PlainSpending

Pennington County

$1.2B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $11,308 per capita.

South Dakota · FIPS 46103

In FY2025, Pennington County in South Dakota posted a dense absolute book of $1.2B ($11,308 per capita across 109,222 residents). That is 27.7% below the national average and 12.6% below the South Dakota average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #38 of 66.

Total spending
$1.2B
Per capita
$11,308
vs. national avg
-27.7%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Pennington County sits #448 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($1.2B).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 18%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$11,308
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
73.7% of tracked spending
South Dakota rank
#38 of 66

How Pennington County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Pennington County vs. South Dakota and the nation

Pennington County$11,308South Dakota avg$12,944National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 109,222 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Pennington County

Top awarding agencies in Pennington County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$716.2MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$155.1MDepartment of Transportation$100.9M
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 $972.2M (78.7%) of Pennington County's $1.2B 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 - Pennington 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 $716.2M 73.7%
Department of Veterans Affairs $155.1M 16%
Department of Transportation $100.9M 10.4%

How Pennington County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$11,308 Top 18% higher than 82% 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

Pennington County Among South Dakota's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Pennington 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 050,000100,000150,000200,000250,000 $5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in South Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Pennington County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Minnehaha County 197,214 $8,232 $1.6B
Pennington County (this county) 109,222 $11,308 $1.2B
Lincoln County 65,161 $6,414 $418.0M
Brown County 38,301 $7,602 $291.2M
Brookings County 34,375 $6,805 $233.9M
Meade County 29,852 $12,098 $361.1M
Codington County 28,325 $7,324 $207.5M
Lawrence County 25,768 $11,168 $287.8M
Yankton County 23,310 $8,007 $186.6M
Davison County 19,956 $6,820 $136.1M
Beadle County 19,149 $7,558 $144.7M
Hughes County 17,765 $22,396 $397.9M
Union County 16,811 $14,158 $238.0M
Clay County 14,967 $7,186 $107.6M
Oglala Lakota County 13,672 $27,398 $374.6M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Pennington County's $11,308 - prioritizing South Dakota peers first.

Marshall County

South Dakota

$11,330 per capita

$48.8M total

Lawrence County

South Dakota

$11,168 per capita

$287.8M total

Kingsbury County

South Dakota

$11,663 per capita

$60.5M total

Clark County

South Dakota

$11,915 per capita

$45.7M total

Meade County

South Dakota

$12,098 per capita

$361.1M 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 Dakota - 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 ($11,308 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($1.2B 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 →