North Dakota saw an increase of 18 percent in its federal funding in 2009, the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University reported today.
In 2009, the state received $8.6 billion of the $3.2 trillion in funds the federal government spent nationally. That was an increase of 18 percent from 2008.
During the last half of the 1990s, federal dollars coming to North Dakota showed little variation and averaged about $4 billion per year. From 1999 to 2002, federal expenditures to the state increased by about 12 percent each year.
But federal spending in North Dakota went through a couple of slight dips, including 11 percent in 2003 and 5 percent in 2006. Since then, federal spending has increased each year.
Of the $8.6 billion spent by the federal government in North Dakota in 2009, about one-fifth or $1.4 billion went to Social Security.
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"We will begin seeing significant increase in the proportion of federal expenditures going to Social Security as the leading edge of the baby boom generation turns 65 in 2011," said Richard Rathge, State Data Center director.
Crop insurance payments made up 15 percent of North Dakota's federal funds in 2009, and Medicare accounted for about 10 percent of the expenditures.
Overall, North Dakota received less than a half percent of all federal funds distributed nationally in 2009. But per-capita federal expenditures in the state totaled $13,323 that year, enough to rank North Dakota sixth in the nation.
Nationally, per-capita federal expenditures totaled $10,396 in 2009.
