Glassbox VA · geography

What VA reports spending in each state, next to what the award record shows.

VA's National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics publishes the Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) every year. This page lines it up, state by state and category by category, with the obligations VA reported to USAspending.gov — only where the two measure the same programs. In FY2015, the compared categories cover $92.7B of the $167.2B GDX reports for the states, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam; USAspending shows $91.8B for the same categories (99.0%).

In FY2015, excluding construction, 157 of 158 compared state-category cells agree within tolerance; the largest gap is Guam (Compensation & Pension), $409K or 0.59% of its compared GDX.

Construction is excluded from the gap by default because it is only partly comparable (multi-year obligations against annual expenditures; its FY2015 tolerance band is 5.0%–2370%). The categories in the gap are Compensation & Pension, Education & Vocational Rehabilitation/Employment, Insurance & Indemnities. A gap is a difference between two public measures (expenditures and obligations) to review, not a finding. For FY2015, VA states that GDX took Compensation & Pension and Education figures from USAspending itself, so agreement in those categories is expected, not independent confirmation.

Reconciliation gap · FY2015 · construction excluded

Sum of |USAspending − GDX| over the compared categories, as a share of the state's GDX in those categories. Dark = the two sources agree; bright = a larger gap.

Gap as a share of compared GDX · fixed breaks, the same every year

Under 0.1%
0.1%–0.5%
0.5%–1%
1%–2%
2%–5%
5%–15%
15% or more
No compared category this year

Source: VA NCVAS GDX FY2015 (GDX_FY15.xlsx) · USAspending.gov award data archive (VA, agency 036), net obligations by action-date FY · states, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam · figures by state in the table below.

FY2015 at a glance

Compared state × category cells within tolerance (all compared categories, construction included): 200 of 204
Variances to review: 4 in 4 states

GDX FY2015: NCVAS · GDX_FY15.xlsx. USAspending transactions loaded for all 12 months of FY2015: assistance yes, contracts yes.

How this comparison is built

Like-for-like only: same state, same federal fiscal year (October–September), same category. USAspending programs are mapped to GDX categories by a published crosswalk.
Compared: Compensation & Pension, Education & VR&E, Insurance, and Construction (partly comparable). Not compared: Medical Care, General Operating Expenses, Loan Guaranty and Memorial Benefits — they are mostly VA payroll and operating cost, or are booked in ways that have no award counterpart.
GDX reports expenditures (money spent); USAspending reports obligations (commitments). A difference is listed as a variance to review only when the ratio sits outside the tolerance band derived from all states that year and exceeds 5 points and $1M.
For FY2012–FY2023 VA states that GDX Compensation & Pension and E&VRE were taken from USAspending.gov, so agreement in those years is expected rather than independent confirmation.

Full methodology, crosswalk and sources →

GDX expenditure: VA's estimate of money spent in the fiscal year, by state (an expenditure measure, closer to outlays than to obligations; VA notes it can differ from both), from VA's Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures report.
USAspending obligations: Net obligations recorded on USAspending.gov in the same fiscal year (sum of every transaction's federal action obligation), for the programs mapped to the same GDX category.
Coverage ratio: USAspending ÷ GDX. 100% means the award record accounts for the same dollars VA reports as spent. Obligations and expenditures are different measures, so exact agreement is not expected.

National · FY2015

Category by category

National figures sum every GDX geography (including rows VA lists as other territories, foreign or unknown). The tolerance band is set per category from the spread of all states' ratios; the national ratio shows definitional and timing differences that move every state together and therefore flag none.

