BJS Maps $302M in 2025 JAG Funding Across States and 1,649 Local Governments
The Bureau of Justice Statistics' new technical report shows how approximately $302 million in fiscal year 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funding was allocated across states, territories and local governments, including the formula rules that determine who receives direct local awards.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released its 2025 Justice Assistance Grant technical report, providing a national map of how the federal government's largest formula-based justice funding program distributed money across state and local systems. The report is especially relevant to corrections, community corrections, courts, treatment, planning and justice technology because those are among the statutory program areas JAG funds may support.
The 2025 JAG allocation totaled $302.0 million
BJS reports that $302,044,088 was available for FY2025 JAG formula awards. Approximately $295.5 million was allocated through the 50 states, with the remaining $6.5 million going to the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
For the state allocations, federal law initially divides each state's total 60% to the state government and 40% for local governments. Across the 50 states, that produced an initial split of about $177.3 million for state governments and $118.2 million reserved for local governments.
The local-award calculation did not ultimately send all $118.2 million directly to local governments. BJS found that 1,649 local governments were eligible for approximately $96.4 million. The remaining $21.8 million in unawarded local allocations was returned to state governments for redistribution to state law-enforcement agencies and local governments.
California, Texas and Florida led state allocations
The five largest total FY2025 state allocations identified by BJS were California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. Together, those states accounted for more than $103 million of the amount allocated through the 50 states.
- California — $33.7 million230 local governments were eligible for direct or joint awards.
- Texas — $25.4 million101 local governments were eligible for direct or joint awards.
- Florida — $18.1 million119 local governments were eligible for direct or joint awards.
- New York — $15.5 million29 local governments were eligible for direct or joint awards.
- Illinois — $11.0 million48 local governments were eligible for direct or joint awards.
California, Florida and Texas were the only states with at least 100 local governments eligible to receive funds directly or through a shared award. BJS counted 230 in California, 119 in Florida and 101 in Texas.
New York City led local eligibility at $4.1 million
Local allocations are not simply divided by population. BJS calculates each eligible jurisdiction's share using reported violent-crime data, subject to statutory eligibility rules and a $10,000 minimum direct-award threshold.
- New York City — $4.1 millionLargest local-government award identified in the FY2025 report.
- Los Angeles — $2.2 millionSecond-largest local allocation identified by BJS.
- Houston — $2.1 millionThird-largest local allocation identified by BJS.
- Philadelphia — $1.9 millionFourth-largest local allocation identified by BJS.
- Chicago — $1.8 millionFifth-largest local allocation identified by BJS.
A jurisdiction whose calculated local allocation is below $10,000 does not receive that amount as a direct award. Those funds are transferred to the state administering agency for redistribution. The report also explains how counties and municipalities may be required to share awards when statutory disparity rules apply.
The formula combines population, violent crime and a statutory minimum
BJS describes a four-step process. First, half of the available funding is allocated according to each state's share of violent crime and half according to its share of the national population. Second, the formula applies a statutory minimum allocation equal to 0.25% of the total JAG allocation. For FY2025, that minimum was approximately $755,110.
Third, each state's final allocation is divided 60% for the state government and 40% for local governments. Fourth, BJS calculates local eligibility based on each jurisdiction's proportion of the state's qualifying three-year violent-crime average.
- Step 1 — State formulaHalf of the pool is based on violent crime and half on population.
- Step 2 — Minimum allocationStates and territories are protected by the statutory de minimis amount, subject to the statutory exception for American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Step 3 — State/local splitFor the 50 states, 60% is retained for the state government and 40% is reserved for local governments.
- Step 4 — Local calculationLocal shares are based on qualifying reported violent-crime data and must reach the $10,000 direct-award threshold.
North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming received only the minimum state allocation in the FY2025 calculations. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands also received the minimum allocation, while American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands split one minimum award as required by statute.
JAG reaches corrections, community corrections, treatment and technology
The JAG program is broader than law-enforcement funding. The BJS report identifies seven statutory program areas: law enforcement; prosecution and courts; prevention and education; corrections and community corrections; drug treatment; planning, evaluation and technology improvement; and crime-victim and witness programs.
That breadth matters when reading the allocation tables. A state's or locality's JAG amount is not a line-item commitment to one service. The formula determines the jurisdictional funding amount; the administering government then uses the award within authorized JAG program areas and applicable federal requirements.
The report also documents a continuing crime-data transition issue
The allocation methodology contains an important data caveat. BJS used 2024 Census population estimates but relied on 2018–2020 state-level violent-crime estimates for the state formula. BJS says the transition to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System beginning in 2021 produced gaps in reporting coverage that affected the completeness of newer state-level crime data.
To maintain consistency in the state calculations, BJS used the last available complete set of state violent-crime estimates. For local allocations, BJS processed local Uniform Crime Reporting data from 2014 through 2023 and prioritizes complete reporting years when selecting the three years used in the local calculation.
This means the FY2025 allocation results combine current population estimates with older state-level crime estimates and jurisdiction-specific local reporting histories. BJS presents those methodological choices directly in the report rather than treating the allocation table as a simple current-year population ranking.
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Explore Find Services →Editorial note: OACRA News & Policy Review is published by OACRA LLC, an independent private organization. OACRA is not a government agency and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Bureau of Justice Assistance or the U.S. Department of Justice. Allocation figures and methodology in this report are based on BJS publication NCJ 311867 and its accompanying FY2025 data tables, reviewed October 8, 2026. The October 2026 BJS report documents FY2025 formula calculations and should not be interpreted as a newly opened FY2026 solicitation or as evidence of a specific downstream procurement.
