National Science Foundation federal obligations in California

NSF awards tagged to California

National Science Foundation as awarding agency, California as place-of-performance: 4,037 records summing to $3,953,205,138.56. A National Science Foundation award coded outside CA is out. An award in California from a different awarding agency is out even if the topic sounds related. California (CA) excludes Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, and Hawaii. A Reno-coded award is Nevada even if the PI lives in California.

Four thousand thirty-seven records is a thicker NSF file than Washington’s 810-award cell. Unique recipients are still unpublished. Unique recipients are unpublished. Do not read 4,037 as 4,037 unique principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs. The overlay National Science Foundation in California is the both-keys table. California federal spending is the all-agency state hub. National Science Foundation is the agency book without a CA filter. All spending ties lists other joins.

UC, Caltech, and Stanford folklore are unpublished recipient splits. $3,953,205,138.56 stays statewide. Correlation is not causation: California did not “cause” $3,953,205,138.56 by existing as a large or small place. Population and outcome scores are not packet facts. The join is 049 × CA only.

Agency 049 is not a university ranking

$3,953,205,138.56 does not measure principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs. Those series are not USAspending fields on this aggregate. The cell sums award obligations with awarding-agency code 049 and a CA place-of-performance tag.

Do not treat 4,037 awards as a census of principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs. Parent hubs are supposed to be larger than this pair. If California federal spending or National Science Foundation matched $3,953,205,138.56 and 4,037, the join would be pointless. Use the overlay when both keys must stay on. Oregon, Washington, and Arizona NSF cells are other pairs, not addends.

California, not a Bay-versus-UC-system split

Place of performance CA is a geography tag on the award, not a metro list and not a commuting zone. California (CA) excludes Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, and Hawaii. A Reno-coded award is Nevada even if the PI lives in California. Recipient address can differ from that state tag.

UC, Caltech, and Stanford folklore are unpublished recipient splits. $3,953,205,138.56 stays statewide. This packet does not split $3,953,205,138.56 by city, county, or named facility. 4,037 awards stay statewide. A county table would be a different extract.

Research commitments, not cash already paid

Even a thick or thin file records obligations, not necessarily outlays. $3,953,205,138.56 can include amounts that pay on a later schedule. Citing it as cash already sent in California confuses two concepts. Deobligations and upward adjustments both move the total.

California’s own budget is a different ledger. Mixing it with the 4,037-award USAspending file leaves this series. No fiscal year is published in this packet, so this page does not invent one. Keep the obligation label on $3,953,205,138.56. Sharing a state with NSF does not mean campaign donations funded these awards.

Citing the NSF–California join

Cite USAspending.gov: National Science Foundation (agency 049) obligated $3,953,205,138.56 on 4,037 awards coded to California. Name both sides. Keep “obligations.” Do not relabel the total as principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs.

Prefer National Science Foundation in California if the overlay has refreshed after an ingest. California federal spending still includes every other awarding agency tagged to CA. National Science Foundation is the 049 parent without the CA filter. All spending ties indexes other pairs. Do not add those parents into $3,953,205,138.56.

A usable footnote names National Science Foundation, California, $3,953,205,138.56, and 4,037. The compact headline $3.95 billion is that same dollar total rounded. It is not a second extract. The implied mean near $979,243 is $3,953,205,138.56 divided by 4,037. Means are not medians. USAspending.gov remains the originating system.

Questions

How much has the National Science Foundation obligated in California?

USAspending.gov records $3,953,205,138.56 across 4,037 awards with awarding agency 049 and a California tag. That is an obligation join, not an outlay and not a count of principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs. National Science Foundation in California is the live overlay for this pair. Keep both keys when quoting $3,953,205,138.56.

Is $3,953,205,138.56 a measure of principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs?

No. The packet publishes $3,953,205,138.56 and 4,037 awards for agency 049 inside CA coding. Those other series are unpublished here. Unique recipients are unpublished. Quote the dollar total and the award count together. Obligations are not outlays.

Why does this NSF file have 4,037 awards?

That is the award-record count for 049 × CA. Combined with $3,953,205,138.56, the average is about $979,243. Modifications and repeat instruments add rows. 4,037 is not unique principal investigators, ranked universities, or named national labs. Later ingests can revise the count. Prefer the overlay if the table moved.

Where is the live table?

National Science Foundation in California is the overlay. California federal spending and National Science Foundation are the parents, not addends. All spending ties lists other pairs. Keep both sides of the join when citing $3,953,205,138.56. USAspending.gov is the source. Obligations are not outlays.