Our research

Government work is less contested, and more hidden, than most firms assume

We analysed hundreds of thousands of public solicitations and awards. Three patterns explain why so much winnable work goes to so few bidders, and why we build our service around finding it.

01 · Competition

Competition is thinner than you think

39%

of competitively bid public contracts in one state drew two bids or fewer. 22% drew a single bid.

Source: Public authority procurement data from one US state, 2022–24

36%

of awards went to a firm with no contracts at that authority in the previous seven years.

39%

of awards went to firms based out of state.

Trades like HVAC and janitorial skew more local.

Source: Public authority procurement data from one US state, 2022–24

Single-bid rate by contract size
  • $10k–$50k 32%

    median 2 bids

  • Over $1M 9%

    median 4 bids

Source: Public authority procurement data from one US state, 2022–24

Single-bid awards when agencies actively reached more vendors
  • Standard solicitation 27%
  • Active outreach to minority- and women-owned firms 17%

This suggests visibility, not capability, may be what limits competition.

Source: Public authority procurement data from one US state, 2022–24

What it means for you: the smaller contracts most firms ignore are the least contested, and agencies regularly award to newcomers and out-of-state firms.

02 · Market structure

Many niches have no dominant player

Across trades and professional services alike, from electrical work and painting to website design and grant writing, public work is often spread across dozens or hundreds of small firms. The top three winners take only a sliver. Some niches are effectively closed: in rate and fee studies, three firms take 55%.

What it means for you: we tell you which kind of market you’re in before you spend a minute on a bid.

Example niches: public awards, 2022–2025
NicheAwardsDistinct firmsTop 3 share
Website design20612714%
Executive search18910912%
Grant writing1439413%
Rate and fee studies––55%

Source: HigherGov award data, 2022–25

03 · Visibility

A huge market, scattered across thousands of portals

90,946

local governments in the US: counties, cities, school districts, and special districts. That’s before a single state agency.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025

$1.4T

spent by state and local governments buying goods and services in 2025, before construction.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2025

Every one of those buyers decides where to post its bids: its own website, a state portal, or one of dozens of e-procurement platforms, each with its own login and alerts. Many small buyers are barely findable at all.

State and local purchases of goods and services Current dollars, not inflation-adjusted
  1. $1.02T
  5. $1.41T

Up 39% in four years, before inflation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED, series W140RC1A027NBEA, 2021–2025

What it means for you: you don’t need to monitor thousands of portals. We source the opportunities across all of them and bring you only the ones that fit.

Put the research to work

We find the contracts worth your time and write the bids for you. A short call is the first step.

See if we’re a fit