PlainSpending

Cook County

$38.6B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $7,311 per capita.

Illinois · FIPS 17031

In FY2025, Cook County in Illinois posted a dense absolute book of $38.6B ($7,311 per capita across 5,275,541 residents). That is 53.3% below the national average and 30.4% below the Illinois average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #61 of 102.

Total spending
$38.6B
Per capita
$7,311
vs. national avg
-53.3%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Cook County sits #17 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($38.6B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Cook County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 68%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,311
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
66.1% of tracked spending
Illinois rank
#61 of 102

How Cook County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Cook County vs. Illinois and the nation

Cook County$7,311Illinois avg$10,503National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 5,275,541 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Cook County

Top awarding agencies in Cook County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$20.2BDepartment of Health and Hum…$8.0BDepartment of Housing and Ur…$2.3B
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Social Security Administration is the most common leading agency nationally, topping 89.7% of agency-tracked counties.

These 3 agencies together account for $30.5B (79.2%) of Cook County's $38.6B 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 - Cook 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 $20.2B 66.1%
Department of Health and Human Services $8.0B 26.3%
Department of Housing and Urban Development $2.3B 7.6%

How Cook County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,311 Around the middle higher than 32% 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

Cook County Among Illinois's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Illinois by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Cook County is highlighted. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 15 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 02,000,0004,000,0006,000,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Illinois by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Cook County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Cook County (this county) 5,275,541 $7,311 $38.6B
Dupage County 932,877 $9,346 $8.7B
Lake County 714,342 $7,351 $5.3B
Will County 696,355 $5,317 $3.7B
Kane County 516,522 $6,628 $3.4B
Mchenry County 310,229 $6,028 $1.9B
Winnebago County 285,350 $9,345 $2.7B
Madison County 265,859 $7,145 $1.9B
St. Clair County 257,400 $10,397 $2.7B
Champaign County 205,865 $8,614 $1.8B
Sangamon County 196,343 $20,166 $4.0B
Peoria County 181,830 $6,704 $1.2B
Mclean County 170,954 $5,685 $971.8M
Rock Island County 144,672 $24,491 $3.5B
Kendall County 131,869 $4,573 $603.0M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Cook County's $7,311 - prioritizing Illinois peers first.

Franklin County

Illinois

$7,327 per capita

$277.0M total

Livingston County

Illinois

$7,346 per capita

$263.1M total

Henry County

Illinois

$7,350 per capita

$362.2M total

Lake County

Illinois

$7,351 per capita

$5.3B total

Tazewell County

Illinois

$7,362 per capita

$966.9M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Illinois - 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 ($7,311 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($38.6B 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 →