Science funding · Explorer · AAAS data
Seven decades of US research money, two ways to read it
How federal budgets moved over time, and how the dollars flow from funders to federal agencies. Every view has its own link: scrub, reframe, and share.
Science funding · Explorer · AAAS data
How federal budgets moved over time, and how the dollars flow from funders to federal agencies. Every view has its own link: scrub, reframe, and share.
Fig. 1 · Funding history
Total federal R&D versus real US GDP, each line shown as a multiple of its FY 1976 level.
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.
This view shows the funding-history lens from fiscal year 1953 to 2026, framed in growth multiples, federal R&D and real US GDP each rebased to 1× at the start of the window.
From FY 1976 to FY 2026, the US economy grew 3.8× in real terms while total federal R&D grew 1.5×. 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.