PlainSpending

Erie County

$2.1B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $7,612 per capita.

Pennsylvania · FIPS 42049

In FY2025, Erie County in Pennsylvania posted a dense absolute book of $2.1B ($7,612 per capita across 270,876 residents). That is 51.4% below the national average and 64.8% below the Pennsylvania average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #44 of 67.

Total spending
$2.1B
Per capita
$7,612
vs. national avg
-51.4%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Erie County sits #304 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($2.1B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Erie County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 61%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,612
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
85.8% of tracked spending
Pennsylvania rank
#44 of 67

How Erie County Compares

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

Erie County$7,612Pennsylvania avg$21,653National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 270,876 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Erie County

Top awarding agencies in Erie County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$1.6BDepartment of Veterans Affai…$198.8MDepartment of Health and Hum…$64.5M
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 $1.9B (89.9%) of Erie County's $2.1B 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 - Erie 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 $1.6B 85.8%
Department of Veterans Affairs $198.8M 10.7%
Department of Health and Human Services $64.5M 3.5%

How Erie County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,612 Around the middle higher than 39% 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

Erie 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; Erie 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; Erie 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 286,401 $18,283 $5.2B
Erie County (this county) 270,876 $7,612 $2.1B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Erie County's $7,612 - prioritizing Pennsylvania peers first.

Wyoming County

Pennsylvania

$7,641 per capita

$199.2M total

Lawrence County

Pennsylvania

$7,580 per capita

$652.4M total

Lycoming County

Pennsylvania

$7,647 per capita

$873.2M total

Lebanon County

Pennsylvania

$7,651 per capita

$1.1B total

Jefferson County

Pennsylvania

$7,700 per capita

$342.6M 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 ($7,612 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($2.1B 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 →