NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The federal government sends an average of nearly $13,000 to Alaska for every man, woman, and child who lives in the state.
According to a Census Bureau report, which covers all federal expenditures or obligations for direct payments, grants, procurement awards, and salaries and wages, by federal agencies and programs, Alaska reaps a bigger payoff in federal spending than any other state, almost double the national average of $7,223. The second place state, Virginia, gets about $700 less per capita than Alaska.
Both those figures pale in comparison with the $68,000 per capita federal expenditures for the District of Columbia. But the main business of DC is, after all, the federal government.
For sheer dollar amount, California led the nation, receiving a total of $232 billion in spending. That came to only $6,474 per capita, however, averaged over the state's 36 million residents, below the national average. New York was second with $144 billion.
The most short-changed state, per capita, was Nevada, which received just $5,469 in payments for each resident. Minnesotans got just $5,644.
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid payments accounted for more than $1 trillion of the $2.2 trillion 2004 federal budget.
| District of Columbia |
553,523 |
$67,982.10 |
| Alaska |
655,435 |
$12,885.17 |
| Virginia |
7,459,827 |
$12,150.14 |
| Maryland |
5,558,058 |
$11,645.42 |
| New Mexico |
1,903,289 |
$10,436.65 |
| Hawaii |
1,262,840 |
$9,650.53 |
| North Dakota |
634,366 |
$9,513.12 |
| Wyoming |
506,529 |
$8,673.36 |
| Connecticut |
3,503,604 |
$8,649.37 |
| Alabama |
4,530,182 |
$8,619.41 |
| South Dakota |
770,883 |
$8,563.86 |
| West Virginia |
1,815,354 |
$8,363.93 |
| Massachusetts |
6,416,505 |
$8,278.72 |
| Maine |
1,317,253 |
$8,247.88 |
| Montana |
926,865 |
$8,084.85 |
| Missouri |
5,754,618 |
$7,946.69 |
| Tennessee |
5,900,962 |
$7,700.53 |
| Mississippi |
2,902,966 |
$7,694.78 |
| Pennsylvania |
1,2406,292 |
$7,649.36 |
| Kentucky |
4,145,922 |
$7,649.33 |
| Rhode Island |
1,080,632 |
$7,629.99 |
| Oklahoma |
3,523,553 |
$7,561.66 |
| New York |
19,227,088 |
$7,484.37 |
| Vermont |
621,394 |
$7,455.71 |
| Arizona |
5,743,834 |
$7,308.59 |
| Louisiana |
4515770 |
$7,297.55 |
| Washington |
6,203,788 |
$7,227.98 |
| United States |
293,655,404 |
$7,222.62 |
| South Carolina |
4,198,068 |
$7,158.33 |
| Arkansas |
2,752,629 |
$7,080.08 |
| Florida |
17,397,161 |
$7,008.82 |
| Kansas |
2,735,502 |
$6,993.48 |
| Nebraska |
1,747,214 |
$6,750.65 |
| Iowa |
2,954,451 |
$6,591.21 |
| Colorado |
4,601,403 |
$6,532.86 |
| California |
35,893,799 |
$6,474.30 |
| North Carolina |
8,541,221 |
$6,466.69 |
| Idaho |
1,393,262 |
$6,436.84 |
| Ohio |
11,459,011 |
$6,387.57 |
| New Jersey |
8,698,879 |
$6,353.04 |
| Delaware |
830,364 |
$6,326.32 |
| Texas |
22,490,022 |
$6,307.62 |
| Georgia |
8,829,383 |
$6,246.52 |
| New Hampshire |
1,299,500 |
$6,124.29 |
| Oregon |
3,594,586 |
$6,084.40 |
| Indiana |
6,237,569 |
$6,079.04 |
| Illinois |
12,713,634 |
$6,042.99 |
| Michigan |
10,112,620 |
$5,981.49 |
| Utah |
2,389,039 |
$5,727.67 |
| Wisconsin |
5,509,026 |
$5,727.67 |
| Minnesota |
5,100,958 |
$5,644.18 |
| Nevada |
2,334,771 |
$5,469.24 |
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