Alaskans Tops, N. Carolinians Last in Getting Funds From U.S.

People in Alaska were top recipients of Uncle Sam’s spending last year, and residents of North Carolina finished last, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

The massive Consolidated Federal Funds report for fiscal 1986 said that the federal government spent an average of $3,391.94 per American.

That comprised $460 in grants to state and local governments, $492.81 in salaries and wages, $1,489.90 in direct payments to individuals, $840.25 in procurement and $108.98 in other spending.

Capital Ranks at Top

If the District of Columbia, home of the U.S. bureaucracy, counted as a state, it would have been the easy leader in per capita spending: $23,061.28, mostly wages paid to federal workers.

However, among the 50 states, Alaska’s military bases and small total population combined to put it in the top spot, with per capita spending of $5,091.13. Those funds were spread across several categories, including federal wages, grants to state and local governments and procurement.

Alaska finished last in direct payments to individuals, though, reflecting the small number of residents needing Social Security, Medicare or other such help.

Mass of Statistics

The three-volume report, containing several hundred pages of statistical tables, analyzed the spending of about $830 billion in tax money for fiscal 1986, the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 1986, up from $788 billion a year earlier. It includes virtually all federal spending within the United States, except for interest on the national debt.

Of the total spending, more than $100 billion went to California, the most populous state and the site of several major military bases.

Broken down on a per capita basis, however, California finished 12th among the states in federal expenditures.

Following Alaska on the per capita list were Maryland and Virginia, reflecting urban sprawl from the nation’s capital, and New Mexico and Hawaii.

Five at the Bottom

At the other end of the scale, North Carolina had the least federal per capita spending, at $2,487.14.