Pennsylvania vs Virginia

More awards, fewer dollars

Most Virginia matchups show Virginia ahead on both money and actions. Pennsylvania breaks that pattern. Its 1,468,918 awards exceed Virginia’s 1,116,647, yet $28.1B is about one-quarter of Virginia’s $110.8B. A high action count with a lower dollar stock usually means a book full of smaller awards, grants, or modifications rather than a handful of huge services contracts. The packet does not publish an average award size, so this page does not invent one. The two columns together are the story: Pennsylvania is busy on the action ledger and light on the obligation ledger.

Pennsylvania’s Census population is 13,078,751, versus 8,811,195 in Virginia. More people and more award actions still do not produce more recorded federal obligations. Place-of-performance on USAspending.gov is doing real work in this pair: a lot of high-dollar federal services activity is attributed to Virginia, while Pennsylvania’s large award count does not add up to a comparable dollar stock.

Pennsylvania’s 1,468,918 awards are not a glitch next to $28.1B. Grant-heavy and modification-heavy books produce high action counts. Virginia’s 1,116,647 awards sit under $110.8B, so the average action on the Virginia side of the comparison is carrying more recorded obligation — a statement of the two published columns, not a computed average this page prints as a new statistic.

Medicinal manufacturing versus computer-related services

Pennsylvania’s top industry is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. That is a goods-versus-services split in the leading NAICS descriptions. Manufacturing awards can be lumpy — a production lot here, a supply contract there — while computer-related services often generate many modifications against IDIQ-style work. Pennsylvania’s higher award count and lower dollars fit a world where many actions are not huge professional-services task orders.

Top industry is the largest slice, not the rest of the mix. Pennsylvania has federal work beyond medicinal and botanical manufacturing; Virginia has work beyond computer services. For this head-to-head those two labels are the industry facts available, and they help explain why the action column and the dollar column disagree.

Medicinal and botanical manufacturing is a goods code. Other computer related services is a services code. That split helps a reader interpret why Pennsylvania can out-count Virginia on actions and still trail $28.1B to $110.8B. It does not prove every Pennsylvania award is a botanical product. Top industry is the largest slice of each mix.

Questions

Does Pennsylvania have more federal awards than Virginia?

Yes. Pennsylvania has 1,468,918 awards in this USAspending aggregate; Virginia has 1,116,647. Pennsylvania still trails on dollars, $28.1B versus $110.8B. Award count measures actions, including modifications, not unique companies and not obligation value. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

Which state has higher federal obligations, Pennsylvania or Virginia?

Virginia, at $110.8B compared with Pennsylvania’s $28.1B. Pennsylvania has more residents (13,078,751 vs 8,811,195) and more award actions, but a smaller obligation stock. Figures are obligations from USAspending.gov, not Treasury outlays. FY 2026 is the latest year. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

What is Pennsylvania’s federal spending per capita vs Virginia?

Pennsylvania’s spending per capita is $239.68. Virginia’s is $1,344.24. Both divide USAspending obligations by Census population. The statistic scales two different state sizes; it is not a payment to each resident of either state. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.

What top industries show up for Pennsylvania and Virginia?

Pennsylvania’s top industry is medicinal and botanical manufacturing. Virginia’s is other computer related services. Those are the leading NAICS descriptions in SpendingVault’s aggregates, not a full list of federal work in either state. Figures come from SpendingVault aggregates of USAspending.gov award records. They are obligations — recorded commitments — not Treasury outlays, and FY 2026 is the latest year in the comparison.