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 FY2016, the compared categories cover $101.2B of the $173.7B GDX reports for the states, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam; USAspending shows $113.3B for the same categories (112.0%).

In FY2016, excluding construction, 157 of 158 compared state-category cells agree within tolerance; the largest gap is West Virginia (Compensation & Pension), $119M or 14% 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 FY2016 tolerance band is 2.9%–2607%). 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 FY2016, 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 · FY2016 · 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 FY2016 (GDX_FY16.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.

FY2016 at a glance

Compared state × category cells within tolerance (all compared categories, construction included): 202 of 206
Variances to review: 4 in 4 states

GDX FY2016: Prepared by the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, June 2017 · GDX_FY16.xlsx. USAspending transactions loaded for all 12 months of FY2016: 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 · FY2016

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	$84.0B	$97.5B	116.1%	115.0%–115.4% (115.2%)	53 within · 0 to review	Compared
Education & Vocational Rehabilitation/Employment	$13.8B	$14.0B	101.2%	99.9%–100.2% (100.0%)	53 within · 0 to review	Compared
Insurance & Indemnities	$1.6B	$1.3B	80.9%	61.4%–106.3% (82.6%)	51 within · 1 to review	Compared
Construction	$1.7B	$1.4B	81.4%	2.9%–2607% (111.4%)	45 within · 3 to review	Partly comparable (directional)
Medical Care	$63.5B	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared
General Operating Expenses	$7.9B	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared
Loan Guaranty	$1.1B	—	—	—	Not comparable	Not compared

Variances to review · FY2016

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	$205M	$4.3M	2.1%	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.
Rhode Island	Construction	$1.8M	$77.1M	4377%	Construction is obligated up front and spent over several years; single-year ratios swing with project phasing. USAspending obligations above GDX expenditures can reflect obligations recorded this year and paid next year, or prior-year adjustments.
Illinois	Construction	$7.7M	-$1.1M	-14.1%	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	$4.3M	$1.9M	45.4%	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 · FY2016

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 FY2016, 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	$3.4B	$2.3B	$2.6B	113.5%	$318M	14%	0 of 4
Alaska	$639M	$359M	$402M	111.8%	$43.0M	12%	0 of 3
Arizona	$3.9B	$2.3B	$2.6B	112.2%	$294M	13%	0 of 4
Arkansas	$2.2B	$1.2B	$1.4B	113.7%	$176M	14%	0 of 4
California	$15.6B	$9.4B	$10.5B	111.6%	$1.1B	12%	0 of 4
Colorado	$3.6B	$2.5B	$2.4B	94.8%	$267M	13%	0 of 4
Connecticut	$1.2B	$615M	$680M	110.7%	$73.0M	12%	0 of 4
Delaware	$441M	$277M	$314M	113.3%	$35.5M	13%	0 of 4
District of Columbia	$2.7B	$338M	$151M	44.8%	$15.0M	11%	1 of 4
Florida	$12.7B	$7.5B	$8.5B	112.3%	$981M	13%	0 of 4
Georgia	$6.1B	$4.1B	$4.6B	113.4%	$556M	14%	0 of 4
Guam	$107M	$76.8M	$86.4M	112.5%	$9.6M	12%	0 of 2
Hawaii	$986M	$669M	$724M	108.3%	$68.4M	10%	0 of 4
Idaho	$914M	$526M	$589M	112.1%	$72.3M	14%	0 of 4
Illinois	$4.4B	$2.3B	$2.5B	111.6%	$289M	13%	1 of 4
Indiana	$2.9B	$1.5B	$1.7B	112.8%	$209M	14%	0 of 4
Iowa	$1.4B	$722M	$816M	113.0%	$97.4M	13%	0 of 3
Kansas	$1.5B	$833M	$936M	112.5%	$109M	13%	0 of 4
Kentucky	$2.6B	$1.5B	$1.7B	112.3%	$208M	14%	0 of 4
Louisiana	$2.6B	$1.6B	$1.8B	108.8%	$205M	14%	0 of 4
Maine	$1.0B	$626M	$712M	113.6%	$89.1M	14%	0 of 3
Maryland	$2.9B	$1.8B	$2.0B	111.4%	$218M	12%	0 of 4
Massachusetts	$2.7B	$1.5B	$1.7B	111.6%	$194M	13%	0 of 4
Michigan	$4.0B	$2.4B	$2.8B	113.1%	$336M	14%	0 of 4
Minnesota	$2.7B	$1.4B	$1.6B	114.1%	$197M	14%	0 of 4
Mississippi	$1.8B	$998M	$1.1B	112.2%	$137M	14%	0 of 4
Missouri	$3.6B	$2.1B	$2.4B	114.1%	$275M	14%	0 of 4
Montana	$779M	$403M	$454M	112.9%	$54.2M	14%	0 of 4
Nebraska	$1.2B	$687M	$775M	112.9%	$92.2M	14%	0 of 4
Nevada	$2.0B	$1.1B	$1.2B	111.7%	$146M	14%	0 of 4
New Hampshire	$732M	$413M	$464M	112.4%	$53.8M	13%	0 of 3
New Jersey	$2.2B	$1.4B	$1.6B	112.5%	$175M	12%	0 of 4
New Mexico	$1.6B	$962M	$1.1B	112.2%	$135M	14%	0 of 4
New York	$6.3B	$3.3B	$3.7B	111.7%	$399M	12%	0 of 4
North Carolina	$6.8B	$4.4B	$5.0B	113.0%	$610M	14%	0 of 4
North Dakota	$375M	$220M	$255M	115.8%	$28.0M	13%	0 of 4
Ohio	$8.1B	$2.8B	$3.2B	113.8%	$385M	14%	0 of 4
Oklahoma	$3.2B	$2.2B	$2.5B	113.7%	$313M	14%	0 of 4
Oregon	$2.7B	$1.6B	$1.8B	113.8%	$216M	14%	0 of 4
Pennsylvania	$5.5B	$3.1B	$3.5B	113.7%	$407M	13%	0 of 4
Puerto Rico	$1.7B	$948M	$1.1B	119.0%	$132M	14%	1 of 4
Rhode Island	$550M	$294M	$406M	137.8%	$37.4M	13%	1 of 4
South Carolina	$3.7B	$2.4B	$2.8B	113.7%	$331M	14%	0 of 4
South Dakota	$643M	$308M	$342M	111.1%	$38.6M	13%	0 of 4
Tennessee	$4.2B	$2.6B	$3.0B	113.7%	$355M	14%	0 of 4
Texas	$16.1B	$10.1B	$11.3B	112.9%	$1.3B	13%	0 of 4
Utah	$1.1B	$621M	$719M	115.8%	$76.1M	12%	0 of 4
Vermont	$331M	$173M	$194M	112.1%	$23.0M	13%	0 of 4
Virginia	$5.8B	$4.1B	$4.6B	111.9%	$494M	12%	0 of 4
Washington	$4.2B	$2.9B	$3.2B	110.2%	$364M	13%	0 of 4
West Virginia	$1.9B	$835M	$946M	113.3%	$119M	14%	0 of 4
Wisconsin	$2.8B	$1.4B	$1.6B	111.6%	$191M	14%	0 of 4
Wyoming	$414M	$200M	$229M	114.3%	$26.6M	14%	0 of 4

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Source: VA NCVAS GDX FY2016 · USAspending.gov award data archive (VA, agency 036)