100 Federal Grant Statistics 2026 (SBIR, SBA, USDA, NIH, DoE)

$1.2 trillion#1 total federal grant outlays to state and local governments in FY2024.

$650 billion#2 Medicaid federal share, the single largest federal grant line.

~$300 billion#3 annual federal discretionary competitive grant outlays (non-Medicaid, non-formula).

~26%#4 of state and local government revenue comes from federal grants on average.

~1,800#5 distinct federal grant programs catalogued in the CFDA / Assistance Listings on SAM.gov.

~3,500#6 open or recently-closed federal funding opportunities indexed on grants.gov at any given time.

26#7 federal grant-making agencies use grants.gov as the central application portal.

$80 billion+#8 annual federal R&D obligations across DoD, NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, and USDA.

$4.2 billion#9 total SBIR/STTR set-aside across all participating agencies in FY2024.

3.2%#10 of extramural R&D budgets must be set aside for SBIR by participating agencies in FY2024 (rising to 3.45% in subsequent reauthorizations).

$47 billion#11 NIH FY2024 budget, the largest federal funder of biomedical research.

$9.9 billion#12 NSF FY2024 budget, primary funder of non-medical foundational research.

$48 billion#13 DOE FY2024 budget including weapons stockpile, science office, and energy programs.

$213 billion#14 USDA FY2024 budget; rural development and farm programs are a major grant pipeline.

$70 billion#15 HUD FY2024 budget; CDBG, Section 108, HOME, and Continuum of Care are the major competitive lines.

$80 billion#16 Department of Education FY2024 budget; Title I, Pell, and competitive Education Innovation grants.

$13.4 billion#17 EPA FY2024 budget; Brownfields, Environmental Justice, and clean water State Revolving Funds.

$13.9 billion#18 DOL FY2024 budget; apprenticeship, YouthBuild, and reentry employment grants.

$1.0 billion#19 SBA FY2024 program-level budget for direct programs (separate from loan-guarantee authorizations).

$3.5 billion#20 BIA FY2024 operating budget; tribal programs receive an additional layered allocation through HUD ONAP and IHS.

11#21 federal agencies participate in SBIR; 5 also participate in STTR (DoD, HHS, DOE, NASA, NSF).

~$314,000#22 typical SBIR Phase I award ceiling at DoD; NSF caps near $275K, NIH near $306K.

$2 million#23 typical SBIR Phase II award ceiling across most participating agencies.

~40%#24 SBIR Phase I to Phase II conditional advancement rate at DoD, NIH, and NSF (publicly disclosed).

13-18%#25 typical first-pass SBIR Phase I acceptance rate (varies by agency and topic).

$2.3 million#26 average non-dilutive capital available across the full SBIR Phase I + Phase II path.

6-12 months#27 typical SBIR Phase I performance period.

24 months#28 typical SBIR Phase II performance period.

~25%#29 of SBIR Phase II awardees go on to commercialization (Phase III) per longitudinal SBIR data.

DoD ($1.7B)#30 largest SBIR set-aside; HHS ($1.2B), DOE ($300M), NSF ($230M), NASA ($210M) are the next four.

3 days#31 the SBIR/STTR Direct-to-Phase-II window at NIH and DoD compresses traditional Phase I review by skipping it for technologies with proven feasibility.

~6,500#32 SBIR Phase I awards made in FY2023 across all participating agencies.

~3,200#33 SBIR Phase II awards made in FY2023 across all participating agencies.

$0#34 equity dilution required for SBIR/STTR funding; awards are non-dilutive grants and contracts.

$5 million#35 SBA 7(a) loan-guarantee maximum (a federally backed loan, not a grant in the strict sense).

$50,000#36 SBA Microloan maximum, administered through nonprofit intermediaries.

$0#37 direct cash grants offered by the SBA to for-profit small businesses; SBA grants are restricted to nonprofit intermediaries and special programs.

$250,000#38 typical USDA Value-Added Producer Grant ceiling for working-capital track.

$500,000#39 USDA Rural Business Development Grant ceiling.

$1 million#40 USDA REAP grant ceiling for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements (small business agricultural producer).

~33.3 million#41 small businesses in the United States; less than 1% receive federal grants in any given year.

$30 billion+#42 annual SBA loan guarantees across 7(a) and 504 programs.

$25 million#43 Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Capital Readiness Program competitive grant ceiling for intermediary organizations.

$200,000#44 typical Etsy/IFundWomen-style state-administered women's business grant ceiling (varies; not federal but routinely confused).

~1.97 million#45 active US nonprofits filing IRS Form 990.

$540 billion#46 total US nonprofit revenue in 2024 (from all sources, including government grants).

~32%#47 of nonprofit revenue comes from government grants and contracts on average.

23 of 50#48 programs in the GrantProbe federal grant audit explicitly allow 501(c)(3) nonprofit applicants.

