City profileTennesseeFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Memphis get?
Memphis received $1.5 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $2,393 per resident, 56th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.5 billion in awards whose place of performance is Memphis, TN, about $2,393 per resident.
Memphis is 63rd 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 93.3% from FY2024 ($754.7 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 13.7%. The largest share came as contracts ($727.4 million). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($494.1 million), and the largest program was Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) ($165.1 million). By this measure Memphis ranks 56th 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 MEMPHIS, state TN). 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 Tennessee page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Memphis by year
Memphis: $1.5B in FY2025, up 14% 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 | $595.0M | $247.6M | $192.4M | -$59,839 | $112,878 | $1.0B | – |
| FY2019 | $750.6M | $258.2M | $269.4M | -$674,737 | $6.0M | $1.3B | – |
| FY2020 | $1.0B | $398.9M | $396.0M | $3.3M | $28.2M | $1.9B | $2,969 |
| FY2021 | $2.0B | $596.3M | $488.7M | -$2.2M | $987,408 | $3.1B | $5,031 |
| FY2022 | $1.4B | $365.0M | $333.7M | -$690,693 | $22.5M | $2.1B | $3,427 |
| FY2023 | $107.3M | $375.7M | $316.3M | -$1.3M | -$8.4M | $789.6M | $1,283 |
| FY2024 | $93.7M | $291.4M | $369.5M | -$855,789 | $862,940 | $754.7M | $1,229 |
| FY2025 | $727.4M | $338.9M | $391.9M | -$179,670 | $1.1M | $1.5B | $2,393 |
| FY2026* | $455.5M | $257.3M | $397.5M | $2.3M | $785,760 | $1.1B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Memphis and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Lexington, KY | $1.6 billion |
| Detroit, MI | $1.6 billion |
| Memphis, TN (this page) | $1.5 billion |
| Cleveland, OH | $1.4 billion |
| Boise, ID | $1.4 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Memphis, 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 | $494.1 million | 33.9% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $323.5 million | 22.2% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $249.2 million | 17.1% |
| Department of Education | $115.8 million | 7.9% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $72.3 million | 5.0% |
| Department of Transportation | $54.9 million | 3.8% |
| Department of the Treasury | $50.8 million | 3.5% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $21.4 million | 1.5% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $20.7 million | 1.4% |
| Department of Labor | $12.7 million | 0.9% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $165.1 million | 11.3% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $107.7 million | 7.4% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $96.5 million | 6.6% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $48.6 million | 3.3% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $31.2 million | 2.1% |
| Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program Assistance Listing 66.616 | $20.0 million | 1.4% |
| Cancer Cause and Prevention Research Assistance Listing 93.393 | $17.4 million | 1.2% |
| Cancer Treatment Research Assistance Listing 93.395 | $15.7 million | 1.1% |
| Health Center Program Assistance Listing 93.224 | $14.0 million | 1.0% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $12.0 million | 0.8% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Memphis
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Memphis get?
- $1.5 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Memphis, TN, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $2,393 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 609,647 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Memphis?
- The Department of Defense, with $494.1 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 (MEMPHIS) in TN, 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 (Memphis city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.