Market Report
The State of U.S. Federal Contracting 2026
Who buys, what they buy, and how small businesses win — a data report across 476 active federal contracting categories and all 50 states.
By GovCon by WinAContract · Published June 15, 2026 · 9 min read
24,315
opportunities analyzed
476
active NAICS categories
92.4%
use a small-business set-aside
71.9%
under $350K ceiling
Key takeaways
- 1.Department of Defense is the single most active federal buyer, appearing among top buyers for 24.2% of all tracked contracting activity.
- 2.Manufacturing is the busiest sector by solicitation volume (65.9% of activity), ahead of every other industry group.
- 3.92.4% of active categories use at least one small-business set-aside — small business is the rule in federal buying, not the exception.
- 4.71.9% of categories have award ceilings under $350K, the simplified-acquisition zone where small firms can win without extensive past performance.
The buyers
Who's buying
Federal demand is concentrated among a handful of cabinet departments. Weighting each agency by the volume of activity in the categories it buys, these are the most active federal buyers across the market:
Share = how often an agency ranks among the top buyers across active categories, weighted by solicitation volume.
The work
Busiest sectors
By solicitation volume, the federal market skews heavily toward goods and technical services. Manufacturing leads, but the long tail of construction, professional services and facilities work is where most small businesses compete:
Where
Busiest states by opportunity volume
Federal dollars land everywhere, but place-of-performance volume concentrates around the capital region and the big military states:
See the full breakdown in our federal contracting by state guides.
The categories
Most active NAICS categories
These are the individual NAICS codes with the most tracked solicitations — dominated by defense manufacturing and components:
Each code has its own NAICS guide with agencies, set-asides and typical award values.
How we built this
Methodology
This report aggregates 24,315 tracked U.S. federal solicitations across 476 active NAICS categories (those with at least three real solicitations) and 54 states and territories. The same dataset powers GovCon's NAICS and state guides.
Agency and set-aside shares are weighted by solicitation volume so that high-activity categories count proportionally. Award ceilings are read from the upper bound of each category's typical value range. Figures are point-in-time snapshots of tracked opportunities, not official federal procurement totals, and refresh as the underlying data updates.
Frequently asked questions
What data is this report based on?
It aggregates 24,315 tracked federal solicitations across 476 active NAICS categories and 54 states and territories — the same live data that powers GovCon's NAICS and state guides.
Which agency buys the most?
Department of Defense is the most active buyer, followed by Interior, Department of the and Department of Veterans Affairs.
Is most federal work set aside for small business?
Yes — 92.4% of active categories use at least one small-business set-aside program (Small Business, 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB or HUBZone).
Can I cite these figures?
Yes. The figures are free to cite with attribution to "GovCon by WinAContract" and a link to this report.
Find these opportunities — and win them
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