City profilePennsylvaniaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Pittsburgh get?
Pittsburgh received $1.7 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $5,541 per resident, 52nd of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.7 billion in awards whose place of performance is Pittsburgh, PA, about $5,541 per resident.
Pittsburgh is 34th 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 8.0% from FY2024 ($1.9 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is down 26.7%. The largest share came as grants ($904.3 million). The Department of Health and Human Services obligated the most ($564.1 million), and the largest program was Federal Pell Grant Program ($108.8 million). By this measure Pittsburgh ranks 52nd 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 PITTSBURGH, state PA). 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 Pennsylvania page, which includes those payments.
Federal money to Pittsburgh by year
Pittsburgh: $1.7B in FY2025, down 27% 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 | $967.4M | $1.1B | $258.9M | -$3.8M | $11.5M | $2.3B | – |
| FY2019 | $1.0B | $1.1B | $209.6M | -$5.8M | $19.0M | $2.3B | – |
| FY2020 | $1.4B | $1.3B | $202.8M | -$1.7M | $1.1M | $2.9B | $9,519 |
| FY2021 | $1.1B | $1.4B | $576.6M | -$3.7M | $75,145 | $3.1B | $10,203 |
| FY2022 | $1.2B | $722.2M | $225.6M | -$2.3M | $431,233 | $2.1B | $7,079 |
| FY2023 | $657.3M | $715.1M | $242.6M | -$917,815 | $117,144 | $1.6B | $5,301 |
| FY2024 | $561.6M | $1.0B | $257.1M | -$6.8M | $6.9M | $1.9B | $6,039 |
| FY2025 | $491.4M | $904.3M | $304.9M | -$4.6M | $8.5M | $1.7B | $5,541 |
| FY2026* | $505.0M | $1.1B | $290.8M | -$6.3M | $139.5M | $2.0B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Pittsburgh and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Irvine, CA | $1.7 billion |
| Mesa, AZ | $1.7 billion |
| Pittsburgh, PA (this page) | $1.7 billion |
| Portland, OR | $1.7 billion |
| Lexington, KY | $1.6 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Pittsburgh, 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 Health and Human Services | $564.1 million | 33.1% |
| Department of Defense | $308.4 million | 18.1% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $300.6 million | 17.6% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $144.3 million | 8.5% |
| Department of Education | $129.4 million | 7.6% |
| National Science Foundation | $94.4 million | 5.5% |
| Department of Transportation | $42.2 million | 2.5% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $35.2 million | 2.1% |
| Department of Energy | $23.7 million | 1.4% |
| General Services Administration | $18.3 million | 1.1% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $108.8 million | 6.4% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $80.9 million | 4.7% |
| Public Housing Operating Fund Assistance Listing 14.850 | $75.7 million | 4.4% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $71.8 million | 4.2% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $58.6 million | 3.4% |
| Mental Health Research Grants Assistance Listing 93.242 | $46.5 million | 2.7% |
| Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs Assistance Listing 93.279 | $46.2 million | 2.7% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $46.0 million | 2.7% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $36.1 million | 2.1% |
| Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research Assistance Listing 93.847 | $30.7 million | 1.8% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Pittsburgh
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Pittsburgh get?
- $1.7 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Pittsburgh, PA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $5,541 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 307,632 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Pittsburgh?
- The Department of Health and Human Services, with $564.1 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 (PITTSBURGH) in PA, 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 (Pittsburgh city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.