City profileVirginiaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Chesapeake get?
Chesapeake received $696.3 million in federal awards in FY2025: $2,727 per resident, 72nd of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $696.3 million in awards whose place of performance is Chesapeake, VA, about $2,727 per resident.
Chesapeake is 56th 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 23.3% from FY2024 ($564.8 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 26.6%. The largest share came as contracts ($630.5 million). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($436.2 million), and the largest program was Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers ($25.4 million). By this measure Chesapeake ranks 72nd 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 CHESAPEAKE, state VA). 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 Virginia page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Chesapeake by year
Chesapeake: $696M in FY2025, up 27% 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 | $426.6M | $9.4M | $23.6M | -$886,183 | -$25,900 | $458.6M | – |
| FY2019 | $521.1M | $11.8M | $20.2M | -$3.3M | $177,336 | $550.1M | – |
| FY2020 | $455.7M | $14.9M | $21.4M | -$5.7M | -$17,553 | $486.3M | $1,948 |
| FY2021 | $497.6M | $19.2M | $98.9M | -$4.6M | $198,221 | $611.3M | $2,427 |
| FY2022 | $503.1M | $23.3M | $22.6M | -$188,374 | $614,630 | $549.4M | $2,176 |
| FY2023 | $652.6M | $19.7M | $28.9M | -$219,009 | $19,537 | $701.0M | $2,762 |
| FY2024 | $511.9M | $21.8M | $30.8M | $191,681 | $92,908 | $564.8M | $2,217 |
| FY2025 | $630.5M | $16.8M | $42.9M | $6.1M | $105,842 | $696.3M | $2,727 |
| FY2026* | $398.5M | $11.9M | $42.7M | $9.6M | $149,494 | $462.9M | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Chesapeake and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Newark, NJ | $830.3 million |
| Buffalo, NY | $739.7 million |
| Chesapeake, VA (this page) | $696.3 million |
| Fresno, CA | $665.0 million |
| Reno, NV | $654.1 million |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Chesapeake, 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 Defense | $436.2 million | 62.6% |
| General Services Administration | $106.5 million | 15.3% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $39.3 million | 5.6% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $31.7 million | 4.6% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $31.5 million | 4.5% |
| Department of Education | $19.6 million | 2.8% |
| Department of the Treasury | $10.7 million | 1.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $8.2 million | 1.2% |
| Department of Transportation | $3.6 million | 0.5% |
| Department of Justice | $2.0 million | 0.3% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $25.4 million | 3.7% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $9.3 million | 1.3% |
| Veterans Housing Direct Loans for Certain Disabled Veterans Assistance Listing 64.118 | $6.1 million | 0.9% |
| Impact Aid Assistance Listing 84.041 | $5.5 million | 0.8% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $4.3 million | 0.6% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $2.0 million | 0.3% |
| Public Housing Operating Fund Assistance Listing 14.850 | $2.0 million | 0.3% |
| Public Housing Capital Fund Assistance Listing 14.872 | $1.8 million | 0.3% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $1.7 million | 0.2% |
| Mainstream Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.879 | $1.5 million | 0.2% |
Nearby on this site
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Chesapeake get?
- $696.3 million in FY2025 in awards performed in Chesapeake, VA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $2,727 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 255,332 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Chesapeake?
- The Department of Defense, with $436.2 million 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 (CHESAPEAKE) in VA, 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 (Chesapeake city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.