Essex County
$6.9B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,934 per capita.
New Jersey · FIPS 34013
In FY2025, Essex County in New Jersey received $6.9B in federal spending - $7,934 per capita for a population of 863,728. This is 49.3% below the national average and 23.7% below the New Jersey average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #8 of 21 New Jersey counties.
- Total spending
- $6.9B
- Per capita
- $7,934
- vs. national avg
- -49.3%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Essex County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 55%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $7,934
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 55.8% of tracked spending
- New Jersey rank
- #8 of 21
How Essex County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Essex County vs. New Jersey and the nation
Population: 863,728 (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, Social Security Administration is the most common leading agency nationally, topping 86% of agency-tracked counties.
These 3 agencies together account for $5.1B (74.9%) of Essex County's $6.9B 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $2.9B | 55.8% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1.4B | 27.9% |
| Department of Defense | $835.8M | 16.3% |
How Essex County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$7,934 Top 55% higher than 45% 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 New Jersey's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: New Jersey's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County | 955,732 | $8,220 | $7.9B |
| Essex County (this county) | 863,728 | $7,934 | $6.9B |
| Middlesex County | 863,162 | $5,709 | $4.9B |
| Hudson County | 724,854 | $6,610 | $4.8B |
| Monmouth County | 643,615 | $8,600 | $5.5B |
| Ocean County | 637,229 | $7,805 | $5.0B |
| Union County | 575,345 | $5,027 | $2.9B |
| Passaic County | 524,118 | $5,440 | $2.9B |
| Camden County | 523,485 | $7,070 | $3.7B |
| Morris County | 509,285 | $8,024 | $4.1B |
| Burlington County | 461,860 | $13,102 | $6.1B |
| Mercer County | 387,340 | $13,406 | $5.2B |
| Somerset County | 345,361 | $6,565 | $2.3B |
| Gloucester County | 302,294 | $6,786 | $2.1B |
| Atlantic County | 274,534 | $8,127 | $2.2B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Essex County's $7,934 - prioritizing New Jersey peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Essex County, New Jersey receive?
How does Essex County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Essex County, New Jersey?
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.