City profileVirginiaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Norfolk get?
Norfolk received $3.7 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $16,020 per resident, 32nd of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $3.7 billion in awards whose place of performance is Norfolk, VA, about $16,020 per resident.
Norfolk is 9th 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 10.5% from FY2024 ($3.4 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 22.1%. The largest share came as contracts ($3.1 billion). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($2.9 billion), and the largest program was Clean Ports Program ($313.4 million). By this measure Norfolk ranks 32nd 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 NORFOLK, state VA). 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 Virginia page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Norfolk by year
Norfolk: $3.7B 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 | $3.2B | $112.7M | $141.7M | $25,105 | $50,000 | $3.4B | – |
| FY2019 | $2.8B | $126.0M | $133.6M | $60,723 | $3,533 | $3.0B | – |
| FY2020 | $2.9B | $185.1M | $127.5M | $814,813 | $60,626 | $3.2B | $13,531 |
| FY2021 | $2.9B | $382.1M | $295.3M | $152,770 | $327,231 | $3.6B | $15,391 |
| FY2022 | $3.2B | $139.8M | $135.1M | $253,593 | $199,494 | $3.5B | $14,892 |
| FY2023 | $3.6B | $145.5M | $142.1M | -$2.3M | $48,467 | $3.9B | $16,569 |
| FY2024 | $3.1B | $153.4M | $147.1M | -$252,542 | $79,369 | $3.4B | $14,497 |
| FY2025 | $3.1B | $453.6M | $183.5M | $3.3M | $25,892 | $3.7B | $16,020 |
| FY2026* | $2.5B | $103.6M | $174.7M | $1.4M | $1.5M | $2.8B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Norfolk and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Philadelphia, PA | $3.8 billion |
| Denver, CO | $3.8 billion |
| Norfolk, VA (this page) | $3.7 billion |
| Nashville, TN | $3.5 billion |
| St. Petersburg, FL | $3.3 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Norfolk, 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 | $2.9 billion | 77.4% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $313.4 million | 8.5% |
| Department of Education | $138.3 million | 3.7% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $109.9 million | 3.0% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $61.7 million | 1.7% |
| Department of Transportation | $55.5 million | 1.5% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $47.3 million | 1.3% |
| General Services Administration | $44.4 million | 1.2% |
| Department of Commerce | $16.6 million | 0.4% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $12.4 million | 0.3% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Ports Program Assistance Listing 66.051 | $313.4 million | 8.5% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $105.5 million | 2.9% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $63.6 million | 1.7% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $29.2 million | 0.8% |
| Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing 84.031 | $20.5 million | 0.6% |
| Public Housing Operating Fund Assistance Listing 14.850 | $14.1 million | 0.4% |
| Public Housing Capital Fund Assistance Listing 14.872 | $10.5 million | 0.3% |
| Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience Assistance Listing 81.254 | $8.4 million | 0.2% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $8.0 million | 0.2% |
| HIV Emergency Relief Project Grants Assistance Listing 93.914 | $5.5 million | 0.1% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Norfolk
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Norfolk get?
- $3.7 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Norfolk, VA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $16,020 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 231,013 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Norfolk?
- The Department of Defense, with $2.9 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 (NORFOLK) in VA, 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 (Norfolk city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.