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Market snapshot as of September 22nd, 2026

What the federal contract market looks like today

Every open opportunity in the SAM.gov Contract Opportunities extract, counted this morning. Open means still listed and still biddable — notices whose response deadline has passed are excluded, even where SAM.gov still flags them active.

25,084

open opportunities

5,837

closing within 7 days

23% of the market

2,594

new since yesterday

22

days median response window

posted to deadline

How long is left to respond

Of 25,084 open notices, 5,837 close inside a week. Federal windows are short, and a solicitation found late is one you cannot bid. "No deadline stated" is its own bar rather than folded in with the far-off ones — the feed simply gives no date for those.

Closing within 7 days5,837 · 23.3%Closing in 8 to 30 days4,693 · 18.7%More than 30 days away3,745 · 14.9%No deadline stated10,809 · 43.1%

Notice types

What stage the open market is at.

Award Notice6,792 · 27.1%Combined Synopsis/Solicitation5,867 · 23.4%Solicitation4,241 · 16.9%Special Notice3,222 · 12.8%Presolicitation2,943 · 11.7%Sources Sought988 · 3.9%Justification877 · 3.5%Justification and Approval (J&A)81 · 0.3%Modification/Amendment/Cancel54 · 0.2%Consolidate/(Substantially) Bundle10 · 0.0%Sale of Surplus Property9 · 0.0%

Set-asides

Of the 9,343 open notices that state a set-aside — 37% of the market. The rest state none.

Small Business Set Aside - Total5,302 · 56.7%No Set aside used2,423 · 25.9%Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)795 · 8.5%SBA Certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program Set-Aside (FAR 19.15)308 · 3.3%8(a) Set-Aside (FAR 19.8)164 · 1.8%Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) Set-Aside (FAR 19.13)112 · 1.2%8(a) Sole Source (FAR 19.8)67 · 0.7%Small Business Set Aside - Partial46 · 0.5%Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise36 · 0.4%Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Sole Source (FAR 19.14)35 · 0.4%Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business20 · 0.2%Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside (specific to Department of Veterans Affairs)12 · 0.1%Buy Indian Set-Aside (specific to Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Services)6 · 0.1%Historically Underutilized Business (HUBZone) Sole Source (FAR 19.13)5 · 0.1%Indian Economic Enterprise5 · 0.1%

Who is buying

Top 15 departments and agencies by open notices.

DEPT OF DEFENSE18,604 · 74.2%VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF1,555 · 6.2%INTERIOR, DEPARTMENT OF THE1,032 · 4.1%AGRICULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF604 · 2.4%HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF525 · 2.1%JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF463 · 1.8%GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION424 · 1.7%HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF334 · 1.3%TRANSPORTATION, DEPARTMENT OF258 · 1.0%STATE, DEPARTMENT OF239 · 1.0%ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF226 · 0.9%COMMERCE, DEPARTMENT OF142 · 0.6%NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION126 · 0.5%ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY102 · 0.4%TREASURY, DEPARTMENT OF THE41 · 0.2%

Top NAICS codes

The industry codes with the most open work.

541715 · Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)1,211 · 4.8%336413 · Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing1,138 · 4.5%236220 · Commercial and Institutional Building Construction926 · 3.7%541330 · Engineering Services486 · 1.9%332510 · Hardware Manufacturing477 · 1.9%336412 · Aircraft Engine and Engine Parts Manufacturing422 · 1.7%237990 · Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction415 · 1.7%332722 · Bolt, Nut, Screw, Rivet, and Washer Manufacturing396 · 1.6%332911 · Industrial Valve Manufacturing366 · 1.5%336611 · Ship Building and Repairing322 · 1.3%334417 · Electronic Connector Manufacturing293 · 1.2%333998 · All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing288 · 1.1%238220 · Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors268 · 1.1%325412 · Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing267 · 1.1%334419 · Other Electronic Component Manufacturing260 · 1.0%

Where the work is

Of the 7,704 open notices that state a place of performance — 31% of the market. Free-text locations are excluded rather than guessed at.

VA583 · 7.6%MD526 · 6.8%CA499 · 6.5%TX436 · 5.7%DC430 · 5.6%FL379 · 4.9%NY269 · 3.5%NC245 · 3.2%SC241 · 3.1%WA229 · 3.0%PA214 · 2.8%OH211 · 2.7%OK207 · 2.7%LA199 · 2.6%CO196 · 2.5%

Award sizes

Bucketed at the FAR thresholds, not averaged — the distribution is far too skewed for a mean to mean anything. Covers open notices that carry an award value.

Under $10k75
$10k-250k3,353
$250k-1M1,686
$1M-10M951
$10M+753

Go deeper

Every code, agency and state below has its own page: what is open there now, who is buying, which set-asides apply and how much of it closes this week. The NAICS reference explains what the codes themselves mean.

By NAICS code

  • 541715 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) · 1,211 open
  • 336413 — Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing · 1,138 open
  • 236220 — Commercial and Institutional Building Construction · 926 open
  • 541330 — Engineering Services · 486 open
  • 332510 — Hardware Manufacturing · 477 open
  • 336412 — Aircraft Engine and Engine Parts Manufacturing · 422 open
  • 237990 — Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction · 415 open
  • 332722 — Bolt, Nut, Screw, Rivet, and Washer Manufacturing · 396 open
  • 332911 — Industrial Valve Manufacturing · 366 open
  • 336611 — Ship Building and Repairing · 322 open
  • 334417 — Electronic Connector Manufacturing · 293 open
  • 333998 — All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing · 288 open

What every NAICS code means

By agency

Every agency with open work

Counted on September 22nd, 2026 from the public SAM.gov Contract Opportunities extract, which we refresh daily and which can lag SAM.gov. Always verify a notice and its deadline at the source. See the FAQ for what the notice types and set-asides mean.

Listings are reproduced from the public SAM.gov Contract Opportunities data extract. Accuracy is not guaranteed — always verify a notice and its deadline on SAM.gov. Not affiliated with SAM.gov or any U.S. government agency.