PlainSpending

Rutherford County

$14,861 per resident in FY2025 ($957.7M total) - high intensity.

North Carolina · FIPS 37161

In FY2025, Rutherford County in North Carolina posted a dense absolute book of $957.7M ($14,861 per capita across 64,444 residents). That is 5.0% below the national average and 19.8% above the North Carolina average. Department of Defense leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #7 of 100.

Total spending
$957.7M
Per capita
$14,861
vs. national avg
-5.0%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $14,861 puts Rutherford County at #247 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Rutherford County posts top-10% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Department of Defense, among several agencies.

National per-capita rank
Top 8%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$14,861
Leading agency
Department of Defense
47.9% of tracked spending
North Carolina rank
#7 of 100

How Rutherford County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Rutherford County vs. North Carolina and the nation

Rutherford County$14,861North Carolina avg$12,400National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 64,444 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Rutherford County

Top awarding agencies in Rutherford County, FY2025

Department of Defense$438.3MSocial Security Administrati…$425.2MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$52.4M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of Defense is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 2.6% of agency-tracked counties nationally -- often a sign of a single large federal facility rather than broad-based spending.

These 3 agencies together account for $915.9M (95.6%) of Rutherford County's $957.7M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Rutherford 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
Department of Defense $438.3M 47.9%
Social Security Administration $425.2M 46.4%
Department of Veterans Affairs $52.4M 5.7%

How Rutherford County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$14,861 Top 8% higher than 92% 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

Rutherford County Among North Carolina's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in North Carolina by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Rutherford 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 0500,0001,000,0001,500,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in North Carolina by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Rutherford County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Wake County 1,129,410 $11,428 $12.9B
Mecklenburg County 1,115,482 $5,240 $5.8B
Guilford County 541,299 $7,579 $4.1B
Forsyth County 382,590 $7,451 $2.9B
Cumberland County 334,728 $12,871 $4.3B
Durham County 324,833 $18,868 $6.1B
Buncombe County 269,452 $13,420 $3.6B
Union County 238,267 $5,561 $1.3B
Gaston County 227,943 $6,974 $1.6B
Cabarrus County 225,804 $5,453 $1.2B
New Hanover County 225,702 $8,720 $2.0B
Johnston County 215,999 $6,735 $1.5B
Onslow County 204,576 $11,691 $2.4B
Iredell County 186,693 $7,826 $1.5B
Alamance County 171,415 $6,612 $1.1B
Rutherford County (this county) 64,444 $14,861 $957.7M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Rutherford County's $14,861 - prioritizing North Carolina peers first.

Craven County

North Carolina

$14,860 per capita

$1.5B total

Ashe County

North Carolina

$15,398 per capita

$409.2M total

Brunswick County

North Carolina

$15,745 per capita

$2.2B total

Polk County

North Carolina

$16,122 per capita

$311.6M total

Jones County

North Carolina

$13,553 per capita

$124.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside North Carolina - 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 ($14,861 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($957.7M 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 →