PlainSpending

Hughes County

$22,396 per resident in FY2025 ($397.9M total) - high intensity.

South Dakota · FIPS 46065

In FY2025, Hughes County in South Dakota received $397.9M in federal spending - $22,396 per capita for a population of 17,765. This is 43.1% above the national average and 73.0% above the South Dakota average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of Education. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #5 of 66 South Dakota counties.

Total spending
$397.9M
Per capita
$22,396
vs. national avg
+43.1%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $22,396 puts Hughes County at #107 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Hughes County posts top-5% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Education.

National per-capita rank
Top 4%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$22,396
Leading agency
Department of Education
54.6% of tracked spending
South Dakota rank
#5 of 66

How Hughes County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Hughes County vs. South Dakota and the nation

Hughes County$22,396South Dakota avg$12,944National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 17,765 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Hughes County

Top awarding agencies in Hughes County, FY2025

Department of Education$165.9MSocial Security Administrati…$86.3MDepartment of Homeland Secur…$51.6M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Education is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 0.3% 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 $303.8M (76.3%) of Hughes County's $397.9M 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 - Hughes 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 Education $165.9M 54.6%
Social Security Administration $86.3M 28.4%
Department of Homeland Security $51.6M 17%

How Hughes County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$22,396 Top 4% higher than 96% 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

Hughes County Among South Dakota's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Hughes 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 050,000100,000150,000200,000250,000 $5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Hughes County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Minnehaha County 197,214 $8,232 $1.6B
Pennington County 109,222 $11,308 $1.2B
Lincoln County 65,161 $6,414 $418.0M
Brown County 38,301 $7,602 $291.2M
Brookings County 34,375 $6,805 $233.9M
Meade County 29,852 $12,098 $361.1M
Codington County 28,325 $7,324 $207.5M
Lawrence County 25,768 $11,168 $287.8M
Yankton County 23,310 $8,007 $186.6M
Davison County 19,956 $6,820 $136.1M
Beadle County 19,149 $7,558 $144.7M
Hughes County (this county) 17,765 $22,396 $397.9M
Union County 16,811 $14,158 $238.0M
Clay County 14,967 $7,186 $107.6M
Oglala Lakota County 13,672 $27,398 $374.6M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Hughes County's $22,396 - prioritizing South Dakota peers first.

Todd County

South Dakota

$21,895 per capita

$204.0M total

Hyde County

South Dakota

$23,232 per capita

$29.3M total

Harding County

South Dakota

$23,360 per capita

$30.6M total

Mellette County

South Dakota

$21,134 per capita

$40.5M total

Fall River County

South Dakota

$19,814 per capita

$138.2M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside South Dakota - 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 ($22,396 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($397.9M 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 →