PlainSpending

Imperial County

$1.8B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $9,988 per capita.

California · FIPS 06025

In FY2025, Imperial County in California posted a dense absolute book of $1.8B ($9,988 per capita across 179,702 residents). That is 36.2% below the national average and 18.7% below the California average. Department of Homeland Security leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #9 of 58.

Total spending
$1.8B
Per capita
$9,988
vs. national avg
-36.2%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Imperial County sits #335 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($1.8B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Imperial County posts above-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Homeland Security.

National per-capita rank
Top 26%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$9,988
Leading agency
Department of Homeland Security
51.5% of tracked spending
California rank
#9 of 58

How Imperial County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Imperial County vs. California and the nation

Imperial County$9,988California avg$12,283National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 179,702 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Imperial County

Top awarding agencies in Imperial County, FY2025

Department of Homeland Secur…$794.6MSocial Security Administrati…$666.7MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$81.3M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Homeland Security 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 $1.5B (85.9%) of Imperial County's $1.8B 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 - Imperial 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 Homeland Security $794.6M 51.5%
Social Security Administration $666.7M 43.2%
Department of Veterans Affairs $81.3M 5.3%

How Imperial County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$9,988 Higher than most higher than 74% 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

Imperial County Among California's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in California by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Imperial 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 05,000,00010,000,00015,000,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in California by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Imperial County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Los Angeles County 10,014,009 $7,997 $80.1B
San Diego County 3,298,634 $10,723 $35.4B
Orange County 3,186,989 $7,341 $23.4B
Riverside County 2,418,185 $6,140 $14.8B
San Bernardino County 2,181,654 $5,778 $12.6B
Santa Clara County 1,936,259 $7,000 $13.6B
Alameda County 1,682,353 $25,252 $42.5B
Sacramento County 1,585,055 $14,781 $23.4B
Contra Costa County 1,165,927 $6,139 $7.2B
Fresno County 1,008,654 $4,949 $5.0B
Kern County 909,235 $6,502 $5.9B
San Francisco County 873,965 $9,698 $8.5B
Ventura County 843,843 $7,141 $6.0B
San Joaquin County 779,233 $5,595 $4.4B
San Mateo County 764,442 $5,783 $4.4B
Imperial County (this county) 179,702 $9,988 $1.8B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Imperial County's $9,988 - prioritizing California peers first.

Modoc County

California

$9,848 per capita

$85.7M total

San Francisco County

California

$9,698 per capita

$8.5B total

Siskiyou County

California

$9,561 per capita

$421.4M total

Del Norte County

California

$10,691 per capita

$296.6M total

San Diego County

California

$10,723 per capita

$35.4B total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside California - 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 ($9,988 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($1.8B 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 →