Federal award data
Small business set-aside contract awards
How many federal contracts are set aside for small business?
Federal agencies recorded 534,212 new awards of $25,000 or more as small business set-asides in FY2016-FY2026, worth $291B: 25% of the awards that report a set-aside. 100% were competed, and competed awards drew a median of 3 offers; 19% got a single offer. The most common NAICS code was 541519 (Other Computer Related Services).
USAspending.gov data, FY2016-FY2026. Updated .
- New awards
- 534,212
- Obligated
- $291B
- Median award
- $76,068
- Median offers
- 3
- Agencies signed about 49,473 new small business set-aside awards a year from FY2016 to FY2025, 49,761 of them in FY2025 (down 23% from FY2016).
- The median award was $76,068; 73,734 different companies won at least one award.
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Falkview US watches SAM.gov, checks set-aside eligibility against your UEI and drafts the response. See it on one of your own solicitations in a 30-minute demo.
Awards per fiscal year
New Small business set-aside awards 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 | 64,348 | $33B |
| FY2017 | 61,328 | $27.1B |
| FY2018 | 41,088 | $24.6B |
| FY2019 | 42,920 | $24.2B |
| FY2020 | 44,687 | $28.3B |
| FY2021 | 42,701 | $27.3B |
| FY2022 | 44,206 | $28.4B |
| FY2023 | 51,140 | $31.1B |
| FY2024 | 52,555 | $27.6B |
| FY2025 | 49,761 | $22.8B |
| FY2026* | 39,478 | $16.3B |
* 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?
100% of awards were competed. Competed awards drew a median of 3 offers, against 3 offers across all federal contracts; 19% got a single offer.
| Offers received | Competed awards |
|---|---|
| 1 (single offer) | 100,457 (19%) |
| 2 | 92,626 (17%) |
| 3-4 | 133,127 (25%) |
| 5-9 | 116,832 (22%) |
| 10+ | 87,943 (17%) |
530,985 competed awards with an offer count. Not competed: 50 awards (sole source, follow-on or not available for competition).
How big are the awards?
The median award was $76,068. 59% were under $100,000, the range where agencies often use simplified acquisition.
| Amount obligated | Awards |
|---|---|
| Under $100K | 313,897 (59%) |
| $100K-$1M | 181,523 (34%) |
| $1M-$10M | 34,605 (6%) |
| $10M+ | 4,187 (1%) |
What is bought this way?
The NAICS codes with the most Small business set-aside awards.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| 541519 Other Computer Related Services | 49,617 | $33.1B |
| 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | 32,766 | $30.4B |
| 336413 Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing | 14,955 | $3.3B |
| 236220 Commercial and Institutional Building Construction | 11,708 | $20.2B |
| 334111 Electronic Computer Manufacturing | 10,602 | $3.6B |
| 311999 All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing | 9,883 | $1.5B |
| 115310 Support Activities for Forestry | 8,176 | $1.2B |
| 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology) | 7,443 | $11.5B |
Which agencies use it most?
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| Defense Logistics Agency | 125,763 | $17.8B |
| Department of the Army | 74,543 | $57.7B |
| Department of the Air Force | 56,990 | $34.8B |
| Department of the Navy | 54,498 | $33.5B |
| Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons | 18,529 | $2B |
| Forest Service | 18,241 | $4.9B |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 17,894 | $5.2B |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 11,942 | $8.4B |
Where is the work done?
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| California | 59,610 | $25.4B |
| Virginia | 51,160 | $43.7B |
| Florida | 30,585 | $12.7B |
| Maryland | 30,397 | $33.6B |
| Texas | 29,211 | $13.6B |
| New York | 25,243 | $8.7B |
| Pennsylvania | 21,703 | $6.4B |
| Ohio | 15,241 | $6.5B |
Coming up for re-bid
24,844 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 small business set-aside contracts get?
Competed awards drew a median of 3 offers (FY2016-FY2026, 530,985 awards with an offer count). 19% got a single offer and 39% got five or more. Across all federal contracts the median is 3 offers.
Which agencies award the most small business set-aside contracts?
By number of new awards in FY2016-FY2026: Defense Logistics Agency (24%), Department of the Army (14%), Department of the Air Force (11%). Agencies that buy often are the ones to watch for recompetes and sources-sought notices.
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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