Essex County
$11.2B in FY2025 federal spending, $13,851 per capita.
Massachusetts · FIPS 25009
In FY2025, Essex County in Massachusetts received $11.2B in federal spending - $13,851 per capita for a population of 809,829. This is 11.5% below the national average and 5.7% below the Massachusetts average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of Defense. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #3 of 14 Massachusetts counties.
- Total spending
- $11.2B
- Per capita
- $13,851
- vs. national avg
- -11.5%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Essex County posts top-10% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Defense.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 10%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $13,851
- Leading agency
- Department of Defense
- 55.9% of tracked spending
- Massachusetts rank
- #3 of 14
How Essex County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Essex County vs. Massachusetts and the nation
Population: 809,829 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Essex County
Top awarding agencies in Essex 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 $9.3B (82.6%) of Essex County's $11.2B 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 - Essex 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 | $5.2B | 55.9% |
| Social Security Administration | $3.7B | 40.3% |
| Department of Transportation | $352.1M | 3.8% |
How Essex County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$13,851 Top 10% higher than 90% 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
Essex County Among Massachusetts's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Massachusetts's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | 1,632,002 | $15,809 | $25.8B |
| Worcester County | 862,111 | $6,968 | $6.0B |
| Essex County (this county) | 809,829 | $13,851 | $11.2B |
| Suffolk County | 797,936 | $15,681 | $12.5B |
| Norfolk County | 725,981 | $7,972 | $5.8B |
| Bristol County | 579,200 | $6,527 | $3.8B |
| Plymouth County | 530,819 | $8,056 | $4.3B |
| Hampden County | 465,825 | $7,474 | $3.5B |
| Barnstable County | 228,996 | $12,300 | $2.8B |
| Hampshire County | 162,308 | $8,156 | $1.3B |
| Berkshire County | 129,026 | $11,909 | $1.5B |
| Franklin County | 71,029 | $7,723 | $548.6M |
| Dukes County | 20,600 | $8,754 | $180.3M |
| Nantucket County | 14,255 | $4,223 | $60.2M |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Essex County's $13,851 - prioritizing Massachusetts peers first.
Barnstable County
Massachusetts
$12,300 per capita
$2.8B total
Suffolk County
Massachusetts
$15,681 per capita
$12.5B total
Berkshire County
Massachusetts
$11,909 per capita
$1.5B total
Middlesex County
Massachusetts
$15,809 per capita
$25.8B total
Dukes County
Massachusetts
$8,754 per capita
$180.3M total
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Essex County, Massachusetts receive?
How does Essex County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Essex County, Massachusetts?
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.