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 · Money flow
Where US research money comes from, and how the federal slice divides among agencies.
Who-funds-US-R&D data runs through 2023, so this year shows the federal agency split only.
This view shows the money-flow lens for fiscal year 2026, within a scrubber window of 1953 to 2026, framed in constant 2017 dollars, adjusted for inflation.
Of $118.7B in federal R&D that year, DOD held the largest share at 57.1%. Fiscal year 2026 figures 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.