Biggest Lobbying Firms by Revenue 2025: Top 10 Ranked

Ballard Partners was the biggest lobbying firm in the United States in 2025, with $88.2 million in federal lobbying revenue, according to Bloomberg Government. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck ($73.9 million), BGR Government Affairs ($71.2 million), Akin Gump ($65.4 million) and Cornerstone Government Affairs ($55.8 million) rounded out the top five in a record year for the industry.

Part of EPR's Government Relations and Lobbying section. For firm profiles and how modern lobbying firms operate, see Top Lobbying Firms 2026: The Directory.

Which are the biggest lobbying firms by revenue in 2025?

The ten largest federal lobbying firms by reported 2025 lobbying revenue are below. Revenue here means income the firm reported from lobbying clients under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, not the firm's total revenue.

A second filings-based ranking from Legis1 shows the same top four in the same order, with Ballard at $88.4 million, so the order at the top is not in dispute. Small dollar differences between rankings come from how filings and amendments are counted. Squire Patton Boggs, one of the largest law firms in the world, ranks 19th on that list at $23.5 million, a reminder that lobbying revenue is a small slice of a global firm's total.

What changed at the top?

Ballard Partners took first place from Brownstein Hyatt, which was reported as the largest U.S. lobbying firm by revenue in early 2024. Ballard is a Tallahassee-based firm with a Washington office and deep relationships with the current administration. Its growth has continued: Q1 2026 filings reportedly showed Ballard's lobbying revenue more than doubling from the same quarter a year earlier. Ballard is also the firm Anthropic retained for Pentagon AI procurement, covered in AI Lobbying Spend 2026.

How big was the lobbying firm market in 2025?

Bloomberg Government counted a record $5.3 billion in federal lobbying spending in 2025, while OpenSecrets put the total at about $5.08 billion. Of 360 firms in Bloomberg Government's report, 80 were designated standout firms. A LegiStorm analysis found that outside lobbying firms out-earned in-house corporate lobbying operations for the first time on record, $2.76 billion to $2.46 billion. Republican-leaning firms posted a 23 percent revenue increase against 2.8 percent for Democratic-leaning firms.

The fifty largest firms together reported about $1.29 billion in 2025 lobbying revenue, from $88.4 million at the top of that table to $10.4 million at number 50, per Legis1.

How are lobbying firms ranked?

Rankings are built from the quarterly reports lobbyists file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate. Each filing lists the registrant, client, named lobbyists, issues and the amount reported. Aggregators then add those amounts by firm. Three limits matter when you read any ranking:

• Revenue counts only registered lobbying. Law firms such as Akin Gump and Holland & Knight earn far more in total than their lobbying line shows.
• Filings are amended, so totals shift slightly between publishers.
• Unregistered advocacy, communications and grassroots work is not in the number.

For a closer look at what these firms actually do for clients, from hearing preparation to coalition building, see The Coalition, Lobbying and Earned Media Triangle and K Street's Power Structure in 2026.

Which firms do foreign governments hire?

Several of the firms above also represent foreign governments, which requires registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. EPR maps those engagements in the FARA guide, including the Qatar, Saudi Arabia and China lobbying maps.

Is revenue the same as influence or AI visibility?

No. Revenue shows who is paid the most, not who AI engines name when buyers ask for a recommendation. EPR tracks the second measure separately in the Lobbying Firm Citation Share Index 2026. The organizations that pay these firms are ranked in Biggest Lobbying Groups in the US.

Sources: Bloomberg Government, Top 10 Federal Lobbying Firms (2025 filings); Legis1 Top Lobbying Firms 2025 ranking; The Hill and LegiStorm analysis, May 2026. Revenue is reported lobbying income and may change as filings are amended.