PlainSpending

Mercer County

$5.2B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $13,406 per capita.

New Jersey · FIPS 34021

In FY2025, Mercer County in New Jersey posted a dense absolute book of $5.2B ($13,406 per capita across 387,340 residents). That is 14.3% below the national average and 29.0% above the New Jersey average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #1 of 21.

Total spending
$5.2B
Per capita
$13,406
vs. national avg
-14.3%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Mercer County sits #140 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($5.2B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Mercer County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 11%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$13,406
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
50.9% of tracked spending
New Jersey rank
#1 of 21

How Mercer County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Mercer County vs. New Jersey and the nation

Mercer County$13,406New Jersey avg$10,394National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 387,340 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Mercer County

Top awarding agencies in Mercer County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$1.8BDepartment of Education$1.2BDepartment of Housing and Ur…$549.6M
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.

These 3 agencies together account for $3.6B (68.8%) of Mercer County's $5.2B 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 - Mercer 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 $1.8B 50.9%
Department of Education $1.2B 33.8%
Department of Housing and Urban Development $549.6M 15.4%

How Mercer County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$13,406 Top 11% higher than 89% 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

Mercer County Among New Jersey's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in New Jersey by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Mercer 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 200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,000 $4,000$6,000$8,000$10,000$12,000$14,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in New Jersey by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Mercer County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Bergen County 955,732 $8,220 $7.9B
Essex County 863,728 $7,934 $6.9B
Middlesex County 863,162 $5,709 $4.9B
Hudson County 724,854 $6,610 $4.8B
Monmouth County 643,615 $8,600 $5.5B
Ocean County 637,229 $7,805 $5.0B
Union County 575,345 $5,027 $2.9B
Passaic County 524,118 $5,440 $2.9B
Camden County 523,485 $7,070 $3.7B
Morris County 509,285 $8,024 $4.1B
Burlington County 461,860 $13,102 $6.1B
Mercer County (this county) 387,340 $13,406 $5.2B
Somerset County 345,361 $6,565 $2.3B
Gloucester County 302,294 $6,786 $2.1B
Atlantic County 274,534 $8,127 $2.2B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Mercer County's $13,406 - prioritizing New Jersey peers first.

Burlington County

New Jersey

$13,102 per capita

$6.1B total

Cape May County

New Jersey

$10,338 per capita

$984.8M total

Monmouth County

New Jersey

$8,600 per capita

$5.5B total

Bergen County

New Jersey

$8,220 per capita

$7.9B total

Atlantic County

New Jersey

$8,127 per capita

$2.2B total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside New Jersey - 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 ($13,406 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($5.2B 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 →