PlainSpending

Montana Federal Spending

$15.3B in FY2025 - a thin absolute book (rank #47 of 56).

$15.3B total · $14,143 per capita · FY2025 · Ranked #47 total, #24 per capita · 9.5% below national avg

In FY2025, Montana received $15.3B in federal spending - $14,143 per capita, ranking #24 among 56 states and 9.5% below the national average. The most common award type is direct payments, accounting for 67.4% of tracked awards. The top spending agency is Social Security Administration.

Montana · FY2025

Montana received $15.3B in federal spending in FY2025 - $14,143 per resident, 9.5% below the national average, with direct payments the largest award category.

Total federal spending
$15.3B
#47 of 56 states
Per resident
$14,143
#24 per capita
Latest annual change
+$841.1M
FY2024 to FY2025 (+5.8%)
Top agency
Social Security Administration
$6.0B

Thin absolute federal book

Montana is a light absolute book: #47 of 56 with $15.3B.

According to USASpending.gov, Montana carried a thin absolute federal book of $15.3B in FY2025 ($14,143 per resident; population 1,084,225). Total-dollar rank #47 is a light absolute footprint; per-capita rank #24 sits 9.5% below the national average.

The award-type mix by count: 10,676 contracts, 5,175 grants, 1,757 loans, and 43,118 direct payments. The most common award type is direct payments at 67.4% of tracked awards in the state, with contracts a distant second at 10,676 awards. Social Security Administration is the single largest federal agency operating in Montana, with $6.0B in obligations - more than Department of Health and Human Services's $2.8B.

Over the available history, federal spending in Montana has grown 7.5% from $14.3B in FY2020 to $15.3B in FY2025. Combined with 56 counties receiving dollars and top recipient State of Montana Department of Health and Human Services at $2.3B, this snapshot lets readers judge whether Montana's federal footprint is expanding, stable, or being scaled back.

Figures are award-transaction data from USASpending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury). See our methodology for per-capita denominators and award categories.

Source: USAspending.gov, Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) + System for Award Management (SAM) Montana federal awards (contracts, grants, loans, direct payments) for FY2025 · 2025 USAspending.gov publishes award-level data within ~30 days of obligation; categories follow OMB Object Class Codes. Per-capita metrics use Census ACS population estimates as the denominator.

Where this thin absolute book sits

Total Spending

$15.3B

Rank #47

Per Capita

$14,143

Rank #24

Population

1,084,225

Contract Awards

10,676

Grant Awards

5,175

Total Federal Spending

$15.3B

FY2025 obligations

Per Capita

$14,143

Rank #24

Counties Receiving

56

federal dollars

Top Agency Share

$6.0B

Social Security Administration

Montana award-type mix by count (FY2025)

Awards67.4%16.7%8.1%Direct PaymentsContractsGrantsOtherLoans
Per-state share of tracked federal awards BY COUNT across major OMB-aligned award types (not a dollar-value breakdown). Mandatory-vs-discretionary marker reflects the entitlement-vs-appropriated split.
Montana per-capita federal spending vs. national average 75.4%
National average

Compared against the national average of $15,622 per resident.

Awards by Type

Direct Payments is the most common award type at 67.4% of tracked awards in Montana (by count, not dollar value).

Direct Payments 43,118 awards (67.4%)
Contracts 10,676 awards (16.7%)
Grants 5,175 awards (8.1%)
Other 3,268 awards (5.1%)
Loans 1,757 awards (2.7%)

Comparison to National Average

Metric Montana National Avg Difference
Per Capita Spending $14,143 $15,622 -9.5%
Contracts Share 0.0% - -
Grants Share 0.0% - -

Fiscal Resilience Score

A single derived score summarizing how diversified and stable Montana's federal funding mix is, built from four signals already in this page.

B
Fiscal Resilience Score
73/100
Montana

A transparent derived index from USASpending.gov federal award data, not an official government rating. It measures how diversified and stable Montana's federal funding mix is across award types, agencies, and fiscal years, not whether that funding is well or poorly spent. Full formula and benchmark table: methodology.

Award-Type Mix F
51%
Diversification across contract/grant/loan/direct-payment/other award counts
Agency Mix A-
77%
Diversification of obligated dollars across federal agencies operating in-state
Per-Capita Norm A
9% from avg
Distance of per-resident federal spending from the national average
Funding Stability A
6.0% CV
Year-over-year spending volatility across 6 fiscal years

Top Federal Agencies in Montana

Federal agencies ranked by total spending in Montana during FY2025.

# Agency Spending % of Total
1 Social Security Administration $6.0B 38.8%
2 Department of Health and Human Services $2.8B 18.6%
3 Department of Agriculture $1.3B 8.2%
4 Department of Transportation $1.0B 6.8%
5 Department of Veterans Affairs $962.1M 6.3%
6 Department of Energy $959.7M 6.3%
7 Department of Defense $522.6M 3.4%
8 Department of the Interior $467.3M 3.0%
9 Department of Education $365.2M 2.4%
10 Environmental Protection Agency $196.0M 1.3%

Top Recipients in Montana

Organizations and entities receiving the most federal funds in Montana.

# Recipient Total Awards
1 State of Montana Department of Health and Human Services $2.3B
2 Department of Commerce Montana $793.8M
3 Montana Department of Transportation $756.7M
4 Public Health && Human Services Montana D $249.0M
5 Public Health and Human Services, Montana Department Of $249.0M
6 Public Instruction Montana Office Of $229.8M
7 Montana Department of Environmental Quality $176.9M
8 Archer Western Federal Jv $158.8M
9 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation $137.1M
10 Montana Renewables LLC $115.1M
11 Montana State University $91.9M
12 Department of Military Affairs Montana $90.7M
13 Fish Wildlife && Parks Montana Department $85.7M
14 University of Montana $82.8M

Spending Trends

The latest annual comparison is +$841.1M (+5.8%) from FY2024 to FY2025; this is a difference in recorded award obligations, not a claim about cause or local benefit. Federal spending in Montana increased 7.5% from FY2020 to FY2025.

