PlainSpending

Aurora County

$17,403 per resident in FY2025 ($47.8M total) - high intensity.

South Dakota · FIPS 46003

In FY2025, Aurora County carried a thin absolute book of $47.8M - $17,403 per capita for 2,747 residents. Intensity sits 11.2% above the national average (+34.4% vs South Dakota). Leading tracked agency: Department of Agriculture. Per-capita rank in-state: #12/66.

Total spending
$47.8M
Per capita
$17,403
vs. national avg
+11.2%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $17,403 puts Aurora County at #165 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Aurora County posts top-10% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Agriculture.

National per-capita rank
Top 6%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$17,403
Leading agency
Department of Agriculture
64.2% of tracked spending
South Dakota rank
#12 of 66

How Aurora County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Aurora County vs. South Dakota and the nation

Aurora County$17,403South Dakota avg$12,944National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 2,747 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Aurora County

Top awarding agencies in Aurora County, FY2025

Department of Agriculture$29.2MSocial Security Administrati…$13.0MDepartment of Transportation$3.3M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Agriculture is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 3.3% 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 $45.6M (95.3%) of Aurora County's $47.8M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Aurora 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 Agriculture $29.2M 64.2%
Social Security Administration $13.0M 28.6%
Department of Transportation $3.3M 7.2%

How Aurora County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$17,403 Top 6% higher than 94% 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

Aurora County Among South Dakota's Largest Counties

Population vs. per-capita spending: South Dakota's biggest counties

The 16 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Aurora County is highlighted. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 16 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 050,000100,000150,000200,000250,000 $5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Aurora County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Minnehaha County 197,214 $8,232 $1.6B
Pennington County 109,222 $11,308 $1.2B
Lincoln County 65,161 $6,414 $418.0M
Brown County 38,301 $7,602 $291.2M
Brookings County 34,375 $6,805 $233.9M
Meade County 29,852 $12,098 $361.1M
Codington County 28,325 $7,324 $207.5M
Lawrence County 25,768 $11,168 $287.8M
Yankton County 23,310 $8,007 $186.6M
Davison County 19,956 $6,820 $136.1M
Beadle County 19,149 $7,558 $144.7M
Hughes County 17,765 $22,396 $397.9M
Union County 16,811 $14,158 $238.0M
Clay County 14,967 $7,186 $107.6M
Oglala Lakota County 13,672 $27,398 $374.6M
Aurora County (this county) 2,747 $17,403 $47.8M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Aurora County's $17,403 - prioritizing South Dakota peers first.

Miner County

South Dakota

$17,113 per capita

$39.3M total

Haakon County

South Dakota

$16,615 per capita

$31.1M total

Faulk County

South Dakota

$18,368 per capita

$39.0M total

Stanley County

South Dakota

$16,248 per capita

$48.4M total

Dewey County

South Dakota

$18,671 per capita

$97.8M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside South Dakota - 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 ($17,403 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($47.8M 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 →