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Ranking

Federal assistance programs by obligations

By obligations, Social Security Retirement Insurance ranks first with $1.3 trillion in FY2025, according to USAspending.

Social Security Retirement Insurance obligated more than any other federal assistance program in FY2025, $1.3 trillion.

The 100 assistance programs with the most obligations · FY2025

The 100 assistance programs with the most obligations, FY2025
RankNameUSD
1Social Security Retirement Insurance$1.3 trillion
2Grants to States for Medicaid$666.1 billion
3Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance$568.6 billion
4Medicare Hospital Insurance$432.5 billion
5Veterans Compensation for Service-Connected Disability$174.1 billion
6Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage$162.5 billion
7Social Security Disability Insurance$157.3 billion
8Social Security Survivors Insurance$114.9 billion
9Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program$87.1 billion
10Highway Planning and Construction$67.4 billion
11Supplemental Security Income$64.5 billion
12Federal Pell Grant Program$40.0 billion
13Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers$37.6 billion
14Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters)$28.3 billion
15National School Lunch Program$27.7 billion
16Children's Health Insurance Program$20.5 billion
17Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies$18.3 billion
18Temporary Assistance for Needy Families$17.0 billion
19Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program$16.9 billion
20Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA)$16.7 billion
211332 State Innovation Waivers$16.1 billion
22Social Insurance for Railroad Workers$14.5 billion
23Special Education Grants to States$14.1 billion
24Head Start$11.8 billion
25Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance$10.8 billion
26Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail$10.6 billion
27Veterans Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for Service-Connected Death$10.3 billion
28Community Development Block Grants/State's program and Non-Entitlement Grants in Hawaii$9.9 billion
29Federal Transit Formula Grants$9.8 billion
30Emergency Commodity Assistance Program$9.3 billion
31Airport Improvement Program, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Programs, and COVID-19 Airports Programs$8.9 billion
32Flood Insurance$8.7 billion
33Child Care and Development Block Grant$8.6 billion
34USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas$8.2 billion
35WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $7.5 billion
36Affordable Rural Cooperative$7.0 billion
37National Railroad Passenger Corporation Grants$6.7 billion
38State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program$6.7 billion
39Pension Plan Termination Insurance$6.3 billion
40Clean Energy Demonstrations$6.2 billion
41Drinking Water State Revolving Fund$6.0 billion
42State Energy Program$5.9 billion
43Supplemental Disaster Relief Program$5.7 billion
44Public Housing Operating Fund$5.3 billion
45Health Center Program$5.3 billion
46Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience$4.8 billion
47Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chain Demonstrations and Commercial Applications$4.7 billion
48Clean Water State Revolving Fund$4.6 billion
49Climate Pollution Reduction Grants$4.6 billion
50Child Support Enforcement$4.6 billion
51State of Good Repair Grants Program$4.4 billion
52Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research$4.2 billion
53Low-Income Home Energy Assistance$4.1 billion
54Foster Care Title IV-E$4.0 billion
55Federal Transit Capital Investment Grants$4.0 billion
56Rehabilitation Services Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States$3.9 billion
57Aging Research$3.9 billion
58Tribal Self-Governance Program: IHS Compacts/Funding Agreements $3.8 billion
59Continuum of Care Program $3.4 billion
60Federal Disaster Assistance to Individuals and Households in Presidential Declared Disaster Areas$3.4 billion
61Public Housing Capital Fund$3.2 billion
62Cardiovascular Diseases Research$3.1 billion
63Adoption Assistance$3.1 billion
64Biomedical Research and Research Training$3.0 billion
65Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance$3.0 billion
66Clean Ports Program$2.9 billion
67Nutrition Assistance For Puerto Rico$2.9 billion
68Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children$2.9 billion
69Unemployment Insurance$2.7 billion
70Supply Chain Reimbursement Program$2.7 billion
71Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs$2.6 billion
72Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance$2.5 billion
73National Guard Military Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Projects$2.4 billion
74Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low or No Emissions Programs$2.3 billion
75Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds of the Child Care and Development Fund$2.2 billion
76Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (formerly Improving Teacher Quality State Grants)$2.2 billion
77Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research$2.0 billion
78Veterans State Nursing Home Care$2.0 billion
79Community Development Block Grants/Entitlement Grants$2.0 billion
80Weatherization Assistance for Low-Income Persons$1.9 billion
81CHAMPVA$1.9 billion
82UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND - SCHOOLS and LIBRARIES$1.9 billion
83Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders$1.8 billion
84Mental Health Research Grants$1.8 billion
85Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability for Veterans$1.8 billion
86Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse$1.7 billion
87Mathematical and Physical Sciences$1.7 billion
88Rural Rental Assistance Payments$1.6 billion
89Contributions to International Organizations for Overseas Assistance$1.6 billion
90Social Services Block Grant$1.6 billion
91Impact Aid$1.6 billion
92Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs$1.5 billion
93Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program$1.5 billion
94Environmental Quality Incentives Program$1.5 billion
95STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources)$1.4 billion
96Trans-NIH Research Support$1.4 billion
97Office of Science Financial Assistance Program$1.4 billion
98Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States$1.4 billion
99Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects$1.4 billion
100Federal Loan Guarantees for Innovative Energy Technologies$1.4 billion

What this data cannot show

  • An obligation is a binding commitment to pay, not money paid. Outlays are reported separately and the two are never equal in the same year.
  • Assistance only. An Assistance Listing number is carried by grants, loans, direct payments and insurance, and not by contracts, so these figures do not add to the hub’s headline total.
  • A program is an administrative heading, not a benefit. The program that obligates the most is the one the most money is routed through, which is not the same as the one reaching the most people.
  • Programs are renumbered and merged between years. A program that changes its listing number appears under the new number with no history attached to it.

Related

Sources

Compiled automatically from USAspending API v2 — dimension aggregations by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

Data retrieved