PlainSpending

Polk County

$4.3B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $8,689 per capita.

Iowa · FIPS 19153

In FY2025, Polk County in Iowa posted a dense absolute book of $4.3B ($8,689 per capita across 492,401 residents). That is 44.5% below the national average and 24.0% below the Iowa average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #25 of 99.

Total spending
$4.3B
Per capita
$8,689
vs. national avg
-44.5%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Polk County sits #170 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($4.3B).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 41%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,689
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
72.7% of tracked spending
Iowa rank
#25 of 99

How Polk County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Polk County vs. Iowa and the nation

Polk County$8,689Iowa avg$11,432National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 492,401 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Polk County

Top awarding agencies in Polk County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$2.2BDepartment of Education$422.5MDepartment of Commerce$418.8M
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 $3.1B (72%) of Polk County's $4.3B 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 - Polk 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 $2.2B 72.7%
Department of Education $422.5M 13.7%
Department of Commerce $418.8M 13.6%

How Polk County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,689 Higher than most higher than 59% 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

Polk County Among Iowa's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Polk 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 0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Polk County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Polk County (this county) 492,401 $8,689 $4.3B
Linn County 230,299 $14,286 $3.3B
Scott County 174,669 $6,475 $1.1B
Johnson County 152,854 $7,353 $1.1B
Black Hawk County 131,144 $7,035 $922.6M
Woodbury County 105,941 $6,667 $706.3M
Dallas County 99,678 $5,045 $502.9M
Dubuque County 99,266 $7,862 $780.4M
Story County 98,537 $8,246 $812.5M
Pottawattamie County 93,667 $7,177 $672.3M
Warren County 52,403 $6,537 $342.5M
Clinton County 46,460 $7,884 $366.3M
Muscatine County 43,235 $7,062 $305.3M
Cerro Gordo County 43,127 $8,675 $374.1M
Marshall County 40,105 $7,031 $282.0M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Polk County's $8,689 - prioritizing Iowa peers first.

Cerro Gordo County

Iowa

$8,675 per capita

$374.1M total

Clay County

Iowa

$8,705 per capita

$142.6M total

Union County

Iowa

$8,638 per capita

$104.9M total

Greene County

Iowa

$8,753 per capita

$76.8M total

Butler County

Iowa

$8,754 per capita

$125.5M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Iowa - 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 ($8,689 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($4.3B 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 →