Independent, reproducible measures of the federal small-business marketplace.
The Federal Marketplace Index™ tracks where federal contract dollars actually flow, how much of the marketplace mandatory small-business protections actually reach, and which way both are trending — from roughly 30 million public contract records, reconciled against the government's own published totals. Every number can be rebuilt by anyone, from public data, with the code on this site.
Where the mandatory Rule of Two applies
Share of five-year contract dollars (FY2022–FY2026) in each protection layer, across every documented socioeconomic category. The teal band — standalone awards between the micro-purchase threshold and the simplified acquisition threshold — is the only layer where small-business set-asides are mandated by statute. Everything above it rests on regulation, or on nothing.
Contract dollars by Rule of Two protection layer
The small-business supplier base is shrinking
Distinct small-business suppliers winning federal contract dollars, by fiscal year. The count fell every complete year of the window — from 62,862 in FY2022 to 56,728 in FY2025 — even as total contract spending rose. FY2026 is a partial year, shown separately and not comparable to the complete years.
Distinct small-business suppliers by fiscal year
The migration into the order channel
Share of dollars flowing through task and delivery orders, by fiscal year — all federal dollars against small business. Small-business dependence on the order channel has risen every year of the window while the overall market's share has held roughly stable. The order channel is where the mandatory Rule of Two has the weakest footing, so where the money is moving matters. Per-category detail is in the downloadable series.