Chester County
$3.8B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,048 per capita.
Pennsylvania · FIPS 42029
In FY2025, Chester County in Pennsylvania received $3.8B in federal spending - $7,048 per capita for a population of 534,413. This is 55.0% below the national average and 67.4% below the Pennsylvania average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #56 of 67 Pennsylvania counties.
- Total spending
- $3.8B
- Per capita
- $7,048
- vs. national avg
- -55.0%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Chester County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 75%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $7,048
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 83.8% of tracked spending
- Pennsylvania rank
- #56 of 67
How Chester County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Chester County vs. Pennsylvania and the nation
Population: 534,413 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Chester County
Top awarding agencies in Chester 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 $3.2B (85.8%) of Chester County's $3.8B 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 - Chester 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 | $2.7B | 83.8% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $307.8M | 9.5% |
| Department of Defense | $217.0M | 6.7% |
How Chester County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$7,048 Top 75% higher than 25% 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
Chester County Among Pennsylvania's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Pennsylvania's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County | 1,603,797 | $8,758 | $14.0B |
| Allegheny County | 1,250,578 | $20,569 | $25.7B |
| Montgomery County | 856,553 | $16,199 | $13.9B |
| Bucks County | 646,538 | $7,832 | $5.1B |
| Delaware County | 576,830 | $8,623 | $5.0B |
| Lancaster County | 552,984 | $6,731 | $3.7B |
| Chester County (this county) | 534,413 | $7,048 | $3.8B |
| York County | 456,438 | $13,388 | $6.1B |
| Berks County | 428,849 | $6,537 | $2.8B |
| Lehigh County | 374,557 | $6,652 | $2.5B |
| Westmoreland County | 354,663 | $8,569 | $3.0B |
| Luzerne County | 325,594 | $8,753 | $2.9B |
| Northampton County | 312,951 | $7,151 | $2.2B |
| Dauphin County | 286,401 | $18,283 | $5.2B |
| Erie County | 270,876 | $7,612 | $2.1B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Chester County's $7,048 - prioritizing Pennsylvania peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Chester County, Pennsylvania receive?
How does Chester County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Chester County, Pennsylvania?
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.