Lea County
$317.4M in FY2025 federal spending, $4,263 per capita.
New Mexico · FIPS 35025
In FY2025, Lea County in New Mexico received $317.4M in federal spending - $4,263 per capita for a population of 74,455. This is 72.8% below the national average and 78.2% below the New Mexico average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #31 of 33 New Mexico counties.
- Total spending
- $317.4M
- Per capita
- $4,263
- vs. national avg
- -72.8%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Lea County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 99%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $4,263
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 82.3% of tracked spending
- New Mexico rank
- #31 of 33
How Lea County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Lea County vs. New Mexico and the nation
Population: 74,455 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Lea County
Top awarding agencies in Lea 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 $266.2M (83.9%) of Lea County's $317.4M 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 - Lea 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 | $219.1M | 82.3% |
| Department of Transportation | $31.7M | 11.9% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $15.4M | 5.8% |
How Lea County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$4,263 Top 99% higher than 1% 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
Lea County Among New Mexico's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: New Mexico's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernalillo County | 676,444 | $17,868 | $12.1B |
| Doña Ana County | 219,561 | $7,841 | $1.7B |
| Santa Fe County | 154,823 | $16,576 | $2.6B |
| Sandoval County | 148,834 | $8,082 | $1.2B |
| San Juan County | 121,661 | $8,415 | $1.0B |
| Valencia County | 76,205 | $7,359 | $560.8M |
| Lea County (this county) | 74,455 | $4,263 | $317.4M |
| Mckinley County | 72,902 | $10,373 | $756.2M |
| Otero County | 67,839 | $9,605 | $651.6M |
| Chaves County | 65,157 | $6,895 | $449.3M |
| Eddy County | 62,314 | $6,052 | $377.1M |
| Curry County | 48,430 | $7,399 | $358.3M |
| Rio Arriba County | 40,363 | $7,760 | $313.2M |
| Taos County | 34,489 | $11,622 | $400.8M |
| Grant County | 28,185 | $11,639 | $328.1M |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Lea County's $4,263 - prioritizing New Mexico peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Lea County, New Mexico receive?
How does Lea County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Lea County, New Mexico?
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.