City profileWisconsinFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Milwaukee get?
Milwaukee received $1.0 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $1,820 per resident, 66th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.0 billion in awards whose place of performance is Milwaukee, WI, about $1,820 per resident.
Milwaukee is 68th 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 4.0% from FY2024 ($1.1 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 14.9%. The largest share came as grants ($384.2 million). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($230.8 million), and the largest program was Federal Pell Grant Program ($116.9 million). By this measure Milwaukee ranks 66th 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 MILWAUKEE, 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 Milwaukee by year
Milwaukee: $1B in FY2025, up 15% 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 | $308.7M | $316.2M | $185.4M | -$1.3M | $163,027 | $809.3M | – |
| FY2019 | $350.8M | $331.7M | $208.7M | -$432,741 | $192,151 | $891.0M | – |
| FY2020 | $333.2M | $435.2M | $310.9M | $2.8M | $407,571 | $1.1B | $1,876 |
| FY2021 | $282.5M | $685.5M | $631.8M | $657,727 | $30,219 | $1.6B | $2,825 |
| FY2022 | $362.1M | $327.3M | $309.0M | $87,554 | $202,934 | $998.6M | $1,770 |
| FY2023 | $333.0M | $435.1M | $249.2M | -$702,562 | $114,331 | $1.0B | $1,806 |
| FY2024 | $363.7M | $473.7M | $229.1M | $0 | $167,838 | $1.1B | $1,893 |
| FY2025 | $338.3M | $384.2M | $298.0M | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.0B | $1,820 |
| FY2026* | $316.1M | $385.0M | $271.3M | $4.4M | $10.2M | $987.0M | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Milwaukee and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| McKinney, TX | $1.3 billion |
| El Paso, TX | $1.2 billion |
| Milwaukee, WI (this page) | $1.0 billion |
| Scottsdale, AZ | $993.8 million |
| Aurora, CO | $972.3 million |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Milwaukee, 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 | $230.8 million | 22.5% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $227.1 million | 22.2% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $193.2 million | 18.9% |
| Department of Education | $145.0 million | 14.2% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $51.2 million | 5.0% |
| Department of Transportation | $49.4 million | 4.8% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $41.5 million | 4.1% |
| Department of Justice | $21.0 million | 2.0% |
| National Science Foundation | $12.1 million | 1.2% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $10.9 million | 1.1% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $116.9 million | 11.4% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $91.0 million | 8.9% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $70.2 million | 6.9% |
| Cardiovascular Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.837 | $47.9 million | 4.7% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $31.9 million | 3.1% |
| Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants Assistance Listing 14.218 | $18.0 million | 1.8% |
| Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program Assistance Listing 66.049 | $17.8 million | 1.7% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $17.6 million | 1.7% |
| Health Center Program Assistance Listing 93.224 | $14.8 million | 1.4% |
| Cancer Treatment Research Assistance Listing 93.395 | $11.0 million | 1.1% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Milwaukee
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Milwaukee get?
- $1.0 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Milwaukee, WI, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $1,820 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 562,407 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Milwaukee?
- The Department of Defense, with $230.8 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 (MILWAUKEE) 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 (Milwaukee city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.