NIH Research Funding Drives $94.58 Billion in Economic Activity in FY 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. — United for Medical Research (UMR) released the 2025 update of its annual analysis of the economic impact of research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The analysis shows that the $36.94 billion awarded to researchers in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in FY 2024 supported 407,782 jobs and $94.58 billion in new economic activity nationwide, or $2.56 for every $1 invested.

“There is no better investment than one that saves lives, supports local economies, and drives America’s global leadership in biomedical innovation. When Congress invests strongly and consistently in the NIH, all three of those things happen,” UMR President Caitlin Leach said.

Every state benefits from NIH research funding. As NIH funding is awarded to researchers in individual states, that funding supports employment and the purchase of research-related goods, services, and materials. The income generated from these jobs and purchases cycles through the economy to produce new economic activity, benefiting local businesses.

Since FY 2015, the NIH budget has grown by more than $17 billion thanks to strong bipartisan congressional support and a commitment to making medical research a critical national priority. Over the past decade, NIH research funding has driven more than $787 billion in new economic activity and supported an average of more than 370,000 jobs a year.

“UMR is very concerned about recent actions and proposals that would result in drastic reductions in funded research, including clinical trials, and greatly diminish NIH’s effectiveness,” Leach said. “Such moves jeopardize lives, local communities, and U.S. industries. We urge Congress and the Trump Administration to work together to ensure that America’s long-standing and highly successful biomedical innovation ecosystem, which has a strong and well-funded NIH at its center, remains the envy of the world.”