El Paso County
$9.3B in FY2025 federal spending, $12,676 per capita.
Colorado · FIPS 08041
In FY2025, El Paso County in Colorado received $9.3B in federal spending - $12,676 per capita for a population of 730,395. This is 19.0% below the national average and 4.3% above the Colorado average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of Defense. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #8 of 64 Colorado counties.
- Total spending
- $9.3B
- Per capita
- $12,676
- vs. national avg
- -19.0%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
El Paso County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Department of Defense, among several agencies.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 13%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $12,676
- Leading agency
- Department of Defense
- 40.6% of tracked spending
- Colorado rank
- #8 of 64
How El Paso County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: El Paso County vs. Colorado and the nation
Population: 730,395 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in El Paso County
Top awarding agencies in El Paso County, FY2025
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Defense is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 6.4% 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 $7.5B (81.5%) of El Paso County's $9.3B 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 - El Paso 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 Defense | $3.1B | 40.6% |
| Social Security Administration | $2.6B | 35.1% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1.8B | 24.3% |
How El Paso County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$12,676 Top 13% higher than 87% 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
El Paso County Among Colorado's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Colorado's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso County (this county) | 730,395 | $12,676 | $9.3B |
| Denver 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 |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to El Paso County's $12,676 - prioritizing Colorado peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did El Paso County, Colorado receive?
How does El Paso County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of El Paso County, Colorado?
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.