Knox County
$3.8B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,920 per capita.
Tennessee · FIPS 47093
In FY2025, Knox County in Tennessee received $3.8B in federal spending - $7,920 per capita for a population of 478,971. This is 49.4% below the national average and 54.9% below the Tennessee average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #44 of 95 Tennessee counties.
- Total spending
- $3.8B
- Per capita
- $7,920
- vs. national avg
- -49.4%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Knox County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 55%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $7,920
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 79.5% of tracked spending
- Tennessee rank
- #44 of 95
How Knox County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Knox County vs. Tennessee and the nation
Population: 478,971 (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
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 $2.8B (74.9%) of Knox County's $3.8B 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 - 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 | $2.3B | 79.5% |
| Department of Education | $316.5M | 11.1% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $266.5M | 9.4% |
How Knox County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$7,920 Top 55% higher than 45% of 3,224 US counties
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
Knox County Among Tennessee's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Tennessee's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby County | 929,744 | $6,904 | $6.4B |
| Davidson County | 715,884 | $64,625 | $46.3B |
| Knox County (this county) | 478,971 | $7,920 | $3.8B |
| Hamilton County | 366,207 | $17,351 | $6.4B |
| Rutherford County | 341,486 | $5,288 | $1.8B |
| Williamson County | 247,726 | $7,002 | $1.7B |
| Montgomery County | 220,069 | $9,191 | $2.0B |
| Sumner County | 196,281 | $6,874 | $1.3B |
| Sullivan County | 158,163 | $11,509 | $1.8B |
| Wilson County | 147,737 | $6,618 | $977.7M |
| Blount County | 135,280 | $7,850 | $1.1B |
| Washington County | 133,001 | $9,399 | $1.3B |
| Bradley County | 108,620 | $7,101 | $771.3M |
| Maury County | 100,974 | $7,515 | $758.8M |
| Madison County | 98,823 | $7,162 | $707.8M |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Knox County's $7,920 - prioritizing Tennessee peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Knox County, Tennessee receive?
How does Knox County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Knox County, Tennessee?
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.
Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →
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.