PlainSpending

Lancaster County

$745.4M in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $7,763 per capita.

South Carolina · FIPS 45057

In FY2025, Lancaster County in South Carolina posted a dense absolute book of $745.4M ($7,763 per capita across 96,016 residents). That is 50.4% below the national average and 71.0% below the South Carolina average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #28 of 46.

Total spending
$745.4M
Per capita
$7,763
vs. national avg
-50.4%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Lancaster County sits #655 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($745.4M).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 58%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,763
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
87.8% of tracked spending
South Carolina rank
#28 of 46

How Lancaster County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Lancaster County vs. South Carolina and the nation

Lancaster County$7,763South Carolina avg$26,788National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 96,016 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Lancaster County

Top awarding agencies in Lancaster County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$687.5MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$86.7MDepartment of Health and Hum…$8.6M
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.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Lancaster 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 $687.5M 87.8%
Department of Veterans Affairs $86.7M 11.1%
Department of Health and Human Services $8.6M 1.1%

How Lancaster County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,763 Around the middle higher than 42% 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

Lancaster County Among South Carolina's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in South Carolina by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Lancaster 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 0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000 $0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000$250,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in South Carolina by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Lancaster County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Greenville County 525,534 $7,449 $3.9B
Richland County 416,147 $192,829 $80.2B
Charleston County 408,235 $12,584 $5.1B
Horry County 351,029 $11,512 $4.0B
Spartanburg County 327,997 $6,888 $2.3B
Lexington County 293,991 $8,070 $2.4B
York County 282,090 $6,524 $1.8B
Berkeley County 229,861 $10,111 $2.3B
Anderson County 203,718 $7,499 $1.5B
Beaufort County 187,117 $10,683 $2.0B
Aiken County 168,808 $28,549 $4.8B
Dorchester County 161,540 $6,878 $1.1B
Florence County 137,059 $7,201 $987.0M
Pickens County 131,404 $7,711 $1.0B
Sumter County 105,556 $11,961 $1.3B
Lancaster County (this county) 96,016 $7,763 $745.4M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Lancaster County's $7,763 - prioritizing South Carolina peers first.

Lee County

South Carolina

$7,729 per capita

$127.8M total

Laurens County

South Carolina

$7,722 per capita

$521.5M total

Pickens County

South Carolina

$7,711 per capita

$1.0B total

Hampton County

South Carolina

$7,667 per capita

$142.3M total

Greenwood County

South Carolina

$7,623 per capita

$528.7M 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 Carolina - 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 ($7,763 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($745.4M 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 →