PlainSpending

Buffalo County

$27.1M in FY2025 - a thin absolute book at $13,892 per capita.

South Dakota · FIPS 46017

In FY2025, Buffalo County carried a thin absolute book of $27.1M - $13,892 per capita for 1,948 residents. Intensity sits 11.2% below the national average (+7.3% vs South Dakota). Leading tracked agency: Department of Agriculture. Per-capita rank in-state: #23/66.

Total spending
$27.1M
Per capita
$13,892
vs. national avg
-11.2%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Thin absolute federal book

Buffalo County is a light absolute book: #3099 of 3,224 with only $27.1M.

Thin absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 10%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$13,892
Leading agency
Department of Agriculture
53.5% of tracked spending
South Dakota rank
#23 of 66

How Buffalo County Compares

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

Buffalo County$13,892South Dakota avg$12,944National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 1,948 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Buffalo County

Top awarding agencies in Buffalo County, FY2025

Department of Agriculture$11.8MSocial Security Administrati…$5.8MDepartment of Housing and Ur…$4.4M
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 $22.0M (81.3%) of Buffalo County's $27.1M 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 - Buffalo 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 $11.8M 53.5%
Social Security Administration $5.8M 26.4%
Department of Housing and Urban Development $4.4M 20.1%

How Buffalo County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$13,892 Top 10% higher than 90% 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

Buffalo 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; Buffalo 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; Buffalo 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
Buffalo County (this county) 1,948 $13,892 $27.1M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Buffalo County's $13,892 - prioritizing South Dakota peers first.

Deuel County

South Dakota

$13,796 per capita

$59.3M total

Roberts County

South Dakota

$14,037 per capita

$144.3M total

Spink County

South Dakota

$13,731 per capita

$87.3M total

Sanborn County

South Dakota

$13,661 per capita

$31.8M total

Union County

South Dakota

$14,158 per capita

$238.0M 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 ($13,892 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($27.1M 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 →