PlainSpending

Dauphin County

$5.2B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $18,283 per capita.

Pennsylvania · FIPS 42043

In FY2025, Dauphin County in Pennsylvania posted a dense absolute book of $5.2B ($18,283 per capita across 286,401 residents). That is 16.8% above the national average and 15.6% below the Pennsylvania average. Department of Education leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #4 of 67.

Total spending
$5.2B
Per capita
$18,283
vs. national avg
+16.8%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Dauphin County sits #137 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($5.2B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Dauphin County posts top-5% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Department of Education, among several agencies.

National per-capita rank
Top 5%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$18,283
Leading agency
Department of Education
41.8% of tracked spending
Pennsylvania rank
#4 of 67

How Dauphin County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Dauphin County vs. Pennsylvania and the nation

Dauphin County$18,283Pennsylvania avg$21,653National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 286,401 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Dauphin County

Top awarding agencies in Dauphin County, FY2025

Department of Education$1.7BSocial Security Administrati…$1.5BDepartment of Health and Hum…$887.7M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Education is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 0.3% 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 $4.1B (78.8%) of Dauphin County's $5.2B 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 - Dauphin 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 Education $1.7B 41.8%
Social Security Administration $1.5B 36.7%
Department of Health and Human Services $887.7M 21.5%

How Dauphin County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$18,283 Top 5% higher than 95% 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

Dauphin County Among Pennsylvania's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Pennsylvania by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Dauphin 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 0500,0001,000,0001,500,0002,000,000 $5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Pennsylvania by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Dauphin County is highlighted.
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 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 (this county) 286,401 $18,283 $5.2B
Erie County 270,876 $7,612 $2.1B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Dauphin County's $18,283 - prioritizing Pennsylvania peers first.

Montgomery County

Pennsylvania

$16,199 per capita

$13.9B total

Allegheny County

Pennsylvania

$20,569 per capita

$25.7B total

York County

Pennsylvania

$13,388 per capita

$6.1B total

Cambria County

Pennsylvania

$13,102 per capita

$1.7B total

Cameron County

Pennsylvania

$10,478 per capita

$47.6M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Pennsylvania - 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 ($18,283 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($5.2B 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 →