PlainSpending

St. Louis County

$1.6B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $8,190 per capita.

Minnesota · FIPS 27137

In FY2025, St. Louis County in Minnesota posted a dense absolute book of $1.6B ($8,190 per capita across 200,231 residents). That is 47.7% below the national average and 80.7% below the Minnesota average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #49 of 87.

Total spending
$1.6B
Per capita
$8,190
vs. national avg
-47.7%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

St. Louis County sits #362 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($1.6B).

Heavy absolute federal book

St. Louis County posts above-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 49%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,190
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
84.6% of tracked spending
Minnesota rank
#49 of 87

How St. Louis County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: St. Louis County vs. Minnesota and the nation

St. Louis County$8,190Minnesota avg$42,425National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 200,231 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in St. Louis County

Top awarding agencies in St. Louis County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$1.2BDepartment of Veterans Affai…$136.5MDepartment of Transportation$81.2M
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 $1.4B (86.1%) of St. Louis County's $1.6B 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 - St. Louis 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 $1.2B 84.6%
Department of Veterans Affairs $136.5M 9.7%
Department of Transportation $81.2M 5.7%

How St. Louis County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,190 Higher than most higher than 51% 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

St. Louis County Among Minnesota's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Minnesota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; St. Louis 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 0500,0001,000,0001,500,000 $0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Minnesota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; St. Louis County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Hennepin County 1,281,565 $146,659 $188.0B
Ramsey County 552,352 $10,072 $5.6B
Dakota County 439,882 $12,334 $5.4B
Anoka County 363,887 $6,943 $2.5B
Washington County 267,568 $6,140 $1.6B
St. Louis County (this county) 200,231 $8,190 $1.6B
Olmsted County 162,847 $7,722 $1.3B
Stearns County 158,292 $7,023 $1.1B
Scott County 150,928 $4,955 $747.8M
Wright County 141,337 $5,446 $769.7M
Carver County 106,922 $5,677 $607.0M
Sherburne County 97,183 $14,241 $1.4B
Blue Earth County 69,112 $6,487 $448.3M
Rice County 67,097 $6,213 $416.9M
Crow Wing County 66,123 $8,931 $590.5M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to St. Louis County's $8,190 - prioritizing Minnesota peers first.

Lyon County

Minnesota

$8,138 per capita

$205.6M total

Sibley County

Minnesota

$8,248 per capita

$122.4M total

Wadena County

Minnesota

$8,260 per capita

$116.2M total

Fillmore County

Minnesota

$8,110 per capita

$172.2M total

Morrison County

Minnesota

$8,294 per capita

$282.1M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Minnesota - 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 ($8,190 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($1.6B 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 →