Polk County
$4.3B in FY2025 federal spending, $8,689 per capita.
Iowa · FIPS 19153
In FY2025, Polk County in Iowa received $4.3B in federal spending - $8,689 per capita for a population of 492,401. This is 44.5% below the national average and 24.0% below the Iowa average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #25 of 99 Iowa counties.
- Total spending
- $4.3B
- Per capita
- $8,689
- vs. national avg
- -44.5%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
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
- 74.5% of tracked spending
- Iowa rank
- #25 of 99
How Polk County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Polk County vs. Iowa and the nation
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
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 $2.8B (64.5%) 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 | $2.1B | 74.5% |
| Department of Education | $423.5M | 15.4% |
| Department of Homeland Security | $280.3M | 10.2% |
How Polk County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$8,689 Top 41% higher than 59% 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
Polk County Among Iowa's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Iowa's biggest counties
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 |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Polk County's $8,689 - prioritizing Iowa peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Polk County, Iowa receive?
How does Polk County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Polk County, Iowa?
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.