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States Where the US Military Spends the Most Money: All 50 States Ranked
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The United States has spent more on defense than every other country in the world each year since at least 1960, the earliest year of available data. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, American military expenditures topped $876.9 billion in fiscal 2022, about $386 billion more than the combined defense spending of all of Europe and Central Asia.
America’s massive defense budget has long been the subject of criticism. Detractors have done little to influence policy, however, as inflation-adjusted U.S. defense spending has dipped in only 14 of the last 63 years — and those cuts have been modest, with most coming in under 3%.
According to government officials, U.S. military spending is a justifiable means of deterring adversaries, conducting effective operations, modernizing weapons systems, and supporting military families. And while tax payers are on the hook for the bill, a considerable portion of American military spending goes right back into state and local economies each year.
Using data from the Department of Defense’s report Defense Spending by State Fiscal Year 2022, 24/7 Wall St. identified the states where the military spends the most money. States are ranked by total Defense Department spending on contracts, grants, and personnel payroll in fiscal 2022. All supplementary data is also from the report.
Defense spending by state in the 2022 fiscal year ranges from $552 million to about $63 billion. In several states, defense spending accounts for over 5% of annual gross domestic product.
In most of the country, defense contractors account for over half of all Pentagon spending. Many of the states drawing in the most defense dollars are home to operations of some of the largest military contractors in the world, including Huntington Ingalls, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Each year, these companies receive billions of federal defense dollars building and developing new weapons systems. (These are the 35 weapons the military will spend the most on next year.)
In just over a dozen states, personnel payroll accounts for the largest share of Defense Department spending. Many of these states are home to large military bases, where thousands of troops are stationed. (Here is a look at the biggest military bases in the United States.)
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