City profileVirginiaFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Virginia Beach get?
Virginia Beach received $7.2 billion in federal awards in FY2025: $15,941 per resident, 16th of 99 large cities by total.In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $7.2 billion in awards whose place of performance is Virginia Beach, VA, about $15,941 per resident.
Virginia Beach is 10th 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 11.8% from FY2024 ($6.5 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 63.3%. The largest share came as contracts ($7.1 billion). The Department of Defense obligated the most ($6.8 billion), and the largest program was Federal Pell Grant Program ($96.0 million). By this measure Virginia Beach ranks 16th 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 VIRGINIA BEACH, 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 Virginia Beach by year
Virginia Beach: $7.2B in FY2025, up 63% 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 | $3.5B | $14.1M | $99.6M | -$4.2M | $191,577 | $3.7B | – |
| FY2019 | $4.3B | $22.5M | $101.2M | -$22.2M | $263,187 | $4.4B | – |
| FY2020 | $4.6B | $51.0M | $105.8M | -$16.1M | $623,796 | $4.7B | $10,233 |
| FY2021 | $4.2B | $81.7M | $107.9M | -$26.5M | $179,362 | $4.4B | $9,591 |
| FY2022 | $4.1B | $17.6M | $100.0M | -$21.9M | $459,070 | $4.2B | $9,225 |
| FY2023 | $5.7B | $38.5M | $104.9M | -$7.4M | $247,885 | $5.8B | $12,778 |
| FY2024 | $6.3B | $38.2M | $124.9M | -$4.0M | $285,144 | $6.5B | $14,258 |
| FY2025 | $7.1B | $23.2M | $148.0M | -$771,000 | $473,245 | $7.2B | $15,941 |
| FY2026* | $5.3B | $23.7M | $149.1M | -$6.6M | $621,055 | $5.5B | – |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Cities with similar totals
Virginia Beach and the cities ranked either side of it
FY2025 federal awards performed in each city, total dollars.
| Sacramento, CA | $7.8 billion |
| Houston, TX | $7.5 billion |
| Virginia Beach, VA (this page) | $7.2 billion |
| Raleigh, NC | $7.2 billion |
| Albuquerque, NM | $6.8 billion |
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Virginia Beach, 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 | $6.8 billion | 93.4% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $120.0 million | 1.7% |
| Department of Education | $111.7 million | 1.5% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $67.2 million | 0.9% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $50.2 million | 0.7% |
| General Services Administration | $28.9 million | 0.4% |
| Department of Transportation | $27.7 million | 0.4% |
| Department of Justice | $23.4 million | 0.3% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $16.1 million | 0.2% |
| Social Security Administration | $11.9 million | 0.2% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $96.0 million | 1.3% |
| Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Assistance Listing 14.871 | $32.1 million | 0.4% |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) Assistance Listing 14.195 | $15.5 million | 0.2% |
| Impact Aid Assistance Listing 84.041 | $9.9 million | 0.1% |
| National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System Assistance Listing 97.025 | $6.5 million | 0.1% |
| Veterans Housing Direct Loans for Certain Disabled Veterans Assistance Listing 64.118 | $5.4 million | 0.1% |
| Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Assistance Listing 84.007 | $2.2 million | 0.0% |
| Federal Work-Study Program Assistance Listing 84.033 | $2.0 million | 0.0% |
| Continuum of Care Program Assistance Listing 14.267 | $1.6 million | 0.0% |
| Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act Assistance Listing 15.622 | $1.5 million | 0.0% |
Nearby on this site
Universities in Virginia Beach
Questions and answers
- How much federal money does Virginia Beach get?
- $7.2 billion in FY2025 in awards performed in Virginia Beach, VA, according to USAspending.gov. That excludes most payments to individuals, which are published only by county.
- How much is that per resident?
- About $15,941 per resident, using the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate of 453,737 people.
- Which agency spends the most in Virginia Beach?
- The Department of Defense, with $6.8 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 (VIRGINIA BEACH) 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 (Virginia Beach city).
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.