Pierce County
$7.0B in FY2025 federal spending, $7,598 per capita.
Washington · FIPS 53053
In FY2025, Pierce County in Washington received $7.0B in federal spending - $7,598 per capita for a population of 921,130. This is 51.4% below the national average and 34.6% below the Washington average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #31 of 39 Washington counties.
- Total spending
- $7.0B
- Per capita
- $7,598
- vs. national avg
- -51.4%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Pierce County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 62%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $7,598
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 67.3% of tracked spending
- Washington rank
- #31 of 39
How Pierce County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Pierce County vs. Washington and the nation
Population: 921,130 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Pierce County
Top awarding agencies in Pierce 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 $5.8B (82.2%) of Pierce County's $7.0B 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 - Pierce 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 | $3.9B | 67.3% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $1.0B | 17.6% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $870.1M | 15.1% |
How Pierce County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$7,598 Top 62% higher than 38% 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
Pierce County Among Washington's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Washington's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County | 2,269,675 | $9,117 | $20.7B |
| Pierce County (this county) | 921,130 | $7,598 | $7.0B |
| Snohomish County | 827,957 | $5,959 | $4.9B |
| Spokane County | 539,339 | $7,955 | $4.3B |
| Clark County | 503,311 | $6,557 | $3.3B |
| Thurston County | 294,793 | $12,033 | $3.5B |
| Kitsap County | 275,611 | $13,725 | $3.8B |
| Yakima County | 256,728 | $6,350 | $1.6B |
| Whatcom County | 226,847 | $7,105 | $1.6B |
| Benton County | 206,873 | $27,737 | $5.7B |
| Skagit County | 129,523 | $9,714 | $1.3B |
| Cowlitz County | 110,730 | $8,563 | $948.2M |
| Grant County | 99,123 | $7,281 | $721.7M |
| Franklin County | 96,749 | $4,360 | $421.9M |
| Island County | 86,857 | $11,572 | $1.0B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Pierce County's $7,598 - prioritizing Washington peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Pierce County, Washington receive?
How does Pierce County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Pierce County, Washington?
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.