City profileMichiganFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Detroit get?
Detroit received $1.6 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $2,423 per resident, 55th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.6 billion in awards whose place of performance is Detroit, MI, about $2,423 per resident.
Detroit is 62nd 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 45.8% from FY2024 ($1.1 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 192.9%. The largest share came as contracts ($848.5 million). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($343.4 million), and the largest program was Community Development Block Grants/State's program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii ($388.0 million). By this measure Detroit ranks 55th 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 DETROIT, state MI). 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 Michigan page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Detroit by year
Detroit: $1.6B in FY2025, up 193% 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 | $516.8M | $294.2M | $182.1M | -$90.2M | $164,000 | $903.1M | – |
| FY2019 | $463.0M | $365.8M | $148.8M | -$440.6M | -$100,195 | $537.0M | – |
| FY2020 | $437.8M | $586.8M | $269.9M | -$426.2M | $14,282 | $868.3M | $1,360 |
| FY2021 | $473.4M | $817.7M | $1.0B | -$775.4M | $769,060 | $1.5B | $2,416 |
| FY2022 | $388.6M | $383.2M | $152.1M | -$503.7M | $472,073 | $420.6M | $663 |
| FY2023 | $1.1B | $514.6M | $168.5M | -$299.2M | $124,114 | $1.4B | $2,261 |
| FY2024 | $550.1M | $545.9M | $190.9M | -$209.2M | $719,856 | $1.1B | $1,674 |
| FY2025 | $848.5M | $825.9M | $207.4M | -$309.3M | $182,425 | $1.6B | $2,423 |
| FY2026* | $824.1M | $367.3M | $188.1M | -$582.7M | $2,746 | $796.9M | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Detroit and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Portland, OR | $1.7 billion |
| Lexington, KY | $1.6 billion |
| Detroit, MI (this page) | $1.6 billion |
| Memphis, TN | $1.5 billion |
| Cleveland, OH | $1.4 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Detroit, 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 | $343.4 million | 21.8% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $333.3 million | 21.2% |
| General Services Administration | $315.9 million | 20.1% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $183.3 million | 11.7% |
| Department of Education | $97.4 million | 6.2% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $71.0 million | 4.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $55.0 million | 3.5% |
| Department of State | $51.3 million | 3.3% |
| Department of Transportation | $48.5 million | 3.1% |
| Department of Justice | $23.8 million | 1.5% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Community Development Block Grants/State's program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii Assistance Listing 14.228 | $388.0 million | 24.7% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $85.3 million | 5.4% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $59.4 million | 3.8% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $45.8 million | 2.9% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $43.7 million | 2.8% |
| Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Assistance Listing 14.218 | $37.7 million | 2.4% |
| Head Start Assistance Listing 93.600 | $36.7 million | 2.3% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $35.4 million | 2.2% |
| Clean Ports Program Assistance Listing 66.051 | $24.9 million | 1.6% |
| Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program Assistance Listing 66.616 | $20.4 million | 1.3% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Detroit
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Detroit get?
- $1.6 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Detroit, MI, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $2,423 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 649,095 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Detroit?
- The Department of Defense, with $343.4 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 (DETROIT) in MI, 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 (Detroit city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.