Cost to Your Community FEDERAL HARMS TRACKER The Cost to Your Community Jump to The Cost to Your Community Interactive Map Analysis Methodology The Cost of The Shutdown The Cost to Your Government Back to Overview The Cost to Your Community is the third product in the Federal Harms Tracker series and is designed to show the federal government’s footprint and impact across states and communities nationwide. This interactive map combines state- and congressional district-level data on federal personnel, funding and infrastructure to show how government resources are distributed around the country and how that presence is shifting amid unprecedented changes under the Trump administration. But this tool is not just about numbers—it is about people and communities. Every congressional district is paired with at least one story of harm or risk at the local level. While a smaller federal government may be a reasonable goal, these stories reveal that the Trump administration’s often haphazard funding and personnel cuts, from food assistance and education to public health and care for Veterans, have led to a less effective government and are negatively affecting the public in real and everyday ways. Dallas County Health and Human Services lost more than $4 million in federal funding leading to staff layoffs and canceling 50+ community vaccine drives. Ohio Fair Housing Resource Center lost 90% of its federal funding, leading to layoffs and cuts to free services for communities in need. An Arlington, Va. afterschool learning program that supports low-income families lost $350,000 overnight, forcing it to cut students and causing families to scramble for new childcare options after students had to be cut from the program. Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, the largest charitable food assistance organization in the region, lost about half of its federal funding—forcing it to reduce portion sizes and cut purchases of fresh produce from local farmers. In its current form, the map provides a baseline for tracking the federal government’s footprint over time. Beginning with pre-2025 data to establish context, it will grow as new information becomes available, building an increasingly clearer picture of how communities are being affected by workforce reductions, funding cuts and changes to the government’s physical presence. We invite you to explore the map, share what you find and contact your member of Congress about the harms happening in your community. Our communications toolkit offers guidance and templates that you can use to communicate what you’ve learned. If you have a story to share, please connect with our team by completing this form. THE COST TO YOUR COMMUNITY Clear search Federal Harms Tracker: The Cost to Your Community Share this data Stories of Harm Share what you've learned about the cost to your community Via Email On Facebook On Twitter On LinkedIn CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS DISPLAYED ARE THOSE FOR THE 119TH CONGRESS (2025-2026)LAST UPDATED NOV. 6, 2025. Why do these issues matter? As the map demonstrates, federal institutions and activities are woven into the fabric of almost every community in the country. Federal Assistance: Grants and direct payments to state and local governments help sustain schools, housing, health programs and other critical services. Federal Contracts: Federal spending fuels local businesses and supply chains, strengthening industries and creating jobs. Federal Employees: Federal jobs traditionally provide stable employment and support local economies. Federal employees also can be a critical access point between their neighbors and essential public services. In 2024, there were over 2.3 million federal employees in the United States, with more than 80% located outside the Washington, D.C., area. The same year, over $1 trillion in grants and direct payments, and over $600 billion in contracts, flowed from the federal government to recipients in states and localities across the nation. The physical presence of the federal government is also significant—the General Services Administration, which is responsible for many of the federal government’s real estate holdings, owned or leased over 8,000 properties throughout the country in 2024. As information continues to emerge about the unprecedented and haphazard cuts pursued by the Trump administration, we expect to be able to map shifts in the federal presence in individual communities. But even as we wait for more complete data to analyze, the impact is already being felt. In our September survey, 46% of respondents said they or someone they know had been impacted by the government cuts, up from 29% in March. The stories included in the map provide a window into how the administration’s cuts are reverberating around the country. What harms are we seeing? We analyzed more than 530 stories featured on the map to provide a snapshot of the harm and impacted caused by federal cuts and mismanagement across the country. Notably, more than 45% of these stories involve harms to science-related sectors, including agricultural research, healthcare and public land management. Together, they show the direct, tangible consequences these changes are having on individuals, organizations and communities. Education: Funding cuts and freezes at the Department of Education have disrupted after-school programs, literacy initiatives and school repairs. All while billions of dollars’ worth of revoked research grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation have hit colleges and universities nationwide. Agriculture: Reduced Department of Agriculture funding for local farm partnerships has strained food banks, school lunch programs and senior meal services. Health: Personnel cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute have slowed critical research and public health work, and changes at the Department of Veterans Affairs are straining care for Veterans. We also continue to see that harms across sectors like public services, safety and infrastructure are compounding. Canceled funding for nonprofits, housing programs, and public broadcasting has weakened essential local support systems, while diminished investment in emergency response and energy infrastructure has left communities more vulnerable to crises. Looking for more data? We invite you to visit The Impact Project to explore additional data points on government changes and their localized effects, including socioeconomic data and program-specific data. DATA DEFINITIONS This tool brings together multiple federal datasets, hundreds of news stories and exclusive spotlights to provide a community-level view of the federal government’s footprint and impact. The data and stories will be updated monthly as new sources become available. Personnel data at the state level is drawn from the Office of Personnel Management’s FedScope database and represents actual headcounts at executive branch, civilian agencies (excluding the U.S. Postal Service) as of September 2024. Congressional district counts are estimates derived from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey and cover the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, as well as government-owned corporations (e.g. Amtrak). District totals, therefore, do not add up to state totals. Assistance and contract data is taken from USASpending’s assistance and contracts datasets for fiscal 2024. Funding values reflect obligations for formula grants, project grants and direct payments to state and local governments. Contract values reflect federal obligations for award transactions performed within a state or district. Infrastructure is defined as federally owned and leased properties managed by the General Services Administration, including land and buildings. Counts are derived from the GSA’s Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties dataset for fiscal 2024 and filtered to include only active properties. However, the IOLP dataset only covers properties within GSA’s portfolio, which is estimated to be about 30% of the federal government’s total real estate holdings. Learn more “Under 30” is defined as employees between ages 20-29. “STEM” is defined as occupations in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Median salary comparisons are derived from Census’ Current Population Survey and rounded down to $80,000 to align with FedScope’s income brackets. For this analysis, the District of Columbia is treated as both a state-level entity and as an at-large congressional district. Most data at the congressional district level reflects districts drawn for the 119th Congress. However, due to differences in reporting periods, some quantitative data may be attributed to congressional districts that no longer align with current boundaries. Because the tool currently reflects pre-2025 baselines, it should be seen as a starting point for understanding community-level footprint, not a real-time measure of change over time. Stay up to date with the Partnership Subscribe to our emails to receive our latest news and updates.
