City profileCaliforniaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Fresno get?
Fresno received $665.0 million in federal awards in FY2025: $1,197 per resident, 73rd of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $665.0 million in awards whose place of performance is Fresno, CA, about $1,197 per resident.
Fresno is 81st 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 4.5% from FY2024 ($696.2 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 52.6%. The largest share came as direct payments ($399.7 million). The Department of Education obligated the most ($211.7 million), and the largest program was Federal Pell Grant Program ($195.3 million). By this measure Fresno ranks 73rd 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 FRESNO, state CA). 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 California page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Fresno by year
Fresno: $665M in FY2025, up 53% 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 | $47.5M | $114.7M | $249.0M | -$183,913 | -$287,854 | $410.7M | – |
| FY2019 | $49.7M | $116.5M | $262.1M | $6.4M | $949,615 | $435.8M | – |
| FY2020 | $79.3M | $184.5M | $409.6M | $3.6M | $2.0M | $678.9M | $1,251 |
| FY2021 | $86.0M | $470.9M | $659.5M | $530,291 | $1.9M | $1.2B | $2,240 |
| FY2022 | $286.0M | $174.8M | $326.7M | -$80,068 | $72.6M | $859.9M | $1,574 |
| FY2023 | $181.6M | $120.2M | $304.0M | $6.3M | $1.4M | $613.6M | $1,115 |
| FY2024 | $138.8M | $151.6M | $403.7M | $13,869 | $2.1M | $696.2M | $1,254 |
| FY2025 | $111.6M | $151.0M | $399.7M | $1.3M | $1.4M | $665.0M | $1,197 |
| FY2026* | $141.8M | $82.9M | $433.6M | $712,180 | $1.8M | $660.8M | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Fresno and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Buffalo, NY | $739.7 million |
| Chesapeake, VA | $696.3 million |
| Fresno, CA (this page) | $665.0 million |
| Reno, NV | $654.1 million |
| Riverside, CA | $583.9 million |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Fresno, 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 | $211.7 million | 31.8% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $202.1 million | 30.4% |
| Department of Agriculture | $88.1 million | 13.3% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $56.8 million | 8.5% |
| Department of Transportation | $51.7 million | 7.8% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $18.7 million | 2.8% |
| Department of Defense | $14.6 million | 2.2% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $5.1 million | 0.8% |
| Department of Justice | $4.5 million | 0.7% |
| General Services Administration | $4.3 million | 0.6% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $195.3 million | 29.4% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $152.5 million | 22.9% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $51.1 million | 7.7% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $15.7 million | 2.4% |
| Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops Assistance Listing 10.096 | $14.3 million | 2.2% |
| Health Center Program Assistance Listing 93.224 | $13.3 million | 2.0% |
| Veterans State Nursing Home Care Assistance Listing 64.015 | $11.2 million | 1.7% |
| Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Assistance Listing 14.218 | $10.3 million | 1.5% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $8.8 million | 1.3% |
| Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program Assistance Listing 10.110 | $8.6 million | 1.3% |
Nearby on this site
Other cities in California
- Los Angeles$4.6B
- San Diego$11B
- San Jose$1.3B
- San Francisco$4.8B
- Sacramento$7.8B
- Long Beach$3B
- Oakland$1.3B
- Bakersfield$481M
Universities in Fresno
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Fresno get?
- $665.0 million in FY2025 in awards performed in Fresno, CA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $1,197 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 555,549 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Fresno?
- The Department of Education, with $211.7 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 (FRESNO) in CA, 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 (Fresno city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.