This NAICS page summarizes federal obligations for research and development in the social sciences and humanities over the last 10 years. The largest obligations went to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Education, and the Missile Defense Agency, while leading vendors included Lockheed Martin Corporation, RAND Corporation, and Research Triangle Institute.
NAICS Industry
NAICS 541720 Federal Contract Obligations (Last 10 Years)
Federal procurement activity for NAICS 541720 covers research and development in the social sciences and humanities across the last 10 years, with 24,704 award actions and $11.74 billion obligated.
Annual obligations were highest in 2024 at $1.31 billion and remained above $1.1 billion in 2021 through 2024 before declining to $650.98 million in 2025.
NAICS Code
541720
Industry
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Total Obligated
11.74 billion
11,735,155,531.59
Award Actions
24,704
Average Action Value
475,030.58
About NAICS 541720 federal contract activity
NAICS 541720 covers research and development in the social sciences and humanities, and over the last 10 years FPDS shows $11.74 billion in obligated spending across 24,704 awards, with an average award value of $475,030.58. The profile indicates a high-volume, mid-value market segment centered on policy, program evaluation, behavioral research, and mission-support analysis rather than large capital-intensive R&D.
Agency demand and leading federal buyers
Obligations are led by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at $3.81 billion across 3,428 awards, followed by the Department of Education at $2.32 billion across 2,622 awards. The Missile Defense Agency ranks third at $1.58 billion, showing that this NAICS is used not only for civilian social science work but also for defense-related analytical and human factors research; the Department of the Air Force and Department of the Army round out the top five.
Vendor concentration and leading contractors
The vendor base is led by Lockheed Martin Corporation with $1.57 billion across 756 awards, followed by The RAND Corporation at $1.01 billion across 1,901 awards. Research Triangle Institute, Westat, Inc., and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. also account for substantial obligations, indicating a concentrated set of large research contractors with repeated tasking across federal programs.
Annual contract trend over the analysis window
Annual obligations remained above $1.1 billion from 2021 through 2024, peaking at $1.31 billion in 2024 before declining to $650.98 million in 2025 to date. Award counts stayed consistently high, ranging from 2,032 in 2025 to 2,564 in 2021, which suggests sustained procurement activity even as annual obligated dollars fluctuate.
How to interpret this page
This summary is based on FPDS award records for NAICS 541720 over the last 10 years and uses obligated dollars, award counts, and average award value as reported in the underlying dataset. Agency and vendor rankings reflect total obligated value within the selected NAICS and time window; annual trend figures reflect obligations recorded for each fiscal year shown.
Top Agencies
SELECT
agency_id,
agency_name,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID AS agency_id,
anyHeavy(content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__name) AS agency_name,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541720'
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 10 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY agency_id
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| Agency ID | Agency Name | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7530 | CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES | 3,809,349,712.66 | 3.81 billion | 3,428 |
| 9100 | EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF | 2,322,121,692.65 | 2.32 billion | 2,622 |
| 97JC | MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY (MDA) | 1,576,334,054.03 | 1.58 billion | 753 |
| 5700 | DEPT OF THE AIR FORCE | 583,865,817.06 | 583.87 million | 947 |
| 2100 | DEPT OF THE ARMY | 272,347,121.07 | 272.35 million | 2,560 |
| 1341 | NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY | 256,796,864.82 | 256.80 million | 257 |
| 7529 | NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH | 239,522,315.80 | 239.52 million | 445 |
| 7001 | OFFICE OF PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS | 229,807,244.61 | 229.81 million | 927 |
| 4732 | FEDERAL ACQUISITION SERVICE | 225,272,981.82 | 225.27 million | 796 |
| 7022 | FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY | 223,714,067.28 | 223.71 million | 243 |
Insight
Over the last 10 years, obligations under NAICS 541720 totaled $11.74 billion across 24,704 awards, with spending concentrated among a few agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services led with $3.81 billion, followed by the Department of Education at $2.32 billion and the Missile Defense Agency at $1.58 billion; together, these three agencies accounted for roughly 66% of total obligations. After the top tier, obligations decline sharply, with the remaining agencies each below $0.60 billion, indicating a long-tail distribution of smaller funding shares across multiple departments and acquisition offices.