$12B$13B$14B$15B$16B$17B FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025 $15B
Fiscal Year Total Spending Per Capita Population
FY2025 $15.3B $14,143 1,084,225
FY2024 $14.5B $13,368 1,084,225
FY2023 $13.5B $12,421 1,084,225
FY2022 $13.3B $12,298 1,084,225
FY2021 $15.7B $14,467 1,084,225
FY2020 $14.3B $13,153 1,084,225

Counties in Montana

56 counties ranked by federal spending in FY2025.

# County Total Spending Per Capita Population
1 Lewis and Clark County $1.7B $24,304 70,973
2 Yellowstone County $1.2B $7,203 164,731
3 Cascade County $1.0B $12,074 84,414
4 Flathead County $955.8M $9,159 104,357
5 Missoula County $900.5M $7,636 117,922
6 Gallatin County $838.7M $7,050 118,960
7 Lake County $518.5M $16,655 31,134
8 Ravalli County $496.6M $11,242 44,174
9 Silver Bow County $367.1M $10,448 35,133
10 Hill County $262.8M $16,115 16,309
11 Lincoln County $247.6M $12,584 19,677
12 Glacier County $166.5M $12,084 13,778
13 Park County $166.2M $9,669 17,191
14 Big Horn County $164.5M $12,537 13,124
15 Sanders County $150.6M $12,143 12,400
16 Fergus County $145.2M $12,682 11,446
17 Roosevelt County $134.4M $12,453 10,794
18 Rosebud County $129.8M $15,581 8,329
19 Blaine County $127.4M $18,084 7,044
20 Jefferson County $116.4M $9,632 12,085
21 Richland County $111.5M $9,702 11,491
22 Beaverhead County $108.8M $11,608 9,371
23 Chouteau County $107.9M $18,301 5,895
24 Carbon County $106.4M $10,164 10,473
25 Stillwater County $103.7M $11,565 8,963
26 Dawson County $99.5M $11,127 8,940
27 Valley County $97.6M $12,875 7,578
28 Mineral County $96.2M $21,214 4,535
29 Deer Lodge County $94.0M $9,976 9,421
30 Custer County $93.7M $7,894 11,867
31 Madison County $84.9M $9,850 8,623
32 Sheridan County $60.8M $17,183 3,539
33 Pondera County $58.8M $9,972 5,898
34 Teton County $57.9M $9,302 6,226
35 Mccone County $54.8M $31,720 1,729
36 Broadwater County $54.2M $8,002 6,774
37 Powell County $50.9M $7,326 6,946
38 Toole County $49.9M $10,033 4,971
39 Phillips County $48.8M $11,578 4,217
40 Musselshell County $47.2M $9,985 4,730
41 Daniels County $45.6M $27,428 1,661
42 Prairie County $35.3M $32,490 1,088
43 Granite County $33.4M $10,087 3,309
44 Liberty County $33.1M $16,872 1,959
45 Garfield County $32.5M $27,730 1,173
46 Sweet Grass County $31.9M $8,669 3,678
47 Carter County $31.8M $22,494 1,415
48 Judith Basin County $26.5M $13,101 2,023
49 Fallon County $23.0M $7,551 3,049
50 Meagher County $22.1M $11,489 1,927
51 Wheatland County $21.0M $10,137 2,069
52 Powder River County $17.8M $10,522 1,694
53 Golden Valley County $9.6M $11,712 823
54 Wibaux County $8.5M $9,110 937
55 Treasure County $7.4M $9,725 762
56 Petroleum County $3.0M $6,020 496
DOGE impact for Montana → Per-capita rankings → Understanding federal spending →

States With Similar Per Capita Spending

States with per capita federal spending closest to Montana's $14,143.

Nebraska

$14,140 per capita

$27.7B total

Alabama

$14,242 per capita

$71.6B total

Rhode Island

$13,799 per capita

$15.1B total

Vermont

$13,783 per capita

$8.9B total

Massachusetts

$14,689 per capita

$103.3B total

Compare Montana to another state side-by-side →

States with similar total federal spending

Nearest nationwide peers by total obligation volume ($15.3B here) - a different axis from the per-capita neighbors above.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much federal spending did Montana receive in FY2025?

Montana received a thin absolute book of $15.3B in FY2025 ($14,143 per capita; population 1,084,225).

What is the largest category of federal spending in Montana?

The most common award type is direct payments, accounting for 43,118 awards (67.4% of tracked awards). The second-largest is contracts at 10,676 awards.

How has federal spending in Montana changed over time?

Federal spending in Montana increased by 7.5% from FY2020 ($14.3B) to FY2025 ($15.3B).

How does Montana's federal spending per capita compare to the national average?

Montana's per capita federal spending of $14,143 is 9.5% below the national average of $15,622. Montana ranks #24 out of 56 states by per capita spending.

Where does Montana rank nationally in federal spending?

Montana ranks #47 out of 56 states in total federal spending and #24 in per capita spending. The state received $15.3B total ($14,143 per person) in FY2025.

Which federal agencies spend the most in Montana?

The top federal agency spending in Montana is Social Security Administration with $6.0B. Followed by Department of Health and Human Services ($2.8B) and Department of Agriculture ($1.3B).

How many counties in Montana receive federal spending?

56 counties in Montana receive federal spending. The county receiving the most is Lewis and Clark County with $1.7B.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.

Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →