PlainSpending

Jefferson County

$8.1B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $11,949 per capita.

Alabama · FIPS 01073

In FY2025, Jefferson County in Alabama posted a dense absolute book of $8.1B ($11,949 per capita across 674,721 residents). That is 23.6% below the national average and 16.1% below the Alabama average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #4 of 67.

Total spending
$8.1B
Per capita
$11,949
vs. national avg
-23.6%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Jefferson County sits #82 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($8.1B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Jefferson County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Social Security Administration, among several agencies.

National per-capita rank
Top 15%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$11,949
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
48% of tracked spending
Alabama rank
#4 of 67

How Jefferson County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Jefferson County vs. Alabama and the nation

Jefferson County$11,949Alabama avg$14,242National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 674,721 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Jefferson County

Top awarding agencies in Jefferson County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$3.3BDepartment of Health and Hum…$3.1BDepartment of Veterans Affai…$500.3M
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 $7.0B (86.5%) of Jefferson County's $8.1B 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 - Jefferson 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 $3.3B 48%
Department of Health and Human Services $3.1B 44.9%
Department of Veterans Affairs $500.3M 7.2%

How Jefferson County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$11,949 Top 15% higher than 85% 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

Jefferson County Among Alabama's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Alabama by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Jefferson 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Alabama by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Jefferson County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Jefferson County (this county) 674,721 $11,949 $8.1B
Mobile County 414,809 $11,632 $4.8B
Madison County 388,153 $40,217 $15.6B
Baldwin County 231,767 $9,605 $2.2B
Montgomery County 228,954 $22,613 $5.2B
Tuscaloosa County 227,036 $6,840 $1.6B
Shelby County 223,024 $7,116 $1.6B
Lee County 174,241 $6,646 $1.2B
Morgan County 123,421 $7,126 $879.5M
Calhoun County 116,441 $10,261 $1.2B
Houston County 107,202 $7,764 $832.4M
Limestone County 103,570 $7,655 $792.8M
Etowah County 103,436 $7,791 $805.9M
Marshall County 97,612 $6,543 $638.7M
Lauderdale County 93,564 $7,804 $730.2M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Jefferson County's $11,949 - prioritizing Alabama peers first.

Mobile County

Alabama

$11,632 per capita

$4.8B total

Greene County

Alabama

$11,358 per capita

$87.8M total

Macon County

Alabama

$11,215 per capita

$219.0M total

Sumter County

Alabama

$10,324 per capita

$127.5M total

Calhoun County

Alabama

$10,261 per capita

$1.2B total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Alabama - 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 ($11,949 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($8.1B 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 →