Arlington County
$22.8B in FY2025 federal spending, $95,369 per capita.
Virginia · FIPS 51013
In FY2025, Arlington County in Virginia received $22.8B in federal spending - $95,369 per capita for a population of 238,643. This is 509.5% above the national average and 284.4% above the Virginia average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of Defense. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #2 of 133 Virginia counties.
- Total spending
- $22.8B
- Per capita
- $95,369
- vs. national avg
- +509.5%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Arlington County posts top-1% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Defense.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 1%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $95,369
- Leading agency
- Department of Defense
- 67.9% of tracked spending
- Virginia rank
- #2 of 133
How Arlington County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Arlington County vs. Virginia and the nation
Population: 238,643 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Arlington County
Top awarding agencies in Arlington County, FY2025
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Defense is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 6.4% of agency-tracked counties nationally -- often a sign of a single large federal facility rather than broad-based spending.
These 3 agencies together account for $9.2B (40.6%) of Arlington County's $22.8B in total tracked federal spending -- the remainder is spread across smaller awarding agencies not individually broken out in this dataset.
All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Arlington County has no smaller residual awarding agencies broken out beyond this set, a compact agency footprint rather than a long tail of minor awardees.
Read the agency breakdown as a table
| Agency | Spending | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | $6.3B | 67.9% |
| General Services Administration | $1.8B | 19.9% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1.1B | 12.2% |
How Arlington County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$95,369 Top 1% higher than 99% of 3,224 US counties
Each bar is a $1K-wide band; taller bars hold more US counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates
Arlington County Among Virginia's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Virginia's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County | 1,150,309 | $41,553 | $47.8B |
| Prince William County | 482,204 | $11,352 | $5.5B |
| Virginia Beach City | 459,470 | $25,372 | $11.7B |
| Loudoun County | 420,959 | $12,636 | $5.3B |
| Chesterfield County | 364,548 | $7,050 | $2.6B |
| Henrico County | 334,389 | $8,031 | $2.7B |
| Chesapeake City | 249,422 | $10,154 | $2.5B |
| Arlington County (this county) | 238,643 | $95,369 | $22.8B |
| Norfolk City | 238,005 | $21,250 | $5.1B |
| Richmond City | 226,610 | $12,465 | $2.8B |
| Newport News City | 186,247 | $33,747 | $6.3B |
| Alexandria City | 159,467 | $24,766 | $3.9B |
| Stafford County | 156,927 | $11,248 | $1.8B |
| Spotsylvania County | 140,032 | $227,738 | $31.9B |
| Hampton City | 137,148 | $15,549 | $2.1B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Arlington County's $95,369 - prioritizing Virginia peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Arlington County, Virginia receive?
How does Arlington County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Arlington County, Virginia?
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.
Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →
Every figure on PlainSpending is computed directly from USASpending.gov award-transaction data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every federal award with a place-of-performance in this county, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.