PlainSpending

Arlington County

$95,369 per resident in FY2025 ($22.8B total) - high intensity.

Virginia · FIPS 51013

In FY2025, Arlington County in Virginia posted a dense absolute book of $22.8B ($95,369 per capita across 238,643 residents). That is 509.5% above the national average and 284.4% above the Virginia average. Department of Defense leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #2 of 133.

Total spending
$22.8B
Per capita
$95,369
vs. national avg
+509.5%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $95,369 puts Arlington County at #14 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Arlington County posts top-1% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Department of Defense, among several agencies.

National per-capita rank
Top 1%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$95,369
Leading agency
Department of Defense
45.7% of tracked spending
Virginia rank
#2 of 133

How Arlington County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Arlington County vs. Virginia and the nation

Arlington County$95,369Virginia avg$24,807National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

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

Department of Defense$8.0BDepartment of Health and Hum…$8.0BGeneral Services Administrat…$1.6B
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Defense is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 2.6% 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 $17.5B (77%) 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 $8.0B 45.7%
Department of Health and Human Services $8.0B 45.4%
General Services Administration $1.6B 8.9%

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

all US counties, per-capita spending, bucketed by value

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 and 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

The 15 largest-population counties in Virginia by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Arlington County is highlighted. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 15 entities by Population (X) and Spending per capita ($) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Large and spending-intensiveSmall population, outsized spendingLarge population, modest per-residentSmaller footprint both ways 0500,0001,000,0001,500,000 $0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000$250,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Virginia by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Arlington County is highlighted.
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

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Arlington County's $95,369 - prioritizing Virginia peers first.

Fairfax City

Virginia

$48,114 per capita

$1.2B total

Fairfax County

Virginia

$41,553 per capita

$47.8B total

Newport News City

Virginia

$33,747 per capita

$6.3B total

King George County

Virginia

$32,026 per capita

$855.8M total

Virginia Beach City

Virginia

$25,372 per capita

$11.7B total

Compare states side-by-side in the compare tool →

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Virginia - per-resident intensity and total obligation volume, distinct from the same-state neighbors above.

Similar per-capita spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by federal spending per resident ($95,369 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($22.8B here).

Counties with fewer than 10,000 residents are excluded from the nationwide comparison corpus.

Data Source: USASpending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury), Fiscal Year 2025. Population denominators are U.S. Census Bureau vintage estimates. County-level spending includes all federal awards with place of performance in this county; OMB budget categorizations are reflected at the agency level.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.

Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →