The Top 25 Federal Contractors by Prime Contract Revenue (FY2025)

**Lockheed Martin** — $52.8 billion (F-35, missiles, space systems, IT)

**RTX Corporation** (Raytheon) — $28.1 billion (missiles, sensors, cybersecurity)

**General Dynamics** — $24.6 billion (IT services, submarines, combat vehicles)

**Boeing** — $21.3 billion (aircraft, satellites, autonomous systems)

**Northrop Grumman** — $19.7 billion (B-21 bomber, space, cyber)

**Humana** — $14.2 billion (TRICARE health insurance)

**L3Harris Technologies** — $12.8 billion (communications, ISR, space)

**BAE Systems** — $11.4 billion (electronic warfare, vehicles, ship repair)

**Leidos** — $10.9 billion (IT, defense, health, intelligence)

**Booz Allen Hamilton** — $9.8 billion (consulting, analytics, cyber, AI)

**SAIC** — $7.6 billion (IT, engineering, defense)

**Accenture Federal Services** — $6.3 billion (IT modernization, cloud, consulting)

**CACI International** — $6.1 billion (IT, intelligence, cyber)

**Peraton** — $5.8 billion (intelligence, space, cyber)

**ManTech (now part of Carlyle)** — $4.9 billion (IT, cyber, intelligence)

**KBR** — $4.7 billion (engineering, logistics, science)

**Amentum** — $4.5 billion (engineering, environmental, mission support)

**Maximus** — $4.2 billion (health, citizen services, IT)

**ICF International** — $3.8 billion (consulting, IT, environment)

**CGI Federal** — $3.4 billion (IT, consulting, systems integration)

**Jacobs Solutions** — $3.2 billion (engineering, environmental, cyber)

**Parsons Corporation** — $2.9 billion (defense, intelligence, infrastructure)

**DXC Technology** — $2.7 billion (IT outsourcing, cloud, enterprise)

**Serco Group** — $2.5 billion (defense, citizen services, transport)

**PAE (now Amentum)** — $2.3 billion (base operations, logistics, maintenance)

Total top 25: ~$330 billion (48.5% of all contract spending)

The Story Below the Top 25

The top 25 contractors capture roughly half of all federal contract dollars. That means $350+ billion goes to the remaining 300,000+ companies.

This is where the opportunity lives for most firms:

Mid-tier firms ($100M-$2B in federal revenue): About 500 companies. They often serve as prime contractors on mid-size work and major subcontractors on large programs. Companies like Noblis, Engility (now SAIC), Alion (now HII), and hundreds of specialized firms operate in this space.

Small businesses ($1M-$100M in federal revenue): About 50,000 active firms. The government awarded $178.3 billion to small businesses in FY2025. Many of these firms specialize in specific NAICS codes or agencies and maintain 30-40%+ win rates by focusing narrowly.

Micro firms (under $1M in federal revenue): Over 250,000 registered firms. Many are just starting in federal contracting or maintain small portfolios alongside commercial work.

How the Top Contractors Win

The patterns at the top reveal strategies that work at any scale:

Pattern 1: Portfolio Concentration

Lockheed Martin does not bid on everything. Their $52.8 billion comes primarily from 4 program areas: aeronautics (F-35), missiles and fire control, rotary/mission systems, and space. They dominate specific NAICS codes and agencies rather than spreading thin.

Your takeaway: Focus your BD on 3-5 NAICS codes where you have the strongest past performance. The [NAICS Competition Analyzer](/dashboard/naics-analyzer) shows which codes have the best opportunity-to-competition ratio for your size.

Pattern 2: Incumbent Advantage Is Real (But Not Absolute)

8 of the top 10 contractors have held their positions for over a decade. Incumbency provides enormous advantages: existing relationships, known performance, institutional knowledge. The incumbent wins the recompete 62% of the time.

But: That means 38% of the time, someone else wins. And that 38% is predictable -- incumbents with poor CPARS ratings, protest history, or scope reduction patterns lose at significantly higher rates. The [Recompete Pipeline Dashboard](/dashboard/recompete-pipeline) scores incumbent vulnerability for exactly this reason.

Pattern 3: Pricing Discipline

Top contractors do not win by being cheapest. They win by understanding the pricing envelope precisely. Lockheed Martin's F-35 unit cost has decreased 15% over 7 production lots -- not by cutting corners, but by achieving production efficiencies that hit price targets the government set years in advance.

Your takeaway: Know what the government pays for your type of work before you bid. The [Pricing Intelligence Engine](/dashboard/pricing) shows real benchmarks by NAICS code and agency. Pricing at the 40th-60th percentile of historical awards on best-value evaluations is the sweet spot.

Pattern 4: Set-Asides Create Protected Markets

The government's 23% small business goal creates a protected market worth $178 billion. Within that market, further set-asides (8a, SDVOSB, HUBZone, WOSB) create sub-markets where competition is even more limited.

A SDVOSB firm competing for facilities management (561210) at VA faces perhaps 30-50 competitors. A large business competing for the same work at DOD faces 500+. The economics of set-asides dramatically favor qualified small businesses.

The Individual Contractor Question

When people ask "who is the highest paid government contractor?" they sometimes mean individual employees or consultants, not companies. The answer varies dramatically:

Government contract labor rates (loaded, what the government pays the company):

Help Desk / Tier 1 Support: $42-72/hr (median $58)

Systems Administrator: $85-138/hr (median $112)

Software Developer: $105-178/hr (median $142)

Cybersecurity Engineer: $125-210/hr (median $168)

Cloud Architect: $145-255/hr (median $195)

Data Scientist / AI Engineer: $140-260/hr (median $192)

Program Manager (senior): $160-280/hr (median $210)

These are loaded rates (including salary, benefits, overhead, G&A, and profit). The individual employee typically receives 45-55% of the loaded rate as salary.

The [Pricing Intelligence Engine](/dashboard/pricing) provides current rate benchmarks by NAICS code and agency so you can see where your rates fall relative to the competitive median.

The Bottom Line

Lockheed Martin is the highest-paid federal contractor at $52.8 billion in FY2025 prime contract revenue. The top 25 capture about half of all federal spending.

But the real opportunity is in the other half -- $350+ billion shared among 300,000 firms. Within that universe, the firms that win consistently are the ones who focus on specific NAICS codes, target specific agencies, price with data, and position early on recompetes.

The data to find your opportunity exists. The question is whether you use it.

[Find your competitive position →](/search)