Category	GDX expenditure	USAspending obligations	National ratio	Tolerance band (median)	States	Comparability
Compensation & Pension	$75.8B	$76.4B	100.8%	100.0%–100.0% (100.0%)	53 within · 0 to review	Compared
Education & Vocational Rehabilitation/Employment	$13.4B	$13.5B	100.9%	100.0%–100.0% (100.0%)	53 within · 0 to review	Compared
Insurance & Indemnities	$1.7B	$1.4B	81.6%	58.1%–111.7% (83.0%)	51 within · 1 to review	Compared
Construction	$1.8B	$1.3B	68.4%	5.0%–2370% (128.0%)	43 within · 3 to review	Partly comparable (directional)
Medical Care	$65.6B	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared
General Operating Expenses	$8.1B	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared
Loan Guaranty	$865M	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared

Variances to review · FY2015

Where the two sources differ beyond tolerance

Each row is a state and category whose ratio sits outside the band set by all states that year, by at least 5 points and $1M. The structural explanation lists the known reasons two correct datasets differ; none is a finding.

State	Category	GDX	USAspending	Ratio	Structural explanation
District of Columbia	Construction	$163M	$2.1M	1.3%	Construction is obligated up front and spent over several years; single-year ratios swing with project phasing. National and headquarters contracts are often performed or booked in the Washington, D.C. area. USAspending below GDX can reflect items GDX draws from VA's financial systems that have no award row, or rows without a usable state.
Missouri	Construction	$70.2M	$2.6M	3.7%	Construction is obligated up front and spent over several years; single-year ratios swing with project phasing. USAspending below GDX can reflect items GDX draws from VA's financial systems that have no award row, or rows without a usable state.
Idaho	Construction	$12.3M	$472K	3.9%	Construction is obligated up front and spent over several years; single-year ratios swing with project phasing. USAspending below GDX can reflect items GDX draws from VA's financial systems that have no award row, or rows without a usable state.
Puerto Rico	Insurance & Indemnities	$5.2M	$2.6M	49.1%	Insurance payees are located by linked residence records in GDX (FY2024+ partly by ZIP code), by payee address on USAspending. USAspending below GDX can reflect items GDX draws from VA's financial systems that have no award row, or rows without a usable state.

All states · FY2015

The figures behind the map

The same data as the map, for screen readers and for checking. Select a state for its category detail and multi-year trend.

