NIH funding in Washington
Updated October 13, 2026 · Refreshed when USAspending posts new fiscal-year data · Published by Grantsights
NIH obligated $1.15 billion in grants to organizations in Washington in fiscal year 2026, 9th among the 50 states and DC. That's $149 per resident, the 8th-highest per person.
- FY2026: $1.15 billion, down 4% from $1.19 billion in FY2025.
- Since FY2020: down 26% ($1.56 billion then).
- Largest recipient: University of Washington, $499.1 million (44% of the state total).
Washington NIH grant obligations by fiscal year: $1.15 billion in FY2026
| Fiscal year | NIH grant obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $1,145,108,172 |
| FY2025 | $1,188,286,261 |
| FY2024 | $1,118,978,698 |
| FY2023 | $1,148,578,762 |
| FY2022 | $1,358,291,288 |
| FY2021 | $1,325,078,764 |
| FY2020 | $1,556,632,657 |
Source: USAspending.gov, NIH grant obligations by recipient location, pulled October 13, 2026.
Who received the most NIH grant money in Washington in FY2026: University of Washington
| Recipient | FY2026 obligations |
|---|---|
| University of Washington | $499.1 million |
| Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | $294.6 million |
| Seattle Children's Hospital | $98.3 million |
| Allen Institute | $69.6 million |
| Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason | $57.5 million |
| Washington State University | $34.1 million |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | $19.0 million |
| Institute for Systems Biology | $11.5 million |
| Sage Bionetworks | $8.3 million |
| Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research | $8.0 million |
Recipient names as USAspending lists them. Hospitals and universities often receive grants under a legal name that differs from the name people use.
How it's counted
- NIH grant obligations (project grants, cooperative agreements and other assistance awards) in USAspending, by the state of the recipient's address.
- Obligations are net: money taken back from ended or cut grants is subtracted in the year it happens.
- Per-resident figures use the Census 2020 population USAspending reports.
- Computed by a Grantsights script from the public USAspending API. See data sources.
What this doesn't show
- Money spent. Obligations are commitments; spending can lag by years.
- Where the work happens. Subawards to other states count where the prime recipient is.
- NIH's own totals, which count awards differently, or NIH contracts and intramural research.
- Success rates. For those, see NIH R01 success rates.
Compare every state on NIH funding by state, or download the CSV. Cite as: Grantsights, "NIH funding in Washington," updated October 13, 2026, https://grantsights.com/research/nih-funding-by-state/washington. Data: USAspending.gov.
Who won specific NIH awards: R01, K99/R00, R15 and F31 award histories.