PlainSpending

Shelby County

$10,075 per resident in FY2025 ($118.3M total) - high intensity.

Iowa · FIPS 19165

In FY2025, Shelby County carried a thin absolute book of $118.3M - $10,075 per capita for 11,746 residents. Intensity sits 35.6% below the national average (-11.9% vs Iowa). Leading tracked agency: Social Security Administration. Per-capita rank in-state: #7/99.

Total spending
$118.3M
Per capita
$10,075
vs. national avg
-35.6%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $10,075 puts Shelby County at #804 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Shelby County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 25%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$10,075
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
68.4% of tracked spending
Iowa rank
#7 of 99

How Shelby County Compares

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

Shelby County$10,075Iowa avg$11,432National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 11,746 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Shelby County

Top awarding agencies in Shelby County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$74.7MDepartment of Agriculture$27.9MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$6.6M
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 $109.2M (92.3%) of Shelby County's $118.3M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Shelby 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 $74.7M 68.4%
Department of Agriculture $27.9M 25.6%
Department of Veterans Affairs $6.6M 6%

How Shelby County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$10,075 Top 25% higher than 75% 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

Shelby County Among Iowa's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Shelby 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 0200,000400,000600,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Shelby County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Polk 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
Shelby County (this county) 11,746 $10,075 $118.3M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Shelby County's $10,075 - prioritizing Iowa peers first.

Dickinson County

Iowa

$10,142 per capita

$179.5M total

Plymouth County

Iowa

$9,987 per capita

$256.7M total

Kossuth County

Iowa

$9,984 per capita

$148.0M total

Cherokee County

Iowa

$9,951 per capita

$116.0M total

Taylor County

Iowa

$9,729 per capita

$57.4M 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 ($10,075 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($118.3M 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 →