranking is the one that survives a population adjustment.

Couriers in Kentucky, computer services in Virginia

Kentucky’s top industry label is couriers and express delivery services. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Logistics hubs and parcel contractors show up in federal award data differently than IT support contractors. One file fills with many shipping actions; the other fills with professional-services awards around federal agencies.

The 140,157 Kentucky awards versus 1,116,647 Virginia awards should be read with those labels. Count is not quality and count is not dollars. Kentucky’s count is high for a $3.8B state; Virginia’s count and dollars both sit in a different tier.

FY2026: $652.0M vs $11.8B

FY2026 obligations are $652.0M in Kentucky and $11.8B in Virginia. Kentucky’s latest year is a large share of its $3.8B stack compared with Virginia’s $11.8B share of $110.8B. Recency questions belong on the FY2026 row. Both rows remain obligation figures from USAspending.gov.

Kentucky’s $652.0M in FY2026 is a large share of $3.8B compared with Virginia’s $11.8B share of $110.8B. Courier and express-delivery awards can be numerous and modest, which is why 140,157 all-years awards can coexist with a sub-$4B stock. Latest-year dollars should not be divided by the all-years award count. Per capita of $142.10 on 4,588,372 residents versus $1,344.24 on 8,811,195 residents stays the intensity comparison. Both FY2026 and stacked totals are USAspending.gov obligations.

Limits of a courier-vs-IT comparison

This page does not say Kentucky’s logistics awards are small-dollar by statute, and it does not say Virginia’s IT awards are wasteful or essential. It reports $3.8B vs $110.8B in obligations, 140,157 vs 1,116,647 awards, and the two top-industry labels. Agency and recipient lists live on the Kentucky and Virginia state hubs. Courier-led files can look busy in the award-count column and still sum to $3.8B. Virginia’s computer-services file looks busy and sums to $110.8B. The Kentucky–Virginia pair is a lesson in not using row count as a proxy for dollars.

A busy Kentucky count is not a claim that Kentucky outranks Virginia. Virginia still has 1,116,647 awards and $110.8B. The claim is narrower: Kentucky’s $3.8B is spread across many logistics-tinged actions. Couriers and express delivery services versus other computer related services is mix. Outlays can lag. Open the Kentucky and Virginia state hubs for agencies and recipients, and keep the comparison labeled as obligations.

How to read Kentucky’s busy file without inflating it

Kentucky’s 140,157 awards are the distinctive statistic. They sit under $3.8B, not under $110.8B. Per capita of $142.10 on 4,588,372 residents versus $1,344.24 on 8,811,195 residents is the intensity comparison. Count answers how many actions. Dollars answer how large.

FY2026 ($652.0M vs $11.8B) is recency. Couriers and express delivery services versus other computer related services is mix. USAspending.gov obligations are not outlays. A logistics award can be modified many times; those modifications can raise the count without raising the stacked total as fast as a reader might guess.

Questions

How much federal spending is in Kentucky vs Virginia?

Kentucky has $3.8B in USAspending.gov obligations and Virginia has $110.8B. Kentucky’s award count is 140,157; Virginia’s is 1,116,647. Spending per capita is $142.10 versus $1,344.24 on populations of 4,588,372 and 8,811,195. FY2026 obligations are $652.0M and $11.8B. These are obligations, not Treasury outlays.

Why does Kentucky have so many federal awards for a $3.8B total?

Kentucky shows 140,157 awards on $3.8B in obligations, a high count relative to the dollar stock. Its top industry is couriers and express delivery services, a mix that often includes many discrete logistics actions. Virginia’s $110.8B sits on 1,116,647 awards led by other computer related services. Count and dollars are separate columns.

What is Kentucky’s federal spending per capita compared with Virginia?

Kentucky is at $142.10 per resident; Virginia is at $1,344.24. Those figures use $3.8B and $110.8B in obligations and Census populations of 4,588,372 and 8,811,195. Population explains only part of the dollar gap; per capita shows the rest. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.

Do these Kentucky and Virginia numbers include Treasury outlays?

No. They are obligations from USAspending.gov. Outlays are later cash payments. The stacked totals ($3.8B and $110.8B) and the FY2026 amounts ($652.0M and $11.8B) can cover work that pays out across years. SpendingVault does not substitute Monthly Treasury Statement outlays here. Those figures remain USAspending.gov obligations by place of performance, not Treasury outlays and not a score of which state deserves more work.