A common mistake small businesses make is assuming they cannot benefit from a GSA Schedule unless they are located in the Washington DC-Arlington-Alexandria corridor. Many believe GSA opportunities are limited to the Beltway.
The reality is that GSA Schedule sales happen nationwide. Depending on your industry, certain cities become strong “hot pockets” for federal purchasing. Today, we examine the 25 metropolitan areas with over 20,000 federal employees — these are the cities you must explore if you want to maximize your GSA Schedule potential.
When analyzing GSA Schedule sales by city for small businesses, Washington DC is not the top performer. Huntsville, Alabama takes the lead with over 2.5× the small business sales of DC. NASA’s strong preference for using GSA Schedules in Huntsville drives this impressive performance.
Check if your city appears in this ranking of GSA Schedule sales. If it does, obtaining a GSA Schedule could open a significant new revenue opportunity for your small business in 2026. You can explore available GSA Schedules and contracts details on the official GSA eLibrary.
GSA Schedule Sales by City: Top 25 Markets in 2026
| # | Metropolitan Area (CBSA) | Fed. Employees (Est.) | Primary Agencies / Hubs | Small Businesses Sales | Vendors | Avg Small Business GSA Sales |
| 1 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD | 489,000 | Every major Agency HQ, Pentagon, CIA, NIH. | 562,890,000 | 361 | 1,559,252 |
| 2 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 71,400 | VA, DHS (Customs), IRS, Social Security. | 86,890,000 | 87 | 998,736 |
| 3 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 56,200 | Navy (World’s largest naval base), DoD. | 259,160,000 | 97 | 2,671,753 |
| 4 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 53,100 | Navy, DHS (Border Patrol), Marine Corps. | 153,480,000 | 99 | 1,550,303 |
| 5 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 49,500 | Air Force (Lackland), Army (Ft. Sam Houston). | 176,390,000 | 125 | 1,411,120 |
| 6 | Baltimore-Columbia, MD | 46,800 | Social Security (HQ), CMS, NSA. | 356,510,000 | 188 | 1,896,330 |
| 7 | Atlanta-Alpharetta, GA | 45,200 | CDC (HQ), IRS, FAA. | 172,950,000 | 138 | 1,253,261 |
| 8 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE | 43,100 | Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), IRS, VA. | 24,550,000 | 41 | 598,780 |
| 9 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 42,400 | VA, DHS, TSA, FAA. | 14,270,000 | 52 | 274,423 |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 39,600 | Federal Center, NOAA, USGS, Air Force. | 39,750,000 | 75 | 530,000 |
| 11 | Oklahoma City, OK | 38,200 | FAA (Monroney Center), Tinker AFB. | 22,400,000 | 18 | 1,244,444 |
| 12 | Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN | 37,100 | Regional Agency Hubs, VA, TSA. | 42,730,000 | 79 | 540,886 |
| 13 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 36,400 | IRS, EPA Regional HQ, FAA. | 66,060,000 | 70 | 943,714 |
| 14 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 34,200 | Navy (Puget Sound), VA, FAA. | 23,280,000 | 27 | 862,222 |
| 15 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 32,100 | VA, DHS (Border Patrol/ICE), Interior. | 124,440,000 | 71 | 1,752,676 |
| 16 | Riverside-Ontario, CA | 29,800 | March ARB, VA, Logistics. | 3,000,000 | 9 | 333,333 |
| 17 | Honolulu (Urban), HI | 28,900 | Pacific Command (DoD), Navy. | 36,210,000 | 25 | 1,448,400 |
| 18 | Huntsville, AL | 27,500 | NASA (Marshall), Army (Redstone), FBI. | 664,070,000 | 160 | 4,150,438 |
| 19 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 26,900 | NGA (Intelligence Agency), USDA. | 33,120,000 | 33 | 1,003,636 |
| 20 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 25,800 | IRS (Major Processing), GSA, USDA. | 19,700,000 | 22 | 895,455 |
| 21 | Dayton, OH | 24,100 | Wright-Patterson AFB (Major civilian employer). | 33,550,000 | 23 | 1,458,696 |
| 22 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 23,700 | VA, DOT (Volpe Center), EPA. | 28,200,000 | 26 | 1,084,615 |
| 23 | Salt Lake City, UT | 22,900 | IRS, Hill AFB, Interior. | 6,670,000 | 19 | 351,053 |
| 24 | Albuquerque, NM | 21,600 | Kirtland AFB, DOE (Sandia), Forest Service. | 68,550,000 | 39 | 1,757,692 |
| 25 | Richmond, VA | 20,400 | Defense Logistics (DLA), VA. | 1,090,000 | 14 | 77,857 |
Key Insights from This GSA Schedule Sales Analysis
- Huntsville, AL is the strongest performer in GSA Schedule sales, generating significantly more small business revenue than Washington DC thanks to NASA and Army activity.
- Several cities show higher average sales per small business vendor than DC, including Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Baltimore, Phoenix, and Albuquerque.
- Defense-heavy locations (Navy, Air Force, Army bases) consistently deliver strong results in GSA Schedule sales.
- Even mid-sized federal hubs can provide excellent opportunities when agencies prefer using GSA Schedules.
If your small business is located in or serves customers in any of these 25 cities, a GSA Schedule contract is worth serious consideration. It gives federal agencies an easy way to buy from you nationwide and can turn local federal presence into steady revenue.
