Charleston County
$5.1B in FY2025 federal spending, $12,584 per capita.
South Carolina · FIPS 45019
In FY2025, Charleston County in South Carolina received $5.1B in federal spending - $12,584 per capita for a population of 408,235. This is 19.6% below the national average and 53.0% below the South Carolina average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #8 of 46 South Carolina counties.
- Total spending
- $5.1B
- Per capita
- $12,584
- vs. national avg
- -19.6%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Charleston County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 13%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $12,584
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 50.7% of tracked spending
- South Carolina rank
- #8 of 46
How Charleston County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Charleston County vs. South Carolina and the nation
Population: 408,235 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Charleston County
Top awarding agencies in Charleston County, FY2025
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Social Security Administration is the most common leading agency nationally, topping 86% of agency-tracked counties.
These 3 agencies together account for $3.8B (74.7%) of Charleston County's $5.1B 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 - Charleston 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $1.9B | 50.7% |
| Department of Defense | $1.6B | 40.7% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $331.1M | 8.6% |
How Charleston County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$12,584 Top 13% higher than 87% 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
Charleston County Among South Carolina's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: South Carolina's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville County | 525,534 | $7,449 | $3.9B |
| Richland County | 416,147 | $192,829 | $80.2B |
| Charleston County (this county) | 408,235 | $12,584 | $5.1B |
| Horry County | 351,029 | $11,512 | $4.0B |
| Spartanburg County | 327,997 | $6,888 | $2.3B |
| Lexington County | 293,991 | $8,070 | $2.4B |
| York County | 282,090 | $6,524 | $1.8B |
| Berkeley County | 229,861 | $10,111 | $2.3B |
| Anderson County | 203,718 | $7,499 | $1.5B |
| Beaufort County | 187,117 | $10,683 | $2.0B |
| Aiken County | 168,808 | $28,549 | $4.8B |
| Dorchester County | 161,540 | $6,878 | $1.1B |
| Florence County | 137,059 | $7,201 | $987.0M |
| Pickens County | 131,404 | $7,711 | $1.0B |
| Sumter County | 105,556 | $11,961 | $1.3B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Charleston County's $12,584 - prioritizing South Carolina peers first.
Sumter County
South Carolina
$11,961 per capita
$1.3B total
Horry County
South Carolina
$11,512 per capita
$4.0B total
Beaufort County
South Carolina
$10,683 per capita
$2.0B total
Georgetown County
South Carolina
$10,381 per capita
$658.2M total
Bamberg County
South Carolina
$10,257 per capita
$136.5M total
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Charleston County, South Carolina receive?
How does Charleston County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Charleston County, South Carolina?
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.