State profile · Data year 2023
Mississippi (MS)
Key metrics
Federal revenue paid
$22.2B
OSC balance-of-payments
Federal spending received
$58.5B
OSC balance-of-payments
Net balance
$36.2B
Net recipient
Net balance per capita
$12,326 per resident
Return per $1 paid
$2.63
$2.63 received per $1.00 paid
Population
2,939,690
Supporting context
Extra series for context, not the basis for the rankings. IRS collections and USAspending awards use different geographies and coverage than the Comptroller balance above.
IRS gross collections
$15.2B
Data Book Table 5 · collection location
USAspending awards
$37.8B
Place of performance · awards only
Change from FFY 2022
Net balance change
$1.6B
Was $34.6B (rank #34)
Return change
+0.08
Was $2.55
Rank change
Up 1
#34 → #33
Why balances look like this
Income, age, poverty, and military presence help explain why a state's balance looks the way it does. They don't change how the ranking itself is calculated.
Median household income
$54,203
Census ACS 1-year
Age 65+
17.6%
Higher share often means more Social Security / Medicare
Poverty rate
18.0%
Census ACS 1-year
Active-duty personnel
11,002
3.74 per 1,000 residents · DoD Dec 2023
Defense procurement (OSC)
$7.7B
Part of federal spending received
Social Security + Medicare
$22.9B
Direct payment programs in OSC categories
Compared with averages
National average per capita
$3,932 per resident
This state: $12.3K
Red-state average
$4,911 per resident
Blue-state average
$2,552 per resident
Spending category breakdown
How federal dollars arriving in this state break down, Social Security, Medicare, defense, and more. Categories show composition, not a simple welfare scorecard.
Nearby in the rankings
Source and methodology notes
Net balance is spending received minus revenue paid. A negative number means Mississippi paid more to the federal government than it got back in 2023. The politics label reflects the 2024 presidential result (Republican). For definitions and caveats, see the methodology.