Federal award data, California
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities contracts in California (NAICS 541720)
How many federal research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities contracts are there in California?
Federal agencies signed 699 new NAICS 541720 awards of $25,000 or more performed in California in FY2016-FY2026, worth $2B. 69% were competed, and competed awards drew a median of 4 offers; 17% got a single offer. That is more offers than the national median for this code (3 offers).
USAspending.gov data, FY2016-FY2026. Updated .
- New awards
- 699
- Obligated
- $2B
- Median award
- $358,046
- Median offers
- 4
- Agencies signed about 67 new NAICS 541720 awards in California a year from FY2016 to FY2025, 39 of them in FY2025 (down 32% from FY2016).
- California accounts for 13% of all NAICS 541720 awards nationwide.
- The median award was $358,046; 128 different companies won at least one award.
- 52% of awards that report a set-aside were set aside for small businesses or a socioeconomic program, most often small business set-asides.
- 41 of these awards reach their potential end date (all options exercised) in the next 12 months, so most of that work comes up for re-bid.
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Awards per fiscal year
New NAICS 541720 awards in California of $25,000 or more by the fiscal year they were signed (October to September), with the amount obligated on them to date.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Obligated |
|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 57 | $770M |
| FY2017 | 83 | $256M |
| FY2018 | 77 | $94.8M |
| FY2019 | 62 | $52.6M |
| FY2020 | 83 | $144M |
| FY2021 | 88 | $491M |
| FY2022 | 71 | $71.5M |
| FY2023 | 67 | $56.9M |
| FY2024 | 41 | $19.3M |
| FY2025 | 39 | $56.7M |
| FY2026* | 31 | $23.9M |
* FY2026 is still filling in: the Department of Defense reports its awards 90 days late. Full years run to FY2025.
How competitive are these contracts?
69% of awards were competed. Competed awards drew a median of 4 offers, against 3 offers across all federal contracts; 17% got a single offer.
| Offers received | Competed awards |
|---|---|
| 1 (single offer) | 43 (17%) |
| 2 | 9 (3%) |
| 3-4 | 92 (36%) |
| 5-9 | 45 (17%) |
| 10+ | 70 (27%) |
259 competed awards with an offer count. Not competed: 216 awards (sole source, follow-on or not available for competition).
Set-asides
52% of the 189 awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program.
| Set-aside | Awards |
|---|---|
| Small business | 90 (48%) |
| No set-aside | 90 (48%) |
| 8(a) | 7 (4%) |
| Women-owned (WOSB and EDWOSB) | 2 (1%) |
Orders placed under an existing contract vehicle often leave the set-aside blank (it is recorded on the vehicle), so they are left out here.
How big are the awards?
The median award was $358,046. 17% were under $100,000, the range where agencies often use simplified acquisition.
| Amount obligated | Awards |
|---|---|
| Under $100K | 121 (17%) |
| $100K-$1M | 425 (61%) |
| $1M-$10M | 137 (20%) |
| $10M+ | 16 (2%) |
Which agencies buy it in California?
The agency components with the most new NAICS 541720 awards performed in California.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Navy | 136 | $35.7M |
| Federal Acquisition Service | 132 | $101M |
| Office of Procurement Operations | 124 | $116M |
| Department of Education | 63 | $31.9M |
| Department of the Air Force | 48 | $159M |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 34 | $4.2M |
| Missile Defense Agency | 28 | $1.3B |
| U.S. Coast Guard | 21 | $18.4M |
Largest awards
The five awards with the most obligated, as described by the contracting office. Each links to its record on USAspending.gov.
- System development support integration igf::cl::igfMissile Defense Agency, FY2016$556M
- This is the pre-omnibus task order. it is to begin the development of thaad software 4.1 and 5.0.Missile Defense Agency, FY2021$430M
- Eeprom awardMissile Defense Agency, FY2017$169M
- Task order award - datalink 2Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, FY2016$117M
- Pkh-mccray-amos-project air force (paf) core research projectsDepartment of the Air Force, FY2020$34.3M
Coming up for re-bid
41 of these awards reach their potential end date (every option exercised) in the 12 months after November 5, 2026. Agencies usually post the follow-on solicitation, or a sources-sought notice, months before that.
Falkview US watches SAM.gov for the follow-on notices under your NAICS codes, checks set-aside eligibility against your UEI, and drafts the response for your team to review. For janitorial, landscaping and facilities support, the recompete calendar lists the individual contracts.
See how Falkview handles a re-bidQuestions
How many bids do NAICS 541720 contracts in California get?
Competed awards drew a median of 4 offers (FY2016-FY2026, 259 awards with an offer count). 17% got a single offer and 44% got five or more. Across all federal contracts the median is 3 offers.
Which agencies award the most NAICS 541720 contracts in California?
By number of new awards in FY2016-FY2026: Department of the Navy (19%), Federal Acquisition Service (19%), Office of Procurement Operations (18%). Agencies that buy often are the ones to watch for recompetes and sources-sought notices.
How many NAICS 541720 contracts in California are set aside for small business?
52% of the awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program: small business set-asides 48%, 8(a) 4%, Women-owned (WOSB and EDWOSB) 1%. Orders under existing contract vehicles often leave the field blank, so those are not counted.
Where the numbers come from
Every new federal contract award of $25,000 or more signed from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2026 (FY2016 to FY2026), as reported to USAspending.gov from the Federal Procurement Data System: definitive contracts, purchase orders, delivery orders and BPA calls. Amounts are what has been obligated on each award to date, options and modifications included. Place is the place of performance.
Offer counts are FPDS's “number of offers received” on competed awards. Award recipients are counted but not named here. Pages with fewer than 150 awards (500 for one code in one state) are left out of search engines, because a handful of awards can swing the numbers.
Compiled by Falkview US from public data, updated November 5, 2026. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to the page.
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