PlainSpending

Shelby County

$6.4B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $6,904 per capita.

Tennessee · FIPS 47157

In FY2025, Shelby County in Tennessee posted a dense absolute book of $6.4B ($6,904 per capita across 929,744 residents). That is 55.9% below the national average and 60.7% below the Tennessee average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #78 of 95.

Total spending
$6.4B
Per capita
$6,904
vs. national avg
-55.9%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Shelby County sits #97 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($6.4B).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 78%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$6,904
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
76% of tracked spending
Tennessee rank
#78 of 95

How Shelby County Compares

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

Shelby County$6,904Tennessee avg$17,561National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 929,744 (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…$4.0BDepartment of Defense$680.4MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$594.7M
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 $5.3B (82.6%) of Shelby County's $6.4B 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 - 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 $4.0B 76%
Department of Defense $680.4M 12.8%
Department of Veterans Affairs $594.7M 11.2%

How Shelby County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$6,904 Among the lowest higher than 22% 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 Tennessee's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Tennessee 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 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,000 $0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Tennessee 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
Shelby County (this county) 929,744 $6,904 $6.4B
Davidson County 715,884 $64,625 $46.3B
Knox County 478,971 $7,920 $3.8B
Hamilton County 366,207 $17,351 $6.4B
Rutherford County 341,486 $5,288 $1.8B
Williamson County 247,726 $7,002 $1.7B
Montgomery County 220,069 $9,191 $2.0B
Sumner County 196,281 $6,874 $1.3B
Sullivan County 158,163 $11,509 $1.8B
Wilson County 147,737 $6,618 $977.7M
Blount County 135,280 $7,850 $1.1B
Washington County 133,001 $9,399 $1.3B
Bradley County 108,620 $7,101 $771.3M
Maury County 100,974 $7,515 $758.8M
Madison County 98,823 $7,162 $707.8M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Shelby County's $6,904 - prioritizing Tennessee peers first.

Dickson County

Tennessee

$6,907 per capita

$375.1M total

Perry County

Tennessee

$6,908 per capita

$57.8M total

Warren County

Tennessee

$6,885 per capita

$282.0M total

Bledsoe County

Tennessee

$6,926 per capita

$103.3M total

Scott County

Tennessee

$6,877 per capita

$150.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Tennessee - 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 ($6,904 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($6.4B 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 →