$300 million#49 typical annual federal allocation to USDA Community Food Projects, NIH community-research, and ED 21st Century Community Learning Centers (combined nonprofit-eligible competitive lines).

~46%#50 of audited federal programs allow 501(c)(3) applicants, the largest single eligibility tag.

$100 million#51 HUD Section 108 loan guarantee ceiling, available to local government and nonprofit-affiliated CDFI applicants.

$30 million#52 HUD Continuum of Care competitive grant ceiling.

~28%#53 increase in addressable federal grant program count when an entity holds 501(c)(3) status compared to for-profit small business status alone.

574#54 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States, all eligible for tribal-set-aside federal grants.

15 of 50#55 programs in the GrantProbe audit explicitly include tribal entities; the BIA layer adds more.

$2 billion#56 DOE Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program authorization.

$77 million#57 typical annual HUD Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) appropriation.

$25 million#58 MBDA Capital Readiness Program ceiling for organizations supporting underserved entrepreneurs.

~9.7 million#59 minority-owned US businesses; many qualify for SBA 8(a), HUBZone, and MBDA programs.

8(a)#60 SBA program provides up to 9 years of preferential federal contracting access for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses.

$1.0 million#61 VA Veteran Readiness and Employment self-employment grant ceiling for service-disabled veterans starting a business.

50#62 states administer State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) federal pass-through funds for small business credit access.

$10 billion#63 total SSBCI 2.0 authorization across all states (FY2022-FY2030).

~$7 billion#64 annual federal CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) appropriation flowing to states and entitlement cities.

~$1.4 billion#65 annual federal HOME Investment Partnerships funding for state and local affordable housing.

~$3 billion#66 annual EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants to state-administered loan programs.

~$2 billion#67 annual EPA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization.

$60 billion#68 Federal Highway Administration formula grants to states annually.

$24 billion#69 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (one-time pandemic-era grant pool, indicative of state-pass-through scale).

~$90 billion#70 annual US private-foundation grantmaking, on top of the federal layer.

~130,000#71 active US grantmaking foundations indexed in the Candid Foundation Directory.

$1.4 trillion+#72 total US foundation assets under management.

5%#73 minimum payout requirement for private foundations under IRS rules, anchoring the annual grantmaking floor.

$10K-$500K#74 modal individual foundation grant range; faster cycles (8-12 weeks) and higher acceptance rates than federal.

25-60%#75 typical foundation grant acceptance rate on prepared LOIs to mission-aligned funders (varies widely by funder).

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ($8.3B)#76 largest US private foundation by 2023 grantmaking.

~10%#77 share of all US charitable giving that flows through private foundations (the rest is direct individual and corporate).

~21%#78 NIH R01 success rate in FY2023 (the flagship investigator-initiated research grant).

~28%#79 NSF overall funding rate in FY2023 across all programs.

~13-18%#80 SBIR Phase I first-pass acceptance rate range across participating agencies.

~40%#81 SBIR Phase I to Phase II conditional advancement rate at DoD, NIH, and NSF.

~25%#82 typical USDA Value-Added Producer Grant funding rate.

~30%#83 typical EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant funding rate per cohort.

~15%#84 ARPA-E project funding rate per solicitation cycle.

~10-25%#85 ED Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program tier-dependent funding rate.

~20%#86 typical DOL apprenticeship and YouthBuild competitive grant funding rate.

~50%#87 formula-grant "acceptance rate" for entities that meet eligibility (not competitive; population-formula based).

9-10 months#88 typical NIH R01 time-from-submission-to-award on a standard cycle.

~6 months#89 typical NSF research-grant time-from-submission-to-award.

3-6 months#90 typical SBIR Phase I time-from-submission-to-award.

4-6 months#91 typical USDA Rural Development competitive grant time-to-decision.

days to weeks#92 SBA 7(a) and 504 loan-guarantee decision time (lender-driven; the federal layer is a guarantee).

~15%#93 increase in agency grant decision-cycle length since 2019 due to staffing constraints.

2-4 weeks#94 typical foundation LOI-to-decision turnaround for prepared, mission-aligned applications.

8-12 weeks#95 typical foundation full-proposal to decision cycle.

~30 days#96 typical SAM.gov registration processing time required before any federal grant or contract submission.

~14 days#97 typical post-award expansion time before funds are accessible in PMS (Payment Management System).

20%#98 of audited federal programs accept rolling applications with no fixed deadline, removing the time-pressure objection entirely.

~$15-30B#99 Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) tracks roughly this annual range of mid-year supplemental federal grant adjustments to states.

2026#100 the year SBIR/STTR reauthorization debate, MBDA permanent funding, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law residual outlays converge to make the federal grant pipeline larger, faster, and more competitive than at any point in the last decade.