PlainSpending

Otero County

$135.7M in FY2025 federal spending, $7,258 per capita.

Colorado · FIPS 08089

In FY2025, Otero County carried a thin absolute book of $135.7M - $7,258 per capita for 18,690 residents. Intensity sits 53.6% below the national average (-40.3% vs Colorado). Leading tracked agency: Social Security Administration. Per-capita rank in-state: #46/64.

Total spending
$135.7M
Per capita
$7,258
vs. national avg
-53.6%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Mid per-resident intensity

Otero County's intensity is $7,258 (#2228 of 3,224).

Mid per-resident intensity

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

National per-capita rank
Top 70%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,258
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
77.7% of tracked spending
Colorado rank
#46 of 64

How Otero County Compares

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

Otero County$7,258Colorado avg$12,155National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 18,690 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Otero County

Top awarding agencies in Otero County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$93.2MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$17.1MRailroad Retirement Board$9.6M
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 $119.9M (88.4%) of Otero County's $135.7M 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 - Otero 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 $93.2M 77.7%
Department of Veterans Affairs $17.1M 14.3%
Railroad Retirement Board $9.6M 8%

How Otero County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,258 Around the middle higher than 30% 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

Otero County Among Colorado's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Otero 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Colorado by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Otero 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 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
Otero County (this county) 18,690 $7,258 $135.7M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Otero County's $7,258 - prioritizing Colorado peers first.

Logan County

Colorado

$7,351 per capita

$158.3M total

Lincoln County

Colorado

$6,985 per capita

$39.6M total

Elbert County

Colorado

$6,958 per capita

$181.3M total

Dolores County

Colorado

$7,572 per capita

$17.6M total

Rio Blanco County

Colorado

$7,706 per capita

$50.3M 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 ($7,258 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($135.7M 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 →