Benton County
$5.7B in FY2025 federal spending, $27,737 per capita.
Washington · FIPS 53005
In FY2025, Benton County in Washington received $5.7B in federal spending - $27,737 per capita for a population of 206,873. This is 77.3% above the national average and 138.7% above the Washington average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of Energy. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #1 of 39 Washington counties.
- Total spending
- $5.7B
- Per capita
- $27,737
- vs. national avg
- +77.3%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Benton County posts top-5% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Energy.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 3%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $27,737
- Leading agency
- Department of Energy
- 78.9% of tracked spending
- Washington rank
- #1 of 39
How Benton County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Benton County vs. Washington and the nation
Population: 206,873 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Benton County
Top awarding agencies in Benton County, FY2025
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Energy is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 0.7% 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 $5.1B (88.4%) of Benton County's $5.7B 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 - Benton 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 Energy | $4.0B | 78.9% |
| Social Security Administration | $975.6M | 19.2% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $92.9M | 1.8% |
How Benton County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$27,737 Top 3% higher than 97% 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
Benton County Among Washington's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Washington's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County | 2,269,675 | $9,117 | $20.7B |
| Pierce County | 921,130 | $7,598 | $7.0B |
| Snohomish County | 827,957 | $5,959 | $4.9B |
| Spokane County | 539,339 | $7,955 | $4.3B |
| Clark County | 503,311 | $6,557 | $3.3B |
| Thurston County | 294,793 | $12,033 | $3.5B |
| Kitsap County | 275,611 | $13,725 | $3.8B |
| Yakima County | 256,728 | $6,350 | $1.6B |
| Whatcom County | 226,847 | $7,105 | $1.6B |
| Benton County (this county) | 206,873 | $27,737 | $5.7B |
| Skagit County | 129,523 | $9,714 | $1.3B |
| Cowlitz County | 110,730 | $8,563 | $948.2M |
| Grant County | 99,123 | $7,281 | $721.7M |
| Franklin County | 96,749 | $4,360 | $421.9M |
| Island County | 86,857 | $11,572 | $1.0B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Benton County's $27,737 - prioritizing Washington peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Benton County, Washington receive?
How does Benton County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Benton County, Washington?
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.