City profileMarylandFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Baltimore get?
Baltimore received $9.3 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $16,399 per resident, 11th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $9.3 billion in awards whose place of performance is Baltimore, MD, about $16,399 per resident.
Baltimore is 8th of 99 large cities per resident
Federal awards per resident, FY2025, the 99 largest US cities on this site. Dashed line: median city.
What the money is
That is up 74.2% from FY2024 ($5.4 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 106.8%. The largest share came as grants ($6.4 billion). The Department of Transportation obligated the most ($4.1 billion), and the largest program was Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail ($3.9 billion). By this measure Baltimore ranks 11th of the 99 large US cities on this site.
What is counted: contracts, grants, loans and payments that agencies report with this city as the place of performance (USAspending.gov city name BALTIMORE, state MD). Payments to individuals, such as Social Security, are published only as county totals to protect privacy, so most of them do not show up at city level. For the full picture see the Maryland page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Baltimore by year
Baltimore: $9.3B in FY2025, up 107% on FY2019
Federal award obligations by fiscal year and type, FY2018–FY2026, nominal dollars. FY26* is preliminary and still filling in.
- Insurance and other
- Loans (subsidy cost)
- Direct payments
- Grants
- Contracts
View every year as a table
| Fiscal year | Contracts | Grants | Direct payments | Loans | Insurance and other | Total | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2018 | $1.8B | $2.3B | $432.4M | -$12.0M | $3.6M | $4.6B | – |
| FY2019 | $1.8B | $2.3B | $427.4M | -$47.6M | $52,723 | $4.5B | – |
| FY2020 | $2.8B | $2.7B | $1.4B | -$34.9M | $4.1M | $6.9B | $11,871 |
| FY2021 | $1.9B | $2.9B | $996.2M | -$48.3M | $2.2M | $5.8B | $10,084 |
| FY2022 | $1.9B | $1.8B | $494.1M | -$10.1M | $11.3M | $4.3B | $7,472 |
| FY2023 | $2.4B | $2.0B | $554.0M | -$8.7M | $2.2M | $4.9B | $8,681 |
| FY2024 | $2.3B | $2.5B | $609.5M | -$10.0M | $2.8M | $5.4B | $9,413 |
| FY2025 | $2.3B | $6.4B | $703.0M | $1.2M | $429,372 | $9.3B | $16,399 |
| FY2026* | $2.3B | $3.2B | $679.8M | -$4.3M | $1.2M | $6.2B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Baltimore and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| St. Louis, MO | $10.0 billion |
| Atlanta, GA | $9.5 billion |
| Baltimore, MD (this page) | $9.3 billion |
| Louisville, KY | $8.0 billion |
| Phoenix, AZ | $7.8 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Baltimore, and the largest federal programs. Programs are federal Assistance Listings (formerly CFDA numbers); contracts have no listing number, so they do not appear there.
Top awarding agencies
| Agency | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | $4.1 billion | 43.8% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1.0 billion | 11.1% |
| Department of Education | $953.7 million | 10.2% |
| Social Security Administration | $857.8 million | 9.2% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $747.4 million | 8.0% |
| Department of Defense | $698.6 million | 7.5% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $407.2 million | 4.4% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $113.3 million | 1.2% |
| Department of the Treasury | $104.0 million | 1.1% |
| National Science Foundation | $72.1 million | 0.8% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Assistance Listing 20.326 | $3.9 billion | 42.1% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $438.2 million | 4.7% |
| Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing 84.010 | $312.9 million | 3.3% |
| Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.027 | $248.7 million | 2.7% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $130.7 million | 1.4% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $115.8 million | 1.2% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $113.7 million | 1.2% |
| Science Assistance Listing 43.001 | $104.8 million | 1.1% |
| Public Housing Operating Fund Assistance Listing 14.850 | $97.2 million | 1.0% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $85.8 million | 0.9% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Baltimore
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Baltimore get?
- $9.3 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Baltimore, MD, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $16,399 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 569,997 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Baltimore?
- The Department of Transportation, with $4.1 billion in FY2025.
Sources and notes
- USAspending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury), API endpoints spending_over_time and spending_by_category, filtered by place of performance city (BALTIMORE) in MD, fiscal years 2018–2026. Amounts are obligations in nominal dollars. Data retrieved 2026-10-04. Public domain.
- U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 city estimates (Baltimore city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.