PlainSpending

Harlan County

$223.1M in FY2025 federal spending, $8,315 per capita.

Kentucky · FIPS 21095

In FY2025, Harlan County in Kentucky received $223.1M in federal spending - $8,315 per capita for a population of 26,831. This is 46.9% below the national average and 78.4% below the Kentucky average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #34 of 120 Kentucky counties.

Total spending
$223.1M
Per capita
$8,315
vs. national avg
-46.9%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Mid per-resident intensity

Harlan County's intensity is $8,315 (#1484 of 3,224).

Mid per-resident intensity

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

National per-capita rank
Top 47%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,315
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
86.8% of tracked spending
Kentucky rank
#34 of 120

How Harlan County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Harlan County vs. Kentucky and the nation

Harlan County$8,315Kentucky avg$38,460National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 26,831 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Harlan County

Top awarding agencies in Harlan County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$176.5MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$17.7MDepartment of Education$9.2M
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 $203.4M (91.2%) of Harlan County's $223.1M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Harlan 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 $176.5M 86.8%
Department of Veterans Affairs $17.7M 8.7%
Department of Education $9.2M 4.5%

How Harlan County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,315 Higher than most higher than 53% 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

Harlan County Among Kentucky's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Kentucky by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Harlan County is highlighted. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 16 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,000 $0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Kentucky by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Harlan County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Jefferson County 782,969 $155,985 $122.1B
Fayette County 322,570 $9,646 $3.1B
Kenton County 169,064 $6,476 $1.1B
Boone County 135,968 $6,469 $879.5M
Warren County 134,554 $5,564 $748.7M
Hardin County 110,702 $11,800 $1.3B
Daviess County 103,312 $7,051 $728.4M
Campbell County 93,076 $6,361 $592.0M
Madison County 92,701 $10,599 $982.6M
Bullitt County 82,217 $6,206 $510.3M
Christian County 72,748 $8,491 $617.7M
Mccracken County 67,875 $8,085 $548.8M
Oldham County 67,607 $5,593 $378.1M
Pulaski County 65,034 $8,056 $523.9M
Laurel County 62,613 $7,885 $493.7M
Harlan County (this county) 26,831 $8,315 $223.1M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Harlan County's $8,315 - prioritizing Kentucky peers first.

Mason County

Kentucky

$8,253 per capita

$141.3M total

Greenup County

Kentucky

$8,229 per capita

$295.9M total

Carroll County

Kentucky

$8,218 per capita

$88.8M total

Pike County

Kentucky

$8,206 per capita

$481.4M total

Bourbon County

Kentucky

$8,164 per capita

$165.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Kentucky - 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 ($8,315 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($223.1M 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 →