PlainSpending

Custer County

$12,485 per resident in FY2025 ($103.8M total) - high intensity.

South Dakota · FIPS 46033

In FY2025, Custer County carried a thin absolute book of $103.8M - $12,485 per capita for 8,318 residents. Intensity sits 20.2% below the national average (-3.5% vs South Dakota). Leading tracked agency: Social Security Administration. Per-capita rank in-state: #30/66.

Total spending
$103.8M
Per capita
$12,485
vs. national avg
-20.2%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $12,485 puts Custer County at #406 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Custer 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
$12,485
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
76.9% of tracked spending
South Dakota rank
#30 of 66

How Custer County Compares

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

Custer County$12,485South Dakota avg$12,944National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 8,318 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Custer County

Top awarding agencies in Custer County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$71.6MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$12.1MDepartment of Agriculture$9.4M
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 $93.1M (89.6%) of Custer County's $103.8M 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 - Custer 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 $71.6M 76.9%
Department of Veterans Affairs $12.1M 13%
Department of Agriculture $9.4M 10.1%

How Custer County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$12,485 Top 13% higher than 87% 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

Custer 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; Custer 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; Custer 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
Custer County (this county) 8,318 $12,485 $103.8M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Custer County's $12,485 - prioritizing South Dakota peers first.

Campbell County

South Dakota

$12,198 per capita

$16.8M total

Hand County

South Dakota

$12,782 per capita

$40.2M total

Douglas County

South Dakota

$12,168 per capita

$34.5M total

Charles Mix County

South Dakota

$12,833 per capita

$120.3M total

Mcpherson County

South Dakota

$12,117 per capita

$29.2M 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 ($12,485 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($103.8M 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 →