City profileColoradoFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Denver get?
Denver received $3.8 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $5,133 per resident, 31st of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $3.8 billion in awards whose place of performance is Denver, CO, about $5,133 per resident.
Denver is 40th 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 down 3.0% from FY2024 ($3.9 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 64.8%. The largest share came as contracts ($1.6 billion). The Department of Education obligated the most ($702.0 million), and the largest program was Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers ($312.3 million). By this measure Denver ranks 31st 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 DENVER, state CO). 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 Colorado page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Denver by year
Denver: $3.8B in FY2025, up 65% 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 | $1.2B | $1.2B | $347.3M | -$10.7M | $11,408 | $2.7B | – |
| FY2019 | $704.5M | $1.2B | $414.3M | -$43.8M | $2.2M | $2.3B | – |
| FY2020 | $634.0M | $1.8B | $1.0B | -$28.0M | $13.9M | $3.4B | $4,790 |
| FY2021 | $1.1B | $3.4B | $684.6M | -$40.4M | $2.6M | $5.1B | $7,190 |
| FY2022 | $1.1B | $1.5B | $459.9M | -$36.0M | $217,607 | $3.0B | $4,204 |
| FY2023 | $1.1B | $1.3B | $494.3M | -$21.1M | $544,511 | $2.8B | $3,885 |
| FY2024 | $1.1B | $2.2B | $628.3M | -$15.1M | $952,790 | $3.9B | $5,283 |
| FY2025 | $1.6B | $1.5B | $707.6M | $34.0M | $411,965 | $3.8B | $5,133 |
| FY2026* | $1.0B | $1.0B | $645.1M | $132.7M | $26.5M | $2.9B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Denver and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Seattle, WA | $3.8 billion |
| Philadelphia, PA | $3.8 billion |
| Denver, CO (this page) | $3.8 billion |
| Norfolk, VA | $3.7 billion |
| Nashville, TN | $3.5 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Denver, 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 Education | $702.0 million | 18.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $650.6 million | 17.1% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $629.5 million | 16.6% |
| General Services Administration | $341.3 million | 9.0% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $243.3 million | 6.4% |
| Department of Agriculture | $197.2 million | 5.2% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $182.4 million | 4.8% |
| Department of Defense | $148.0 million | 3.9% |
| Department of the Interior | $146.6 million | 3.9% |
| Department of Transportation | $122.9 million | 3.2% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $312.3 million | 8.2% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $208.6 million | 5.5% |
| Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Assistance Listing 66.046 | $199.7 million | 5.3% |
| Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.027 | $197.1 million | 5.2% |
| Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing 84.010 | $181.3 million | 4.8% |
| Affordable Rural Cooperative Assistance Listing 10.758 | $157.9 million | 4.2% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $141.4 million | 3.7% |
| Rehabilitation Services Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.126 | $63.7 million | 1.7% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $60.6 million | 1.6% |
| Middle Mile (Broadband) Grant Program Assistance Listing 11.033 | $41.0 million | 1.1% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Denver
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Denver get?
- $3.8 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Denver, CO, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $5,133 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 740,613 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Denver?
- The Department of Education, with $702.0 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 (DENVER) in CO, 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 (Denver city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.