PlainSpending

Hidalgo County

$6.3B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,211 per capita.

Texas · FIPS 48215

In FY2025, Hidalgo County in Texas received $6.3B in federal spending - $7,211 per capita for a population of 870,781. This is 53.9% below the national average and 32.5% below the Texas average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #148 of 254 Texas counties.

Total spending
$6.3B
Per capita
$7,211
vs. national avg
-53.9%
Fiscal year
FY2025

The verdict

Hidalgo County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 71%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,211
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
69.8% of tracked spending
Texas rank
#148 of 254

How Hidalgo County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Hidalgo County vs. Texas and the nation

Top 71% nationally
Hidalgo County$7,211Texas avg$10,686National avg$15,647

Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 870,781 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Hidalgo County

Top awarding agencies in Hidalgo County, FY2025

Social Security Administration$2.1BDepartment of Homeland Securi…$543.9MDepartment of Veterans Affairs$353.6M

Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

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 $3.0B (47.3%) of Hidalgo County's $6.3B 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 - Hidalgo 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 $2.1B 69.8%
Department of Homeland Security $543.9M 18.3%
Department of Veterans Affairs $353.6M 11.9%

How Hidalgo County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,211 Top 71% higher than 29% of 3,224 US counties

This county $0 $20K+ 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, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates

Hidalgo County Among Texas's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Texas by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Hidalgo 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. 01,000,0002,000,0003,000,0004,000,0005,000,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000 Population Spending per capita ($) Large and spending-intensiveSmall population, outsized spendingLarge population, modest per-residentSmaller footprint both ways
The 15 largest-population counties in Texas by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Hidalgo County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Harris County 4,731,145 $5,433 $25.7B
Dallas County 2,613,539 $13,618 $35.6B
Tarrant County 2,110,640 $20,556 $43.4B
Bexar County 2,009,324 $8,940 $18.0B
Travis County 1,290,188 $12,831 $16.6B
Collin County 1,064,465 $5,934 $6.3B
Denton County 906,422 $4,917 $4.5B
Hidalgo County (this county) 870,781 $7,211 $6.3B
El Paso County 865,657 $6,774 $5.9B
Fort Bend County 822,779 $6,138 $5.1B
Montgomery County 620,443 $8,004 $5.0B
Williamson County 609,017 $8,655 $5.3B
Cameron County 421,017 $5,886 $2.5B
Brazoria County 372,031 $6,072 $2.3B
Bell County 370,647 $11,862 $4.4B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Hidalgo County's $7,211 - prioritizing Texas peers first.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How much federal spending did Hidalgo County, Texas receive?
Hidalgo County received $6.3B in total federal spending during Fiscal Year 2025. This equates to $7,211 per capita for the county's population of 870,781.
How does Hidalgo County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
Hidalgo County's per capita federal spending of $7,211 is 53.9% below the national average of $15,647. Compared to the Texas average of $10,686, it is 32.5% below.
What is the population of Hidalgo County, Texas?
Hidalgo County has a population of 870,781 according to Census Bureau estimates. This population figure is used to calculate the per capita federal spending of $7,211.
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.

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.