Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Federal funding by Ohio Congressional District

March 17, 2025
Read time:
Download report
Download Fact Sheets
Register now
Share this resource
Subscribe to our Newsletter
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download this as a PDF

The Center for Community Solutions previously examined federal funds spent by counties, highlighting the critical role these funds play in county budgets. However, this only illustrated one way that federal funds flow through the state as this funding is present in many other places outside of the county budget process. To fully understand the extent of federal funding in the State of Ohio, the complete scope of its distribution needs to be considered. This includes funding to the state, counties, municipalities, nonprofit and for-profit entities, educational organizations including school districts, colleges, universities, and many others. Examining the entire picture of federal funding being spent in the state is necessary to be able to determine the scale of federal funding in Ohio and the impact of these dollars.

Check out the interactive map!

When casting as wide a net as possible, during Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2021 the federal government spent $58 billion in Ohio.  

Key findings

  • In Federal Fiscal Year 2021, the federal government spent $58 billion on Ohio. This funding helps to support safety net programs such as SNAP and Head Start, but also to fund non-profits, higher education, and small businesses.
  • The Department of Education was the top funder for Ohio, at $14 billion. Most of this money was allocated to school districts and higher education for emergency funding to assist during the pandemic. Excluding pandemic-related aid, Federal Pell Grants was the largest line item.  
  • Ohio Congressional District 6 (Southeast Ohio, Youngstown to Marietta) received the most amount of federal funding, at $6.4 billion. This district is also considered part of the central and eastern Appalachia region of Ohio. Some of the money awarded through ARPA dollars created the Appalachian Community Grant program. This district also received the majority of the funding allocated by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps.
  • There are almost 114,000 federal employees that live in Ohio. Ohio’s Congressional District 10 has the largest federal workforce with almost 20,000 employees, likely due to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
  • If all federal employees in Ohio lost their jobs, that rate would jump to 6.7 percent from the current rate of 4.8 percent. Including contractors, academic institutions, and other organizations that rely on federal funding to retain employees, this number could be much higher.
  • Federal employees support the labor force in every congressional district in Ohio. In some districts, the unemployment rate would almost double if all federal employees were subject to governmental efficiency cuts. In Congressional District 11, the unemployment rate would be 12 percent.
If all federal employees in Ohio lost their jobs, that rate would jump to 6.7 percent from the current rate of 4.8 percent

Methodology

This work builds upon the previous research from The Center for Community Solutions completed at the county level. However, instead of just federal funding that is being dispersed by county governments, this analysis looks at all federal funding dispersed through all organizations by Ohio Congressional District. Congressional districts are the areas from which members are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. They tend to be fairly equally populous and are determined by the decennial census population. Ohio’s Congressional Districts are drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The Commission is comprised of members of the Ohio House and Senate, along with other Ohio elected officials, such as the Governor. While each district has approximately the same population, the boundaries of the districts and concentration of populations are up to the discretion of those tasked with redistricting.  

Instead of just federal funding that is being dispersed by county governments, this analysis looks at all federal funding dispersed through all organizations by Ohio Congressional District.

Several data sources were used for this analysis. The U.S. Census Bureau was used to get population estimates for per capita calculations and to examine federal employees by congressional district. USASpending.gov was used to examine federal funding for each congressional district, which has information on federal spending and awards through contracts, grants, and loans. Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2021 was used for this analysis. This year was the most recent year that all county financial audits were available. It is important to note that in 2021, funding from The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA), and The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was still being dispersed.  

While some federal awards were already sorted into Congressional Districts, most were not and were classified into one of two groups. The first group was multiple congressional districts, which was common for awards to counties that are split between two congressional districts or awards to projects that span numerous congressional districts. The other group was unclassified geography, which was common for funding awarded to the State of Ohio as the state has discretion in how this funding is distributed. To distribute funding without a dedicated congressional district a methodology was developed to first distribute federal funds by county and then into congressional districts. To distribute funding into counties, the county federal funding analysis was used to estimate the percentage of funds from each federal entity to go to each county. Then utilizing a methodology to sort county funding into congressional districts was used. Since congressional districts do not follow county lines Census Tracts were used to determine where people within the county are living to apportion the funding appropriately.

Download Fact Sheets

Ohio Statewide Data

Download

Wood County

Download

Wyandot County

Download

Williams County

Download

Washington County

Download

Vinton County

Download

Wayne County

Download

Warren County

Download

Van Wert County

Download

Union County

Download

Tuscarawas County

Download

Stark County

Download

Summit County

Download

Trumbull County

Download

Shelby County

Download

Seneca County

Download

Scioto County

Download

Ross County

Download

Sandusky County

Download

Richland County

Download

Putnam County

Download

Huron County

Download

Portage County

Download

Preble County

Download

Pike County

Download

Pickaway County

Download

Perry County

Download

Noble County

Download

Paulding County

Download

Ottawa County

Download

Morrow County

Download

Muskingum County

Download

Morgan County

Download

Montgomery County

Download

Meigs County

Download

Monroe County

Download

Miami County

Download

Mercer County

Download

Marion County

Download

Madison County

Download

Medina County

Download

Mahoning County

Download

Lucas County

Download

Lorain County

Download

Logan County

Download

Licking County

Download

Lawrence County

Download

Lake County

Download

Holmes County

Download

Jackson County

Download

Knox County

Download

Jefferson County

Download

Hocking County

Download

Henry County

Download

Highland County

Download

Harrison County

Download

Hancock County

Download

Hardin County

Download

Greene County

Download

Geauga County

Download

Guernsey County

Download

Hamilton County

Download

Gallia County

Download

Fayette County

Download

Fulton County

Download

Franklin County

Download

Fairfield County

Download

Erie County

Download

Darke County

Download

Defiance County

Download

Coshocton County

Download

Delaware County

Download

Cuyahoga County

Download

Crawford County

Download

Columbiana County

Download

Clinton County

Download

Clermont County

Download

Clark County

Download

Champaign County

Download

Carroll County

Download

Athens County

Download

Ashtabula County

Download

Brown County

Download

Butler County

Download

Belmont County

Download

Auglaize County

Download

Ashland County

Download

Allen County

Download

Adams County

Download

Lake County

Download

Geauga County

Download

Cuyahoga County

Download

All Municipalities Geauga County

Download

All Municipalities Lake County

Download

All Municipalities Cuyahoga County

Download

Thompson

Download

South Russell

Download

Russell

Download

Parkman

Download
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download report

Subscribe to our newsletter

5 Things you need to know arrives on Mondays with the latest articles, events, and advocacy developments in Ohio

Explore the fact sheets

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.

No Related Fact Sheets

Explore Topics

Browse articles, research, and testimony.

Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Want a recession-resilient economy? Protect SNAP

Rachel Cahill
March 31, 2025
Maternal & Infant Health
Research

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Comparing three professional credentials

Natasha Takyi-Micah
March 24, 2025
Maternal & Infant Health
Research

Request for Proposal: Evaluation of The Great Minds Fellowship program

Emily Muttillo
February 19, 2025
Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Summer EBT: A snapshot of parent experiences in Ohio

Community Solutions Team
February 14, 2025
Poverty & Safety Net
Research

Human Services 101

Kyle Thompson
February 6, 2025