TL;DR: We analyzed 5,753 federal contract awards with disclosed values. Nearly 70% fall between $25,000 and $500,000 — the sweet spot for small businesses. The median award is $72,900. Browse open tenders to find contracts in your value range.

One of the most common questions from businesses considering government contracting is: "How much are these contracts actually worth?" We analyzed 5,753 federal contract awards with disclosed values tracked by GovBid to find out.

Here's what the data shows.

The Headlines

Median contract value: ~$130,000 (across both Canada and the US)
75% of contracts are under $500,000
The most common bracket: $25,000 - $100,000 (38% of all awards)
Canada median: $136,311 | US median: $129,733

These aren't averages — we use medians because a few massive billion-dollar defence contracts would skew the average to an unrealistic number. The median tells you what a typical contract is worth.

Value Distribution: Where Most Contracts Fall

Here's how 5,753 federal contract awards break down by value bracket:

Value Bracket	Number of Awards	% of Total
Under $25,000	399	6.9%
$25,000 - $100,000	2,195	38.2%
$100,000 - $500,000	1,750	30.4%
$500,000 - $1,000,000	384	6.7%
$1,000,000 - $5,000,000	476	8.3%
$5,000,000 - $10,000,000	132	2.3%
Over $10,000,000	417	7.2%

The sweet spot for small businesses is $25K to $500K — that's where 68.6% of all federal contracts land. These are large enough to be meaningful revenue but small enough that large corporations often don't bother competing.

Canada vs. United States

Metric	Canada	United States
Awards analyzed	543	5,081
Median value	$136,311	$129,733
25th percentile	$32,127	$42,000
75th percentile	$774,608	$400,000
Average (excl. outliers)	$1,389,219	$2,405,061

Canadian and US federal contracts have remarkably similar median values — around $130K. The 75th percentile differs more: Canadian contracts that exceed the median tend to be larger ($775K vs $400K at the 75th percentile), suggesting a wider spread in Canadian award sizes.

The average is much higher than the median in both countries, which tells you a few very large contracts pull the average up. The median is the more useful number for a small business planning its pipeline.

What This Means for Small Businesses

The $25K - $500K Opportunity

Nearly 70% of federal contracts fall between $25,000 and $500,000. This is the zone where:

Large contractors often don't compete — the profit doesn't justify their overhead
Small business set-asides are common — the US government is required to direct a percentage of contracts to small businesses
You can win with a lean team — these contracts often don't require massive staff or capital
The competition is manageable — you might be competing against 3-10 firms, not 50

Contracts Under $25K: Micro-Purchase Threshold

The 399 contracts under $25,000 in our dataset represent a special category. Under the US micro-purchase threshold ($15,000 as of October 2025, or $25,000 for some categories), the government can purchase directly without a formal solicitation process. These are quick wins but hard to find since they often aren't posted publicly.

The $1M+ Contracts

About 18% of awards exceed $1 million. These typically require:

Past performance on similar-size contracts
More extensive technical capabilities
Larger bonding capacity (especially for construction)
Sometimes, security clearances

Don't start here. Build your track record on smaller contracts first.

Under $500K: The Small Business Sweet Spot

Filtering to just contracts under $500,000 (where 75% of awards fall):

Country	Awards Under $500K	Median Value
Canada	367	$57,634
United States	3,977	$72,472

The typical "small business" contract is worth $58K - $72K. If you win one contract per month in this range, that's $700K - $860K in annual revenue — enough to sustain a small contracting firm.

How to Use This Data

1. Set Realistic Revenue Expectations

If you're new to government contracting, plan your first year around winning 2-4 contracts in the $25K - $100K range. That's $50K - $400K — not a replacement for all your revenue, but a meaningful diversification.

2. Price Your Bids Accordingly

Knowing the median contract value in your industry helps you calibrate your pricing. If the median in your sector is $130K and you're bidding $500K, you're either misunderstanding the scope or pricing yourself out.

3. Build a Pipeline

Government contracting works best as a pipeline, not a one-off. Track open opportunities, upcoming deadlines, and past wins. Aim to have 5-10 opportunities in your pipeline at any time.

4. Target the Right Size

Match your capabilities to the right contract size:

Solo consultant / micro-business: $10K - $100K contracts
Small firm (5-20 employees): $50K - $500K contracts
Growing firm (20-50 employees): $250K - $5M contracts

Where to Find These Contracts

All the awards in this analysis come from two sources:

Canadian federal tenders — from CanadaBuys
US federal tenders — from SAM.gov

You can browse current open tenders across both countries on our tenders page, or see live statistics on our procurement insights dashboard.

Methodology

This analysis is based on 5,753 federal contract awards tracked by GovBid where the contract value was publicly disclosed and greater than zero. We excluded awards with contract values over $100 million from median and average calculations to prevent extreme outliers from distorting the typical contract picture. The data includes awards from both CanadaBuys and SAM.gov.

Not all contract awards disclose their value. The actual number of federal contracts awarded is higher than what's captured here, but this dataset represents a useful cross-section of publicly disclosed awards.

How Much Are Government Contracts Worth? Analysis of 5,700+ Federal Awards