California Federal Spending Trends, FY2021-FY2025
California's federal spending fell 4.8%, from $510.4B in FY2021 to $485.6B in FY2025, with per capita spending easing from $12,908 to $12,283 across 39.5 million residents.
Research period:
Research Question
How did California's total and per capita federal spending change from FY2021 to FY2025, and how did its trend compare with other large state recipients?
Methodology
Read California's rows from the spending_trends table (state_code = 'CA') for fiscal years 2021 through 2025, using total_spending, population, and per_capita. Computed full-period and year-over-year changes, and compared California against the other largest state recipients (Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois) for context.
Findings
California's federal spending fell 4.8% from its FY2021 level
California received $510.4B in federal spending in FY2021 and $485.6B in FY2025, a decline of about $24.7 billion, or 4.8%, over the five years. USASpending.gov, via spending_trends, FY2021-FY2025 The path was not a straight line: spending fell to a low of $424.1B in FY2023 before recovering to $485.6B by FY2025. Even after the decline, California remained the single largest state recipient of federal spending in FY2025, ahead of Florida ($325.1B), Texas ($311.4B), Pennsylvania ($281.6B).
Per capita spending eased from $12,908 to $12,283
With California's population essentially flat at about 39.5 million residents, the decline carried through to the per capita figure, which fell from $12,908 in FY2021 to $12,283 in FY2025. USASpending.gov and U.S. Census Bureau, via spending_trends, FY2021-FY2025 That sits below the per capita totals of several smaller states: Pennsylvania drew $21,653 per resident in FY2025 and Florida drew $15,092 per resident in FY2025, a reminder that population-adjusted federal spending does not simply track a state's size or its total dollars.
California's trend against the largest state recipients
Among the largest recipients, federal spending diverged between FY2021 and FY2025. USASpending.gov, via spending_trends, FY2021-FY2025 Florida (+9.2%) and Pennsylvania (+7.2%) saw spending rise, while California (-4.8%), Illinois (-13.9%), New York (-13%), Texas (-11%) declined. California's drop was the mildest of the declining large states, which is why it held its position among the top recipients even as faster-growing states narrowed the gap.
How to read these figures
These totals come from USASpending.gov, aggregated to the state level by fiscal year in the spending_trends table for FY2021 through FY2025. USASpending.gov, FY2021-FY2025 USASpending.gov posts provisional data after each fiscal quarter, with annual closeout files following Treasury audits, so figures for recent years can be revised in later vintages. Per capita values use Census Bureau population estimates and assume a static annual population, which can understate or overstate true per-resident spending when migration is significant.
What this analysis cannot tell us
USASpending.gov posts provisional data that is revised in later vintages, so recent-year totals may change. Per capita figures use Census Bureau population estimates and assume a static annual population, which can misstate true per-resident spending when migration is significant. State-level aggregation does not capture county or program-level detail.
Sources
- USASpending.gov - https://www.usaspending.gov/
- Census Bureau - https://www.census.gov/
- Department of Treasury - https://www.treasury.gov/