PlainSpending

Mesa County

$1.3B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $8,336 per capita.

Colorado · FIPS 08077

In FY2025, Mesa County in Colorado posted a dense absolute book of $1.3B ($8,336 per capita across 155,703 residents). That is 46.7% below the national average and 31.4% below the Colorado average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #34 of 64.

Total spending
$1.3B
Per capita
$8,336
vs. national avg
-46.7%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Mesa County sits #434 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($1.3B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Mesa County posts above-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 46%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,336
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
79% of tracked spending
Colorado rank
#34 of 64

How Mesa County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Mesa County vs. Colorado and the nation

Mesa County$8,336Colorado avg$12,155National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 155,703 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Mesa County

Top awarding agencies in Mesa County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$917.9MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$165.3MDepartment of Transportation$78.9M
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 $1.2B (89.5%) of Mesa County's $1.3B 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 - Mesa 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 $917.9M 79%
Department of Veterans Affairs $165.3M 14.2%
Department of Transportation $78.9M 6.8%

How Mesa County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,336 Higher than most higher than 54% 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

Mesa County Among Colorado's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Mesa 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Mesa County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
El Paso County 730,395 $12,676 $9.3B
Denver County 715,522 $10,593 $7.6B
Arapahoe County 655,070 $6,663 $4.4B
Jefferson County 582,910 $10,803 $6.3B
Adams County 519,572 $9,121 $4.7B
Larimer County 359,066 $8,602 $3.1B
Douglas County 357,978 $14,587 $5.2B
Boulder County 330,758 $9,749 $3.2B
Weld County 328,981 $5,741 $1.9B
Pueblo County 168,162 $9,023 $1.5B
Mesa County (this county) 155,703 $8,336 $1.3B
Broomfield County 74,112 $5,512 $408.5M
Garfield County 61,685 $5,051 $311.6M
Eagle County 55,731 $4,358 $242.9M
La Plata County 55,638 $8,380 $466.2M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Mesa County's $8,336 - prioritizing Colorado peers first.

Montrose County

Colorado

$8,319 per capita

$355.0M total

Park County

Colorado

$8,314 per capita

$144.6M total

La Plata County

Colorado

$8,380 per capita

$466.2M total

Chaffee County

Colorado

$8,249 per capita

$160.7M total

Alamosa County

Colorado

$8,199 per capita

$134.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Colorado - 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 ($8,336 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($1.3B 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 →