Top Vendors
SELECT
vendor_name,
cage_code,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName AS vendor_name,
anyHeavy(content__award__vendor__vendorSiteDetails__entityIdentifiers__cageCode) AS cage_code,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541720'
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName IS NOT NULL
AND content__award__vendor__vendorHeader__vendorName != ''
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 10 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY vendor_name
)
ORDER BY total_obligated DESC
LIMIT 10| Vendor | CAGE Code | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION | 06887 | 1,570,747,761.18 | 1.57 billion | 756 |
| RAND CORPORATION, THE | 11578 | 1,014,517,555.51 | 1.01 billion | 1,901 |
| RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE | 3A730 | 812,821,368.01 | 812.82 million | 565 |
| WESTAT, INC. | 1D075 | 792,988,316.66 | 792.99 million | 329 |
| MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH, INC. | 1EFU9 | 787,021,408.10 | 787.02 million | 635 |
| NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER | 8A395 | 528,195,544.81 | 528.20 million | 413 |
| LEWIN GROUP, INC., THE | 09UQ3 | 439,570,518.14 | 439.57 million | 349 |
| AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH IN THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES | 9B514 | 436,114,395.44 | 436.11 million | 354 |
| MATHEMATICA INC. | 1EFX9 | 426,865,246.10 | 426.87 million | 249 |
| EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE | 9A596 | 418,528,882.63 | 418.53 million | 172 |
Insight
Over the last 10 years, NAICS 541720 obligations total $11.74 billion across 24,704 awards, with an average award value of $475,030.58. The top 10 vendors account for $7.28 billion, or about 62% of total obligations, indicating a moderately concentrated vendor base. Lockheed Martin Corporation leads with $1.57 billion, followed by RAND Corporation, The at $1.01 billion; the remaining top vendors each received roughly $418 million to $813 million, with award counts ranging from 172 to 1,901, suggesting a mix of high-dollar and high-volume relationships.
Annual Trend
SELECT
year,
total_obligated,
award_count,
formatReadableQuantity(total_obligated) AS total_obligated_readable
FROM
(
SELECT
toYear(parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate)) AS year,
sum(content__award__dollarValues__obligatedAmount) AS total_obligated,
count() AS award_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE
contract_type = 1
AND content__award__productOrServiceInformation__principalNAICSCode = '541720'
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) >= toStartOfYear(now()) - INTERVAL 10 YEAR
AND parseDateTimeBestEffortOrNull(content__award__relevantContractDates__signedDate) < toStartOfYear(now())
GROUP BY year
)
ORDER BY year DESC| Year | Total Obligated | Readable | Award Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 650,980,999.53 | 650.98 million | 2,032 |
| 2024 | 1,312,942,234.76 | 1.31 billion | 2,260 |
| 2023 | 1,183,074,514.25 | 1.18 billion | 2,229 |
| 2022 | 1,138,257,826.89 | 1.14 billion | 2,527 |
| 2021 | 1,193,475,501.30 | 1.19 billion | 2,564 |
| 2020 | 1,500,837,340.32 | 1.50 billion | 2,672 |
| 2019 | 1,185,648,920.37 | 1.19 billion | 2,603 |
| 2018 | 1,326,611,388.58 | 1.33 billion | 2,625 |
| 2017 | 1,134,387,448.80 | 1.13 billion | 2,537 |
| 2016 | 1,108,939,356.79 | 1.11 billion | 2,655 |
Insight
Over the last 10 years, NAICS 541720 obligated $11.74 billion across 24,704 awards, averaging about $475.0K per award. Annual obligations were relatively stable, generally ranging from $1.11 billion to $1.50 billion, with the peak in 2020 at $1.50 billion and the lowest level in 2016 at $1.11 billion. Award volume was also steady, clustered between 2,032 and 2,672 awards per year, indicating a broadly distributed procurement pattern rather than heavy concentration in a single fiscal year. The most recent year, 2025, shows lower obligations at $650.98 million with 2,032 awards, but this may reflect partial-year activity within the current period.
Use FPDS Query for deeper industry analysis
Explore federal procurement data with custom SQL, fast filtering, and deeper industry analysis across agencies, vendors, and annual trends.
Continue from this last 10 years view into full FPDS Query workflows with deeper filtering, custom SQL, saved queries, and broader market comparison.