PlainSpending

Knox County

$383.0M in FY2025 federal spending, $7,665 per capita.

Illinois · FIPS 17095

In FY2025, Knox County in Illinois received $383.0M in federal spending - $7,665 per capita for a population of 49,967. This is 51.0% below the national average and 27.0% below the Illinois average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #41 of 102 Illinois counties.

Total spending
$383.0M
Per capita
$7,665
vs. national avg
-51.0%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Mid-ladder absolute book

Knox County is mid-pack on absolute obligations (#1058 of 3,224, $383.0M).

Mid-ladder absolute book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 60%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,665
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
82.1% of tracked spending
Illinois rank
#41 of 102

How Knox County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Knox County vs. Illinois and the nation

Knox County$7,665Illinois avg$10,503National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 49,967 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Knox County

Top awarding agencies in Knox County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$271.6MRailroad Retirement Board$34.2MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$25.0M
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 $330.8M (86.4%) of Knox County's $383.0M 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 - Knox 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 $271.6M 82.1%
Railroad Retirement Board $34.2M 10.3%
Department of Veterans Affairs $25.0M 7.6%

How Knox County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,665 Around the middle higher than 40% 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

Knox County Among Illinois's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Illinois by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Knox 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 02,000,0004,000,0006,000,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Illinois by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Knox County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Cook County 5,275,541 $7,311 $38.6B
Dupage County 932,877 $9,346 $8.7B
Lake County 714,342 $7,351 $5.3B
Will County 696,355 $5,317 $3.7B
Kane County 516,522 $6,628 $3.4B
Mchenry County 310,229 $6,028 $1.9B
Winnebago County 285,350 $9,345 $2.7B
Madison County 265,859 $7,145 $1.9B
St. Clair County 257,400 $10,397 $2.7B
Champaign County 205,865 $8,614 $1.8B
Sangamon County 196,343 $20,166 $4.0B
Peoria County 181,830 $6,704 $1.2B
Mclean County 170,954 $5,685 $971.8M
Rock Island County 144,672 $24,491 $3.5B
Kendall County 131,869 $4,573 $603.0M
Knox County (this county) 49,967 $7,665 $383.0M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Knox County's $7,665 - prioritizing Illinois peers first.

Cumberland County

Illinois

$7,669 per capita

$80.1M total

Hamilton County

Illinois

$7,637 per capita

$61.0M total

De Witt County

Illinois

$7,627 per capita

$118.3M total

Clay County

Illinois

$7,718 per capita

$102.6M total

Whiteside County

Illinois

$7,606 per capita

$423.6M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Illinois - 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 ($7,665 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($383.0M 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 →