Florida Defense Industry

Federal spending on Florida defense contracts and payroll totaled more than $32.2 billion in federal fiscal year 2023, ranking Florida fourth among states, according to the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR).

EDR's Analysis of Florida's Defense Incentives and Industry, covering state fiscal years 2020-21 through 2022-23, draws that figure from the Department of Defense's report on defense spending by state for fiscal year 2023 (EDR defense incentives and industry report). It also counts 20 major military installations in Florida and describes the state as home to some of the largest defense contractors in the country.

EDR calls the latest contract level significantly higher than in its previous reports. Defense contracts to Florida-based companies over the latest review period amounted to more than $46.5 billion, against $39.8 billion analyzed in the 2021 report and $30.0 billion in the 2018 report (EDR). EDR's contract data come from USASpending.gov, which the report calls the official source for U.S. Government contracts, and EDR notes that it did not independently audit them. The report adds that Florida's defense contracts are concentrated in aerospace manufacturing, whose firms have larger economic multipliers than the average Florida company.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, line by line against EDR's three-year defense incentive review, sections 288.980 and 288.987 of the Florida Statutes, and the BLS 2025 QCEW files for national security, guided missile and navigation instrument employers.

EDR's statewide model credits Department of Defense contracts and grants with an annual average of about $28.5 billion in real Florida GDP and 47,644 jobs a year over fiscal years 2020 to 2022.

EDR ran the model by removing spending tied to Department of Defense contracts and grants at the Florida industry level and to military base procurement contracts and grants (EDR Statewide Model results). The contracts amounted to about 0.916 percent of Florida's total GDP and 0.915 percent of real disposable personal income.

EDR describes the analysis as the impact of Department of Defense contracts and grants on the state. It assumes the relevant geographic region is the whole state, not individual counties or regions (EDR key assumptions).

In 2025 federal payroll data, Florida's federal national security employers counted 28,253 jobs, guided missile and space vehicle makers 14,850 and search, detection and navigation instrument makers 13,578.

The national security line is federal government employment, while the manufacturing lines are private employers; all come from the 2025 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages file for Florida (BLS QCEW 2025, Florida). Of the five codes in the table, guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing pays the most on average at $140,455 a year. The table groups employers by industry code, not by contract, so it does not show which of these jobs serve military customers.

Okaloosa County has the most federal national security jobs in Florida at 7,041, while Brevard County has 7,530 of the state's 14,850 guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing jobs.

In the 2025 QCEW file for federal national security employment, Okaloosa County counts 7,041 jobs, followed by Duval County at 5,910, Bay County at 2,776, Hillsborough County at 2,590, Orange County at 2,359, Escambia County at 2,109, Brevard County at 1,992 and Miami-Dade County at 1,165 (BLS QCEW 928110 by county). Average federal pay in Okaloosa County was $106,521.

Among counties with published job counts, private manufacturing in these codes is largest in Brevard County. Brevard County had 7,530 of Florida's 14,850 guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing jobs in 2025, at $140,148 average pay (BLS QCEW 336414). Among counties with published counts, Brevard also leads in search, detection and navigation instruments with 6,404 jobs, followed by Pinellas County with 3,079 and Orange County with 558 (BLS QCEW 334511). EDR notes that the 1993 base closure round cost Florida four installations: Naval Aviation Depot Pensacola, Naval Aviation Station Cecil Field Jacksonville, Naval Training Center Orlando and Homestead Air Force Base (EDR).

Florida's Military Base Protection Program, set out in section 288.980 of the Florida Statutes, funds local projects meant to keep bases valuable to the military and to buffer them from incompatible development.

The statute finds that encroachment, the incompatible use of land next to an installation, threatens current and future missions, and lists securing nonconservation lands as buffers among the program's functions (section 288.980, Florida Statutes). The Florida Defense Infrastructure Grant Program supports local infrastructure projects with a positive effect on military value, and may pay for studies, plans, construction, land purchases and easements, but not staff salaries. Applicants must represent a local government with a military installation and agree to match at least 30 percent of a grant.

EDR reports that the Military Base Protection Grant had been unfunded since 2014 and that the Defense Infrastructure Grant Program was not funded for FY 2025-26 (EDR). EDR found a return on investment not possible for these grants, given the conjectural nature of the program's mission, and notes there has not been a base realignment and closure round since 2005.

Section 288.987 of the Florida Statutes directs the Florida Department of Commerce to establish a direct-support organization to support Florida's military and defense industries and communities, which EDR says is today referred to as the Florida Defense Support Commission.

The statute makes the organization a nonprofit corporation operating under contract with the Department of Commerce, governed by the Governor or a designee plus four members appointed by the Governor, four by the Senate President and four by the House Speaker, each serving 4-year terms (section 288.987, Florida Statutes). Appointed members must represent defense-related industries or communities that host military bases. Its stated mission includes making recommendations to preserve and protect military installations and improving the state's military-friendly environment for servicemembers, military families, retirees and base-related businesses.

EDR traces the body to the Florida Defense Support Task Force, created by the Legislature in 2011, which received $2 million a year in fiscal years 2020-21 through 2022-23 (EDR). Defense manufacturers also benefit from a sales tax exemption, first created in 1997, for machinery and equipment used to produce semiconductor, defense or space technology products; EDR judged it too small to estimate a return on investment and noted that many of the businesses granted the exemption are federal contractors.