City profileWisconsinFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Madison get?
Madison received $2.1 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $7,497 per resident, 46th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $2.1 billion in awards whose place of performance is Madison, WI, about $7,497 per resident.
Madison is 24th 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 32.0% from FY2024 ($3.2 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 10.2%. The largest share came as grants ($1.7 billion). The Department of Education obligated the most ($815.3 million), and the largest program was Special Education Grants to States ($249.9 million). By this measure Madison ranks 46th 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 MADISON, state WI). 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 Wisconsin page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Madison by year
Madison: $2.1B in FY2025, up 10% 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 | $355.3M | $1.7B | $186.0M | -$29.2M | $2.6M | $2.2B | – |
| FY2019 | $236.7M | $1.6B | $162.9M | -$77.9M | $2.4M | $1.9B | – |
| FY2020 | $394.1M | $2.0B | $398.8M | -$68.6M | $1.2M | $2.7B | $9,845 |
| FY2021 | $431.1M | $4.1B | $313.1M | -$158.4M | $3.1M | $4.7B | $17,379 |
| FY2022 | $492.6M | $2.7B | $213.6M | -$152.2M | $18.3M | $3.3B | $11,911 |
| FY2023 | $250.0M | $2.0B | $187.3M | -$94.2M | $10.8M | $2.3B | $8,250 |
| FY2024 | $138.3M | $2.9B | $186.8M | -$50.3M | $14.3M | $3.2B | $11,096 |
| FY2025 | $255.0M | $1.7B | $254.4M | -$72.4M | $11.9M | $2.1B | $7,497 |
| FY2026* | $127.4M | $1.6B | $475.0M | -$83.8M | $25.1M | $2.1B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Madison and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Durham, NC | $2.2 billion |
| Dallas, TX | $2.2 billion |
| Madison, WI (this page) | $2.1 billion |
| Anchorage, AK | $2.1 billion |
| Richmond, VA | $2.1 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Madison, 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 | $815.3 million | 38.0% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $592.4 million | 27.6% |
| Department of Energy | $128.2 million | 6.0% |
| National Science Foundation | $104.5 million | 4.9% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $100.2 million | 4.7% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $97.5 million | 4.5% |
| Department of Commerce | $58.2 million | 2.7% |
| Department of Defense | $51.0 million | 2.4% |
| Department of Justice | $46.8 million | 2.2% |
| Department of Agriculture | $34.8 million | 1.6% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.027 | $249.9 million | 11.6% |
| Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing 84.010 | $224.3 million | 10.5% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $93.3 million | 4.3% |
| Rehabilitation Services Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.126 | $87.2 million | 4.1% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $81.0 million | 3.8% |
| Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049 | $71.6 million | 3.3% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $65.4 million | 3.0% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $55.4 million | 2.6% |
| Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience Assistance Listing 81.254 | $53.0 million | 2.5% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $44.9 million | 2.1% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Madison
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Madison get?
- $2.1 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Madison, WI, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $7,497 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 286,233 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Madison?
- The Department of Education, with $815.3 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 (MADISON) in WI, 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 (Madison city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.