You are half right.  AK sucks down way more per person and should get more scrutiny because of it.    But here is what you missed, those same 120 towns with less than 1000 people sucking down state dollars are they same places sucking down federal dollars.  Follow the below link to the Denali Commission (federal money), pick a place you have never heard of and see the epic boondoggle. https://cf.denali.gov/dcpdb/index.cfm?nossl=true&nossl=true&fuseAction=Indicators.ShowProjectMapLink