City profileAlabamaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Huntsville get?
Huntsville received $12.9 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $55,147 per resident, 4th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $12.9 billion in awards whose place of performance is Huntsville, AL, about $55,147 per resident.
Huntsville is 1st 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 11.6% from FY2024 ($11.5 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 21.8%. The largest share came as contracts ($12.7 billion). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($10.3 billion), and the largest program was Science ($44.1 million). By this measure Huntsville ranks 4th 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 HUNTSVILLE, state AL). 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 Alabama page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Huntsville by year
Huntsville: $13B in FY2025, up 22% 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 | $9.4B | $143.2M | $35.2M | -$831,092 | $196,648 | $9.6B | – |
| FY2019 | $10.4B | $120.3M | $38.0M | -$5.0M | -$95 | $10.6B | – |
| FY2020 | $9.7B | $210.8M | $37.5M | -$6.2M | $216,362 | $10.0B | $46,109 |
| FY2021 | $10.5B | $305.1M | $84.5M | -$14.9M | $357,728 | $10.9B | $49,716 |
| FY2022 | $9.2B | $121.0M | $36.0M | -$13.1M | $12.3M | $9.4B | $42,213 |
| FY2023 | $10.6B | $147.5M | $38.7M | -$6.4M | $254,743 | $10.8B | $47,631 |
| FY2024 | $11.3B | $173.8M | $47.1M | $1.2M | $1.7M | $11.5B | $50,126 |
| FY2025 | $12.7B | $149.0M | $52.6M | $160,554 | $470,488 | $12.9B | $55,147 |
| FY2026* | $11.4B | $110.4M | $48.9M | -$943,973 | $462,132 | $11.5B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Huntsville and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| New York City, NY | $15.3 billion |
| Tucson, AZ | $13.7 billion |
| Huntsville, AL (this page) | $12.9 billion |
| Irving, TX | $12.4 billion |
| Austin, TX | $12.2 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Huntsville, 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 | $10.3 billion | 79.7% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $1.9 billion | 14.8% |
| General Services Administration | $370.1 million | 2.9% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $69.1 million | 0.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $57.4 million | 0.4% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $44.5 million | 0.3% |
| Department of Justice | $36.5 million | 0.3% |
| Department of Education | $32.2 million | 0.2% |
| Department of Transportation | $28.2 million | 0.2% |
| National Science Foundation | $19.2 million | 0.1% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Science Assistance Listing 43.001 | $44.1 million | 0.3% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $25.3 million | 0.2% |
| Veterans State Nursing Home Care Assistance Listing 64.015 | $24.0 million | 0.2% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $22.2 million | 0.2% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $18.5 million | 0.1% |
| Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing 84.031 | $9.9 million | 0.1% |
| Integrative Activities Assistance Listing 47.083 | $7.2 million | 0.1% |
| Public Housing Operating Fund Assistance Listing 14.850 | $6.6 million | 0.1% |
| Public Housing Capital Fund Assistance Listing 14.872 | $5.5 million | 0.0% |
| Geosciences Assistance Listing 47.050 | $5.4 million | 0.0% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Huntsville
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Huntsville get?
- $12.9 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Huntsville, AL, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $55,147 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 233,627 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Huntsville?
- The Department of Defense, with $10.3 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 (HUNTSVILLE) in AL, 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 (Huntsville city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.