The Department of Defense (DOD) has defense contracts in every state. According to the Pentagon's Defense Spending by State report, total domestic defense spending—including contract obligations, personnel payroll, and grants—surged to $609.2 billion, equaling 2.2% of the country’s GDP. Its spending by state ranged from as little as $507 million in Wyoming to $71.6 billion in Texas.

Although the Department of Defense does have contracts in every state, nearly 63% ($271.6 billion) of its primary contract spending went to just 10 states. The states with the largest overall defense totals from the Department of Defense are Texas, Virginia, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Arizona, and New York.

Virginia and Maryland have a proximity advantage—both sharing borders with Washington, D.C., and with the Pentagon being located in Virginia. Fairfax County in Northern Virginia is approximately 5 miles from the Pentagon and continues to rank as a premier hub, bringing in a massive $19.1 billion in localized defense spending. Other leading counties pulling the highest concentrations of contract and personnel allocations nationwide include San Diego County in California and Tarrant County in Texas.

Major aerospace and security giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and RTX Corporation (Raytheon) remain core members of the U.S. defense industrial base and consistently rank among the top corporations with the largest defense contracts in the U.S.