State profileFiscal year 2025Federal awards
How much federal money does the Northern Mariana Islands get?
The Northern Mariana Islands received $178.7 million in federal money in FY2025.In fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), federal agencies obligated $178.7 million in contracts, grants, loans and direct payments with a place of performance in the Northern Mariana Islands.
What the money is
That is down 74.5% from FY2024 ($700.9 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is down 70.0%. The largest share came as direct payments ($85.9 million, 48.1% of the total). The agency obligating the most was the Department of Health and Human Services with $149.4 million, and the biggest single program was Grants to States for Medicaid (Assistance Listing 93.778) at $104.0 million.
For FY2026, which ended on 30 September 2026, $891.2 million has been reported so far. That figure will rise as late reports arrive, so the comparisons on this page use FY2025, the latest complete year.
These are award obligations recorded on USAspending.gov, the official source for federal award data. They include Social Security and other direct payments, Medicaid and other grants to the state, and federal contracts performed there. They do not include federal salaries, interest on the debt, or tax refunds.
Federal money to the Northern Mariana Islands by year
Northern Mariana Islands: $179M in FY2025, down 70% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2018 | $74.3M | $185.7M | $36.6M | -$29,484 | $3,424 | $296.5M |
| FY2019 | $125.2M | $384.4M | $79.3M | $5.8M | $69,152 | $594.7M |
| FY2020 | $59.4M | $554.7M | $107.4M | $40.8M | $250,005 | $762.5M |
| FY2021 | $76.2M | $1.7B | $580.0M | $26.6M | $188,027 | $2.3B |
| FY2022 | $107.7M | $387.7M | $59.9M | $895,276 | $571,650 | $556.8M |
| FY2023 | $318.7M | $465.2M | $59.6M | -$655,726 | $1.2M | $844.0M |
| FY2024 | $99.6M | $526.7M | $72.5M | -$254,131 | $2.4M | $700.9M |
| FY2025 | $34.7M | $57.1M | $85.9M | -$173,497 | $1.2M | $178.7M |
| FY2026* | $240.5M | $409.1M | $231.7M | $8.1M | $1.7M | $891.2M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to the Northern Mariana Islands, 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 | $149.4 million | 83.6% |
| Department of Agriculture | $98.9 million | 55.3% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | $65.9 million | 36.9% |
| Social Security Administration | $64.7 million | 36.2% |
| Department of Education | $35.3 million | 19.7% |
| Department of Energy | $31.8 million | 17.8% |
| Department of Defense | $27.5 million | 15.4% |
| Department of Transportation | $22.7 million | 12.7% |
| Department of the Interior | $17.7 million | 9.9% |
| Department of Commerce | $11.7 million | 6.5% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grants to States for Medicaid Assistance Listing 93.778 | $104.0 million | 58.2% |
| CNMI Nutrition Assistance Assistance Listing 10.539 | $56.4 million | 31.6% |
| Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program Assistance Listing 66.049 | $48.7 million | 27.2% |
| Social Security Retirement Insurance Assistance Listing 96.002 | $40.6 million | 22.7% |
| State Energy Program Assistance Listing 81.041 | $25.4 million | 14.2% |
| National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing 10.555 | $25.4 million | 14.2% |
| Consolidated Grant to the Outlying Areas Assistance Listing 84.403 | $20.0 million | 11.2% |
| Children's Health Insurance Program Assistance Listing 93.767 | $16.7 million | 9.3% |
| Environmental Protection Consolidated Grants for the Insular Areas - Program Support Assistance Listing 66.600 | $11.7 million | 6.5% |
| Supplemental Security Income Assistance Listing 96.006 | $11.4 million | 6.4% |
Where the money goes inside the Northern Mariana Islands
Cities and universities with their own pages, by FY2025 federal awards.
Universities and colleges in the Northern Mariana Islands
Questions and answers
- How much federal money did the Northern Mariana Islands get in 2025?
- In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $178.7 million in awards with a place of performance in the Northern Mariana Islands, according to USAspending.gov.
- Which federal agency spends the most in the Northern Mariana Islands?
- The Department of Health and Human Services, with $149.4 million in FY2025 (83.6% of the total).
- What is the largest federal program in the Northern Mariana Islands?
- Grants to States for Medicaid (Assistance Listing 93.778), with $104.0 million obligated in FY2025.
- Has federal spending in the Northern Mariana Islands gone up?
- No. FY2025 obligations of $178.7 million compare with $594.7 million in FY2019, a change of -70.0%.
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 state = MP, fiscal years 2018–2026. Amounts are obligations in nominal dollars. Data retrieved 2026-10-04. Public domain.
- The Census Bureau's annual population estimates do not cover this territory, so no per-resident figures are shown.
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.