MAP: See how federal cuts affect every county in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — New Yorkers face an estimated $15.8 billion drop in federal funding, according to a new tool designed to track how recent policy changes affect jobs and budgets across the state. Cornell University’s ILR Buffalo Co-Lab launched an interactive map showing the economic impacts of new federal policies targeting efficiency and domestic economic growth.

Policy changes include deregulation, tariffs to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., and budget cuts framed as increasing federal government efficiency by tackling waste, fraud, and abuse. The map tracks billions of dollars so policymakers can easily grasp the knock-on effects.

Dr. Russell Weaver, a quantitative geographer and the Director of Research at Cornell, compiled the figures. The Cornell ILR team plans to update whenever new information becomes available, perhaps in December.

They launched the current version at a press conference in Buffalo on Tuesday. The map pulls in public data to display the baseline impacts of the new economic agenda, showing lost jobs and deficits. The map is embedded below so you can take a look to see what’s happening in your county, but it displays better on Cornell’s web portal:

The total drop in federal spending committed to New York was about $15.8 billion, comparing fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025, which ended on September 30. That’s a decrease in grants, financial aid, and contract spending. Between December and March in Western New York alone, Weaver said:

• About 10,000 jobs disappeared
• 111 federal workers lost their jobs
• Grants and assistance decreased by $167 million

Federal grants and assistance in the state—money transferred to non-federal entities like nonprofits or hospitals to serve a public purpose—dropped by almost $7.6 billion from FY2024 to FY2025. Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status saw about $2.3 billion less, and higher education saw about $535 million less.

The biggest cuts in these areas hit individual New Yorkers, with federal commitments dropping by over $3.1 billion. That money would have gone to direct cash assistance programs like supplemental security income, social security disability, and veterans benefits.

Federal contract obligations for work also fell in New York, representing another $8.2 billion lost across all regions of the state. That includes over $2 billion less year over year for contracts for construction projects meeting labor requirements and wage standards.

The map indicated that federal contracts are shrinking at skilled nursing facilities, human rights organizations, apprenticeship training programs, and solar and wind energy projects. Weaver also observed heavy decreases for all types of minority- and women-owned business enterprises that traditionally got special consideration when the government bought goods and services.

Data for spending came from USASpending.gov, the public-facing federal spending database powered by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Weaver’s team compared employment numbers against the fourth quarter of 2024, before President Donald Trump returned to office. Jobs dropped through New York, with the state losing over 120,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2025.

These losses were concentrated in industries exposed to tariffs and changes in tourism. Weaver counted the biggest drops in wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, accommodation, and food service.

Specifically, federal government employment had a net loss of about 1,700 in New York in the first three months of 2025. Weaver said federal data combines all federal jobs, so it’s not possible to examine individual agencies. That means that terminations in one area are balanced by hiring initiatives in others. For example, some border counties have seen increased hiring in Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Job counts came from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a program by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that tracks over 95% of American jobs. These figures didn’t include any of the mass federal layoffs after March. Still, Weaver pointed out that the demographic most affected by those layoffs as of June was Black women, according to the data.

Weaver said federal spending trends are an early indicator of what to expect. He anticipated that fiscal years 2026 and 2027 will bring more, sharper cuts to health, social services, and research.