Ohio vs Virginia on USAspending

A large state with a $61.66 per-capita federal footprint

Ohio is bigger than Virginia by population and far smaller on the USAspending ledger. $8.1B versus $110.8B is roughly a 1-to-14 dollar ratio. Per-capita $61.66 versus $1,344.24 is roughly 1-to-22. Both ratios say the same thing: Ohio’s recorded federal obligation stock is thin for its size.

Thin on USAspending is not the same as a small private economy. This row is federal awards by place of performance, not GDP. Ohio can remain a major industrial state while showing $8.1B in federal obligations next to Virginia’s $110.8B contractor stock.

Ohio’s 11,883,304 residents make it one of the larger states in this batch, in the same size class as Georgia and North Carolina. Those three also share low per-capita figures on this ledger. Ohio’s $61.66 is the lowest of the assigned 25 pairs. $8.1B over 11.9 million people is the arithmetic. Virginia’s $110.8B over 8,811,195 people is the contrast.

Aircraft engines, not a thick action file

Ohio’s top industry is aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing — the same leading description Massachusetts carries, on a smaller $8.1B stock versus Massachusetts’s $13.5B. Virginia’s top industry is other computer related services. Engines versus IT services is the industry split.

Ohio’s award count is 168,038, low for a state of 11.9 million people and well below Virginia’s 1,116,647. A manufacturing lead can sit on fewer actions. The packet does not publish what share of $8.1B is engine work, so this page does not invent that share.

Aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing matches Massachusetts’s top industry, on $8.1B versus Massachusetts’s $13.5B and 168,038 awards versus 294,824. Ohio’s engine-parts lead sits on a thinner action file and a thinner dollar stock, still in the same goods family, still far below Virginia’s $110.8B services book.

Why per-capita is the headline here

Several large states in this batch have low per-capita figures. Ohio’s $61.66 is at the bottom of that group. Dividing $8.1B by 11,883,304 residents is what produces it. Virginia divides $110.8B by 8,811,195. The denominators are not that far apart; the numerators are.

Per-capita is not a refund. It is a scaling statistic. Quote it with the $8.1B raw total so readers see both the round dollar figure and how small it is per person. FY 2026 is the latest year tagged, not a single-year engine budget.

A $61.66 per-capita figure will look like a missing-data problem. It is not missing data on this aggregate. It is a small numerator and a large denominator. Quote $8.1B with $61.66 so readers see the stock and the intensity. FY 2026 is the latest year, not a single-year engine budget.

Using the Ohio–Virginia comparison

Lead with $8.1B vs $110.8B, then $61.66 vs $1,344.24, then 168,038 vs 1,116,647 awards. Ohio leads only on population. Cite USAspending.gov. Keep obligations distinct from outlays.

The Ohio and Virginia state pages hold agency and recipient detail. The comparison index lists other pairs, including Massachusetts, if the question is engine-parts manufacturing rather than this specific state matchup.

Cite USAspending.gov. Do not mix Ohio’s private manufacturing output with $8.1B in federal obligations. The Ohio and Virginia state pages hold agency and recipient detail. This pair is the low-per-capita engine-parts matchup against Virginia’s contractor-hub stock.

What the packet does not include

No named engine-makers, no Wright-Patterson dollar split, no outlay conversion. The facts on this page are the two obligation totals, award counts, populations, per-capita figures, FY 2026, and the two top-industry labels.

The lowest per-capita figure in this assigned set

Ohio’s $61.66 spending per capita is the floor among the 25 pairs this writer file covers. It is $8.1B divided by 11,883,304 residents. Virginia’s $1,344.24 is $110.8B divided by 8,811,195. Aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing versus other computer related services is the industry contrast. 168,038 versus 1,116,647 is the action contrast. A low per-capita figure is not missing data and not a statement about Ohio’s private factories. It is a statement about this USAspending.gov obligation aggregate. FY 2026 is the latest year. Cite obligations, not outlays. Use the Ohio and Virginia state hubs for drill-downs.

Questions

How does Ohio federal spending compare with Virginia?

Ohio shows $8.1B in USAspending obligations; Virginia shows $110.8B. Ohio has more residents, 11,883,304 versus 8,811,195. Totals are obligations, not Treasury outlays. FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

Why is Ohio’s federal spending per capita so low?

Ohio’s spending per capita is $61.66 because $8.1B in obligations is divided by 11,883,304 residents. Virginia divides $110.8B by 8,811,195 residents, producing $1,344.24. Per-capita is a scaling statistic, not a payment to each resident. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

What is Ohio’s top federal industry versus Virginia?

Ohio’s top industry is aircraft engine and engine parts manufacturing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Those NAICS descriptions are the leading slices in SpendingVault’s aggregates, not a complete list of either state’s federal awards. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

How many federal awards are in Ohio vs Virginia?

Ohio has 168,038 awards in this aggregate; Virginia has 1,116,647. Award counts include contracts, grants, and modifications. Virginia also leads on dollars, $110.8B versus Ohio’s $8.1B. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.