Science funding / Explore

Explore federal science funding

Seven decades of US research money in two lenses: how budgets moved over time, and how the dollars flow from funders to federal agencies. Every view has its own link — scrub, reframe, and share.

Focus agency

Total federal R&D grew from $76.7B in FY 1976 to $118.7B in FY 2026 in 2017 dollars.

Federal research and development, split between defense and everything else.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimateTotal federal R&DDefenseNondefense

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

1987 — Reagan buildup crests. Defense R&D nearly doubles in real terms between 1980 and 1987.
2010 — Post-9/11 peak. The wartime buildup carries defense R&D to its real-terms high.
2013 — Sequestration. The Budget Control Act's across-the-board caps cut R&D government-wide.
2017 — R&D definition narrows. A bookkeeping change moves late-stage weapons work out of the defense R&D tally — not a budget cut.
2020 — COVID-19 emergency funding. Pandemic spending pushes health research to its real-terms record.

Federal budget totals begin in FY 1976. Years back to 1953 are covered by the money-flow lens, which tracks who funds US R&D from 1953.

1953FY 1953 – FY 20262026

About this view

This view shows the funding-history lens from fiscal year 1953 to 2026, framed in constant 2017 dollars, adjusted for inflation.

Total federal research and development grew from $76.7B in fiscal year 1976 to $118.7B in 2026. Defense R&D alone was $72B in 2026. Figures for fiscal year 2026 and later are estimates carried from the White House budget request; the enacted FY 2026 cycle is tracked on the appropriations page.

All figures come from the AAAS Historical R&D Data as of 2025-10-23.