PlainSpending

Denver County

$7.6B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $10,593 per capita.

Colorado · FIPS 08031

In FY2025, Denver County in Colorado posted a dense absolute book of $7.6B ($10,593 per capita across 715,522 residents). That is 32.3% below the national average and 12.9% below the Colorado average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #19 of 64.

Total spending
$7.6B
Per capita
$10,593
vs. national avg
-32.3%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Denver County sits #86 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($7.6B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Denver County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Social Security Administration, among several agencies.

National per-capita rank
Top 22%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$10,593
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
45.6% of tracked spending
Colorado rank
#19 of 64

How Denver County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Denver County vs. Colorado and the nation

Denver County$10,593Colorado avg$12,155National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 715,522 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Denver County

Top awarding agencies in Denver County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$2.3BDepartment of Defense$1.8BDepartment of Veterans Affai…$867.7M
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 $5.0B (65.5%) of Denver County's $7.6B 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 - Denver 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 $2.3B 45.6%
Department of Defense $1.8B 37%
Department of Veterans Affairs $867.7M 17.5%

How Denver County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$10,593 Top 22% higher than 78% 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

Denver County Among Colorado's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Denver 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Denver County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
El Paso County 730,395 $12,676 $9.3B
Denver County (this county) 715,522 $10,593 $7.6B
Arapahoe County 655,070 $6,663 $4.4B
Jefferson County 582,910 $10,803 $6.3B
Adams County 519,572 $9,121 $4.7B
Larimer County 359,066 $8,602 $3.1B
Douglas County 357,978 $14,587 $5.2B
Boulder County 330,758 $9,749 $3.2B
Weld County 328,981 $5,741 $1.9B
Pueblo County 168,162 $9,023 $1.5B
Mesa County 155,703 $8,336 $1.3B
Broomfield County 74,112 $5,512 $408.5M
Garfield County 61,685 $5,051 $311.6M
Eagle County 55,731 $4,358 $242.9M
La Plata County 55,638 $8,380 $466.2M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Denver County's $10,593 - prioritizing Colorado peers first.

Washington County

Colorado

$10,672 per capita

$51.4M total

Kit Carson County

Colorado

$10,727 per capita

$76.0M total

Jefferson County

Colorado

$10,803 per capita

$6.3B total

Archuleta County

Colorado

$10,297 per capita

$137.6M total

Costilla County

Colorado

$10,959 per capita

$38.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Colorado - 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 ($10,593 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($7.6B 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 →