Funding granted to researchers by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) powered $94.58 billion in economic activity across the U.S. in 2024, according to an annual report published March 11 by biomedical research advocacy organization United for Medical Research. The number was a $1.68 billion increase from the prior year.
The economic boost amounted to a "powerful return on investment" of $2.56 for every $1 of research funding spent by the NIH, per the report, an increase from 2023’s figure of $2.46.
NIH funding boosted local economies in various ways, the report explained, because researchers need to purchase supplies for their work and spend their salaries at businesses near where they live.
“There is no better investment than one that saves lives, supports local economies and drives America’s global leadership in biomedical innovation,” Caitlin Leach, president of the UMR, said in a March 11 release. “When Congress invests strongly and consistently in the NIH, all three of those things happen.”
The analysis was conducted by economic analyst Ronald Horst, Ph.D., of Inforum, using a regional economic model (PDF) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The Regional Input-Output Modeling System seeks to assist economic researchers in determining how projects "ripple" throughout local communities to generate economic activity, according to the BEA.
NIH funding supported more than 400,000 jobs across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to the report. In this category, some of the biggest employment beneficiaries were California with more than 55,000 supported jobs, Texas and New York with more than 30,000 each, and Pennsylvania and North Carolina with more than 21,000 each.
The agency’s total budget for 2024 was $47.35 billion, according to the report, an increase of $17 billion since 2015. The NIH poured about 78% of that total, $36.94 billion, into local economies through research grants.
The report comes at a chaotic time at the NIH and other federal health agencies. NIH leaders—including former Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.—have departed amid mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services. The Trump administration has also made numerous attempts to halt or cancel grants from the NIH, defying court orders for the funding to be paid out.
“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 in the release. “Such moves jeopardize lives, local communities and U.S. industries.”
NIH research is also critical for the health of the biotech industry. A 2023 analysis found that the NIH spent $187 billion in funding toward research that contributed to the approval of 354 drugs between 2010 and 2019.