PlainSpending

St. Louis County

$17.0B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $16,891 per capita.

Missouri · FIPS 29189

In FY2025, St. Louis County in Missouri posted a dense absolute book of $17.0B ($16,891 per capita across 1,004,125 residents). That is 8.0% above the national average and 10.9% above the Missouri average. Department of Defense leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #3 of 115.

Total spending
$17.0B
Per capita
$16,891
vs. national avg
+8.0%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

St. Louis County sits #35 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($17.0B).

Heavy absolute federal book

St. Louis County posts top-10% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of Defense.

National per-capita rank
Top 6%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$16,891
Leading agency
Department of Defense
56.3% of tracked spending
Missouri rank
#3 of 115

How St. Louis County Compares

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

St. Louis County$16,891Missouri avg$15,232National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 1,004,125 (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

Department of Defense$8.8BSocial Security Administrati…$5.6BDepartment of Health and Hum…$1.2B
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 $15.6B (92%) of St. Louis County's $17.0B in total tracked federal spending.

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
Department of Defense $8.8B 56.3%
Social Security Administration $5.6B 35.8%
Department of Health and Human Services $1.2B 7.9%

How St. Louis County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$16,891 Top 6% higher than 94% 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 Missouri's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Missouri 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$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Missouri 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
St. Louis County (this county) 1,004,125 $16,891 $17.0B
Jackson County 717,204 $11,265 $8.1B
St. Charles County 405,262 $6,465 $2.6B
St. Louis City 301,578 $68,810 $20.8B
Greene County 298,915 $6,701 $2.0B
Clay County 253,335 $6,058 $1.5B
Jefferson County 226,739 $6,590 $1.5B
Boone County 183,610 $6,290 $1.2B
Jasper County 122,761 $6,552 $804.4M
Cass County 107,824 $6,793 $732.4M
Platte County 106,718 $7,158 $763.8M
Franklin County 104,682 $7,263 $760.3M
Christian County 88,842 $6,297 $559.4M
Buchanan County 84,793 $6,505 $551.6M
Cape Girardeau County 81,710 $6,784 $554.3M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to St. Louis County's $16,891 - prioritizing Missouri peers first.

Holt County

Missouri

$15,990 per capita

$67.5M total

Pulaski County

Missouri

$12,581 per capita

$678.8M total

Mercer County

Missouri

$11,368 per capita

$40.2M total

Benton County

Missouri

$11,277 per capita

$218.7M total

Jackson County

Missouri

$11,265 per capita

$8.1B total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Missouri - 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 ($16,891 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($17.0B 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 →