PlainSpending

Frederick County

$3.1B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $11,446 per capita.

Maryland · FIPS 24021

In FY2025, Frederick County in Maryland posted a dense absolute book of $3.1B ($11,446 per capita across 271,717 residents). That is 26.8% below the national average and 33.1% below the Maryland average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #8 of 24.

Total spending
$3.1B
Per capita
$11,446
vs. national avg
-26.8%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Frederick County sits #221 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($3.1B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Frederick County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 17%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$11,446
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
52% of tracked spending
Maryland rank
#8 of 24

How Frederick County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Frederick County vs. Maryland and the nation

Frederick County$11,446Maryland avg$17,102National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 271,717 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Frederick County

Top awarding agencies in Frederick County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$1.3BDepartment of Health and Hum…$768.7MDepartment of Defense$415.4M
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 $2.5B (79.3%) of Frederick County's $3.1B 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 - Frederick 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 $1.3B 52%
Department of Health and Human Services $768.7M 31.2%
Department of Defense $415.4M 16.8%

How Frederick County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$11,446 Top 17% higher than 83% 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

Frederick County Among Maryland's Largest Counties

Population vs. per-capita spending: Maryland's biggest counties

The 15 largest-population counties in Maryland by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Frederick 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 0500,0001,000,0001,500,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Maryland by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Frederick County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Montgomery County 1,062,061 $16,975 $18.0B
Prince George'S County 967,201 $10,518 $10.2B
Baltimore County 854,535 $10,159 $8.7B
Anne Arundel County 588,261 $14,340 $8.4B
Baltimore City 585,708 $18,533 $10.9B
Howard County 332,317 $25,853 $8.6B
Frederick County (this county) 271,717 $11,446 $3.1B
Harford County 260,924 $15,632 $4.1B
Carroll County 172,891 $6,719 $1.2B
Charles County 166,617 $8,458 $1.4B
Washington County 154,705 $7,289 $1.1B
St. Mary'S County 113,777 $47,173 $5.4B
Cecil County 103,725 $7,546 $782.7M
Wicomico County 103,588 $6,655 $689.4M
Calvert County 92,783 $7,474 $693.5M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Frederick County's $11,446 - prioritizing Maryland peers first.

Prince George'S County

Maryland

$10,518 per capita

$10.2B total

Worcester County

Maryland

$10,399 per capita

$545.5M total

Baltimore County

Maryland

$10,159 per capita

$8.7B total

Talbot County

Maryland

$12,787 per capita

$479.9M total

Kent County

Maryland

$9,215 per capita

$176.9M total

Compare states side-by-side in the compare tool →

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Maryland - 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 ($11,446 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($3.1B 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 →