Why Oregon gets more than it gives to Washington, D.C.
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Oregon is the only state on the continental West Coast that receives more money from the federal government than it sends out, a recent analysis found.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's push for states to be more financially independent brushes up against the reality that many depend on federal money for everything from disaster relief to food aid.
By the numbers: Massachusetts (-$4,846), New Jersey (-$4,344) and Washington (-$3,494) had the lowest balance of payments per capita as of 2022, discounting COVID-19 relief spending, according to a 2024 Rockefeller Institute of Government report.
- New Mexico ($14,781), Maryland ($12,265) and Virginia ($11,577) had the highest.
- Oregon was close to the middle of the pack with a balance of $2,009 per capita.
- That's below the national average of $3,029 but not close to either Washington or California, both of which had sizable negative balances.
How it works: Each state's balance of payments reflects how much federal money is distributed there (in the form of programs like Medicaid and SNAP, for example) versus how much money residents and businesses send to the federal government (via income or employment taxes, for instance).
- A negative figure means a state sends more to the federal government than it receives, while a positive figure means it gets more than it gives.
Between the lines: "States with large defense-contracting sectors and more military bases receive more federal defense spending, while federal wages are disproportionately concentrated within states with a large federal employee presence," the report notes.
- Oregon doesn't have large military installations like Maryland or Virginia, but more than half of the land in Oregon — 61 million acres — is owned by the federal government.
What we're watching: How President Trump's quest to trim federal spending actually plays out at the state level could shake up these figures in unpredictable ways.
- In Oregon, hundreds of millions in federal funding are now in limbo — from money for electric vehicle chargers to grants aimed at decreasing climate pollution to funding for disease research — as Trump seeks to cut the federal budget.