Sources and method

Where the numbers come from

Source

Every award comes from USAspending.gov, the official source of U.S. federal spending data run by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through its public API (/api/v2/search/spending_by_award/, no key). Federal government data is in the public domain. Where It Lands is independent: it is not a government site and is not affiliated with USAspending.gov, the Treasury, any federal agency or any Ohio county.

What counts as “new”

An award appears when its first obligation date (USAspending’s “new awards only” filter) falls in the window read. Each read asks for the last 21 days, county by county, for contracts (award types A–D: definitive contracts, purchase orders, delivery orders, BPA calls) and grants (types 02–05: block, formula, project and cooperative agreements). Loans, direct payments and assistance awarded to individuals are not read. Contracts can go to sole proprietors, who appear under the name the federal record gives.

Where “in a county” means

The county is the award’s place of performance, where the work is done, as the agency recorded it. That is not always where the recipient is based: a contractor from another state can do work in Cuyahoga County, and an Ohio university’s grant can be performed elsewhere.

Amounts

The amount is USAspending’s “Award Amount” at the time of the last read: for contracts, the amount obligated so far; for grants, the federal obligation. Agencies amend awards, so amounts can rise or fall later; each read updates the awards it sees again. A negative amount is a de-obligation as recorded.

Timing

Agencies report late. Contracts usually reach USAspending within a few days of signing; grants can take several weeks. That is why the last days of any window look thin, and why each read looks back three weeks. The site reads twice a day (about 5:40 and 17:40 Eastern).

Words

Recipient names, agency names and descriptions are copied exactly as the federal record has them (often in capitals). Long descriptions are cut at 400 characters; the full record is one click away. Nothing is summarised, rewritten or written by AI.

The map

One dot per county, placed at the county’s internal point from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 Gazetteer. Dot area is proportional to the county’s new award dollars in the last 30 days. The state outline is drawn by hand and approximate.

Type

Set in Archivo and Azeret Mono, both under the SIL Open Font License; the license and copyright notices ship with the fonts (OFL.txt).