City profileArizonaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Mesa get?
Mesa received $1.7 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $3,367 per resident, 51st of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.7 billion in awards whose place of performance is Mesa, AZ, about $3,367 per resident.
Mesa is 50th 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 7.5% from FY2024 ($1.6 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is down 18.2%. The largest share came as contracts ($1.6 billion). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($915.7 million), and the largest program was Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers ($27.2 million). By this measure Mesa ranks 51st 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 MESA, state AZ). 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 Arizona page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Mesa by year
Mesa: $1.7B in FY2025, down 18% 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 | $2.4B | $37.1M | $45.4M | -$49,983 | $156,214 | $2.5B | – |
| FY2019 | $2.0B | $36.5M | $44.5M | -$257,090 | $48,569 | $2.1B | – |
| FY2020 | $2.4B | $77.7M | $136.6M | -$958,956 | $212,535 | $2.6B | $5,080 |
| FY2021 | $1.4B | $133.6M | $178.7M | -$10.5M | $38,484 | $1.7B | $3,340 |
| FY2022 | $829.5M | $70.9M | $57.2M | -$9.0M | $35,423 | $948.6M | $1,853 |
| FY2023 | $3.2B | $42.5M | $53.3M | -$4.1M | $9,960 | $3.3B | $6,492 |
| FY2024 | $1.5B | $50.7M | $56.8M | -$1.0M | -$20,441 | $1.6B | $3,126 |
| FY2025 | $1.6B | $44.5M | $65.0M | $1.6M | -$131,219 | $1.7B | $3,367 |
| FY2026* | $2.8B | $27.7M | $63.4M | -$376,820 | $5,502 | $2.9B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Mesa and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Honolulu, HI | $1.8 billion |
| Irvine, CA | $1.7 billion |
| Mesa, AZ (this page) | $1.7 billion |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $1.7 billion |
| Portland, OR | $1.7 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Mesa, 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 | $915.7 million | 53.0% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $669.4 million | 38.7% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $45.4 million | 2.6% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $31.2 million | 1.8% |
| Department of Education | $30.0 million | 1.7% |
| Department of Transportation | $25.8 million | 1.5% |
| Department of Agriculture | $2.2 million | 0.1% |
| General Services Administration | $2.1 million | 0.1% |
| Department of Energy | $1.9 million | 0.1% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1.3 million | 0.1% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $27.2 million | 1.6% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $25.8 million | 1.5% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $25.1 million | 1.5% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $6.4 million | 0.4% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $6.3 million | 0.4% |
| Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Assistance Listing 14.218 | $3.7 million | 0.2% |
| Veterans Housing Direct Loans for Certain Disabled Veterans Assistance Listing 64.118 | $2.5 million | 0.1% |
| Assistance to Firefighters Grant Assistance Listing 97.044 | $1.4 million | 0.1% |
| Home Investment Partnerships Program Assistance Listing 14.239 | $1.3 million | 0.1% |
| Mainstream Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.879 | $1.2 million | 0.1% |
Nearby on this site
Other cities in Arizona
Federal money to ArizonaQuestions and answers
- How much federal money does Mesa get?
- $1.7 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Mesa, AZ, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $3,367 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 513,656 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Mesa?
- The Department of Defense, with $915.7 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 (MESA) in AZ, 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 (Mesa city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.