GDX expenditures and USAspending obligations by state for FY2015, compared categories only, with coverage ratio, reconciliation gap (construction excluded) and variance count.
State	GDX total (all categories)	GDX, compared	USAspending, compared	Coverage ratio	Gap ($), excl. construction	Gap (share)	Variances to review
Alabama	$3.2B	$2.1B	$2.1B	100.7%	$6.3M	0.30%	0 of 4
Alaska	$585M	$322M	$322M	99.8%	$512K	0.16%	0 of 3
Arizona	$3.8B	$2.1B	$2.1B	100.1%	$7.7M	0.37%	0 of 4
Arkansas	$2.2B	$1.2B	$1.2B	102.1%	$4.2M	0.37%	0 of 4
California	$14.9B	$8.7B	$8.6B	98.8%	$27.2M	0.32%	0 of 4
Colorado	$3.5B	$2.4B	$2.1B	90.8%	$9.5M	0.49%	0 of 4
Connecticut	$1.2B	$565M	$564M	99.7%	$1.5M	0.27%	0 of 3
Delaware	$422M	$248M	$248M	99.8%	$550K	0.22%	0 of 4
District of Columbia	$3.0B	$284M	$123M	43.2%	$480K	0.40%	1 of 4
Florida	$12.3B	$6.9B	$6.8B	98.6%	$26.3M	0.39%	0 of 4
Georgia	$5.7B	$3.7B	$3.7B	100.1%	$16.1M	0.44%	0 of 4
Guam	$90.0M	$69.2M	$69.6M	100.6%	$409K	0.59%	0 of 2
Hawaii	$888M	$594M	$620M	104.3%	$1.8M	0.31%	0 of 4
Idaho	$893M	$484M	$470M	97.2%	$1.7M	0.36%	1 of 4
Illinois	$4.4B	$2.1B	$2.1B	99.3%	$7.3M	0.35%	0 of 4
Indiana	$2.8B	$1.4B	$1.4B	100.2%	$4.4M	0.31%	0 of 4
Iowa	$1.4B	$676M	$674M	99.7%	$2.0M	0.29%	0 of 3
Kansas	$1.4B	$759M	$757M	99.7%	$2.2M	0.29%	0 of 3
Kentucky	$2.5B	$1.4B	$1.4B	100.6%	$4.1M	0.30%	0 of 4
Louisiana	$2.7B	$1.7B	$1.4B	84.0%	$5.5M	0.40%	0 of 4
Maine	$983M	$573M	$571M	99.7%	$1.8M	0.32%	0 of 3
Maryland	$2.9B	$1.7B	$1.7B	99.8%	$4.9M	0.29%	0 of 4
Massachusetts	$2.7B	$1.4B	$1.4B	99.5%	$3.9M	0.28%	0 of 4
Michigan	$3.9B	$2.2B	$2.2B	99.5%	$7.7M	0.35%	0 of 4
Minnesota	$2.6B	$1.3B	$1.3B	100.2%	$4.9M	0.37%	0 of 4
Mississippi	$1.7B	$936M	$904M	96.5%	$3.4M	0.38%	0 of 4
Missouri	$3.6B	$1.9B	$1.9B	96.1%	$7.2M	0.39%	1 of 4
Montana	$781M	$378M	$382M	101.1%	$938K	0.25%	0 of 4
Nebraska	$1.2B	$635M	$677M	106.7%	$1.8M	0.29%	0 of 4
Nevada	$1.9B	$966M	$941M	97.4%	$3.5M	0.37%	0 of 4
New Hampshire	$703M	$382M	$380M	99.5%	$1.7M	0.45%	0 of 3
New Jersey	$2.2B	$1.3B	$1.3B	100.4%	$3.3M	0.25%	0 of 4
New Mexico	$1.5B	$883M	$896M	101.5%	$3.0M	0.34%	0 of 4
New York	$6.3B	$3.1B	$3.1B	100.1%	$9.3M	0.31%	0 of 4
North Carolina	$6.4B	$4.0B	$4.0B	99.4%	$19.6M	0.49%	0 of 4
North Dakota	$386M	$202M	$204M	101.0%	$295K	0.15%	0 of 4
Ohio	$7.7B	$2.6B	$2.6B	100.7%	$8.9M	0.35%	0 of 4
Oklahoma	$3.0B	$2.0B	$2.0B	100.6%	$6.2M	0.31%	0 of 4
Oregon	$2.6B	$1.5B	$1.5B	99.8%	$5.4M	0.37%	0 of 4
Pennsylvania	$5.4B	$2.9B	$2.9B	99.7%	$9.8M	0.35%	0 of 4
Puerto Rico	$1.6B	$877M	$860M	98.1%	$2.7M	0.31%	1 of 4
Rhode Island	$546M	$272M	$276M	101.7%	$963K	0.36%	0 of 4
South Carolina	$3.5B	$2.2B	$2.2B	99.8%	$9.8M	0.45%	0 of 4
South Dakota	$667M	$286M	$276M	96.5%	$275K	0.10%	0 of 4
Tennessee	$4.0B	$2.4B	$2.4B	99.9%	$9.1M	0.39%	0 of 4
Texas	$14.8B	$9.0B	$9.0B	99.8%	$32.1M	0.36%	0 of 4
Utah	$1.1B	$583M	$582M	99.8%	$1.5M	0.26%	0 of 4
Vermont	$324M	$166M	$164M	98.6%	$320K	0.20%	0 of 4
Virginia	$5.4B	$3.7B	$3.8B	100.7%	$11.5M	0.31%	0 of 4
Washington	$4.0B	$2.6B	$2.6B	98.0%	$7.0M	0.27%	0 of 4
West Virginia	$1.9B	$765M	$775M	101.3%	$2.6M	0.34%	0 of 4
Wisconsin	$2.8B	$1.3B	$1.3B	99.0%	$4.1M	0.32%	0 of 4
Wyoming	$427M	$182M	$190M	104.0%	$250K	0.14%	0 of 4

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Source: VA NCVAS GDX FY2015 · USAspending.gov award data archive (VA, agency 036)