City profileVirginiaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Richmond get?
Richmond received $2.1 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $8,835 per resident, 48th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $2.1 billion in awards whose place of performance is Richmond, VA, about $8,835 per resident.
Richmond is 19th 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 41.4% from FY2024 ($3.6 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 13.8%. The largest share came as grants ($1.6 billion). The Department of Education obligated the most ($934.3 million), and the largest program was Special Education Grants to States ($341.3 million). By this measure Richmond ranks 48th 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 RICHMOND, 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 Richmond by year
Richmond: $2.1B 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 | $327.5M | $1.3B | $188.2M | -$5.7M | $29,228 | $1.8B | – |
| FY2019 | $282.8M | $1.4B | $174.2M | -$16.7M | $132,013 | $1.8B | – |
| FY2020 | $761.2M | $1.8B | $906.1M | -$13.2M | -$240,450 | $3.4B | $15,147 |
| FY2021 | $308.7M | $4.9B | $128.0M | -$24.2M | $359,297 | $5.3B | $23,200 |
| FY2022 | $334.5M | $2.3B | $189.2M | -$14.6M | $1.7M | $2.8B | $12,429 |
| FY2023 | $306.3M | $1.5B | $221.2M | -$5.2M | $402,847 | $2.1B | $8,917 |
| FY2024 | $266.3M | $3.1B | $242.5M | -$4.0M | $699,410 | $3.6B | $15,244 |
| FY2025 | $229.5M | $1.6B | $291.2M | -$5.7M | $93,551 | $2.1B | $8,835 |
| FY2026* | $329.0M | $1.5B | $280.0M | $12.1M | $317,831 | $2.1B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Richmond and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Madison, WI | $2.1 billion |
| Anchorage, AK | $2.1 billion |
| Richmond, VA (this page) | $2.1 billion |
| Honolulu, HI | $1.8 billion |
| Irvine, CA | $1.7 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Richmond, 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 Education | $934.3 million | 44.6% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $329.1 million | 15.7% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $181.3 million | 8.7% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $166.2 million | 7.9% |
| Department of Transportation | $137.6 million | 6.6% |
| Department of Justice | $102.4 million | 4.9% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $85.8 million | 4.1% |
| Department of Defense | $52.2 million | 2.5% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $22.0 million | 1.0% |
| Department of Commerce | $21.8 million | 1.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing 84.027 | $341.3 million | 16.3% |
| Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing 84.010 | $336.2 million | 16.0% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $170.1 million | 8.1% |
| Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) Assistance Listing 97.036 | $103.9 million | 5.0% |
| Community Development Block Grants/State's program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii Assistance Listing 14.228 | $66.1 million | 3.2% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $58.6 million | 2.8% |
| Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant Program Assistance Listing 20.708 | $54.9 million | 2.6% |
| Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (formerly Improving Teacher Quality State Grants) Assistance Listing 84.367 | $41.6 million | 2.0% |
| Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance Assistance Listing 93.243 | $39.1 million | 1.9% |
| Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs Assistance Listing 20.106 | $37.4 million | 1.8% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Richmond
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Richmond get?
- $2.1 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Richmond, VA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $8,835 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 237,257 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Richmond?
- The Department of Education, with $934.3 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 (RICHMOND) 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 (Richmond city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.