Erie County
$2.1B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,612 per capita.
Pennsylvania · FIPS 42049
In FY2025, Erie County in Pennsylvania received $2.1B in federal spending - $7,612 per capita for a population of 270,876. This is 51.4% below the national average and 64.8% below the Pennsylvania average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #44 of 67 Pennsylvania counties.
- Total spending
- $2.1B
- Per capita
- $7,612
- vs. national avg
- -51.4%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
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
- 86.6% of tracked spending
- Pennsylvania rank
- #44 of 67
How Erie County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Erie County vs. Pennsylvania and the nation
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
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Social Security Administration is the most common leading agency nationally, topping 86% of agency-tracked counties.
These 3 agencies together account for $1.7B (83.4%) 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 | $1.5B | 86.6% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $160.8M | 9.4% |
| Department of Defense | $70.1M | 4.1% |
How Erie County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$7,612 Top 61% higher than 39% 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
Erie County Among Pennsylvania's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Pennsylvania's biggest counties
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 |
Federal Spending Guides
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
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Erie County, Pennsylvania receive?
How does Erie County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Erie County, Pennsylvania?
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.