San Diego County
$35.4B in FY2025 federal spending, $10,723 per capita.
California · FIPS 06073
In FY2025, San Diego County in California received $35.4B in federal spending - $10,723 per capita for a population of 3,298,634. This is 31.5% below the national average and 12.7% below the California average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #7 of 58 California counties.
- Total spending
- $35.4B
- Per capita
- $10,723
- vs. national avg
- -31.5%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
San Diego County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending led by Social Security Administration, among several agencies.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 21%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $10,723
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 44.6% of tracked spending
- California rank
- #7 of 58
How San Diego County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: San Diego County vs. California and the nation
Population: 3,298,634 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in San Diego County
Top awarding agencies in San Diego 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 $27.7B (78.3%) of San Diego County's $35.4B 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 - San Diego 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 | $12.3B | 44.6% |
| Department of Defense | $12.0B | 43.4% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $3.3B | 12.1% |
How San Diego County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$10,723 Top 21% higher than 79% 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
San Diego County Among California's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: California's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | 10,014,009 | $7,997 | $80.1B |
| San Diego County (this county) | 3,298,634 | $10,723 | $35.4B |
| Orange County | 3,186,989 | $7,341 | $23.4B |
| Riverside County | 2,418,185 | $6,140 | $14.8B |
| San Bernardino County | 2,181,654 | $5,778 | $12.6B |
| Santa Clara County | 1,936,259 | $7,000 | $13.6B |
| Alameda County | 1,682,353 | $25,252 | $42.5B |
| Sacramento County | 1,585,055 | $14,781 | $23.4B |
| Contra Costa County | 1,165,927 | $6,139 | $7.2B |
| Fresno County | 1,008,654 | $4,949 | $5.0B |
| Kern County | 909,235 | $6,502 | $5.9B |
| San Francisco County | 873,965 | $9,698 | $8.5B |
| Ventura County | 843,843 | $7,141 | $6.0B |
| San Joaquin County | 779,233 | $5,595 | $4.4B |
| San Mateo County | 764,442 | $5,783 | $4.4B |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to San Diego County's $10,723 - prioritizing California peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did San Diego County, California receive?
How does San Diego County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of San Diego County, California?
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.