A huge portion of U.S. defense spending is going to contractors and military personnel based in just a handful of states, according to data recently released by the Pentagon.

Defense Department contract obligations and payroll spending in the 50 states and the District of Columbia totaled $550.9 billion in fiscal year 2019. Of those outlays, 73 percent was spent on contracts for products and services, while the remaining 27 percent paid the salaries of department personnel, according to the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation’s latest report on defense spending by state.

“California, Virginia and Texas topped the list of recipients for overall defense spending,” said a press release accompanying the study. They received $181.3 billion, about one-third of the total allotted to all 50 states plus D.C.

The top five, which also included Florida and Maryland, received about 43 percent of the total, while the top 10 received approximately 59 percent, according to the data.

The top 10 states were: California, $66.2 billion; Virginia, $60.3 billion; Texas, $54.8 billion; Florida, $29.8 billion; Maryland, $26.1 billion; Connecticut, $19.7 billion; Pennsylvania, $18.1 billion; Washington, $17.8 billion; Alabama, $16 billion; and Massachusetts, $15.8 billion.

That adds up to a whopping $324.7 billion.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/2/25/small-number-of-states-dominate-defense-spending

To read the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation’s full report go to: https://oldcc.gov/sites/default/files/defense-spending-rpts/OLDCC_DSBS_FY2019_FINAL_WEB.pdf