PlainSpending

Story County

$812.5M in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $8,246 per capita.

Iowa · FIPS 19169

In FY2025, Story County in Iowa posted a dense absolute book of $812.5M ($8,246 per capita across 98,537 residents). That is 47.3% below the national average and 27.9% below the Iowa average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #39 of 99.

Total spending
$812.5M
Per capita
$8,246
vs. national avg
-47.3%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Story County sits #603 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($812.5M).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 48%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,246
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
61.3% of tracked spending
Iowa rank
#39 of 99

How Story County Compares

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

Story County$8,246Iowa avg$11,432National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 98,537 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Story County

Top awarding agencies in Story County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$387.9MDepartment of Energy$154.3MDepartment of Agriculture$90.3M
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 $632.4M (77.8%) of Story County's $812.5M 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 - Story 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 $387.9M 61.3%
Department of Energy $154.3M 24.4%
Department of Agriculture $90.3M 14.3%

How Story County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,246 Higher than most higher than 52% 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

Story County Among Iowa's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Story 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 0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000 $0$5,000$10,000$15,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Iowa by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Story 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 (this 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

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Story County's $8,246 - prioritizing Iowa peers first.

Carroll County

Iowa

$8,240 per capita

$171.1M total

Van Buren County

Iowa

$8,207 per capita

$59.1M total

Tama County

Iowa

$8,297 per capita

$142.2M total

Winneshiek County

Iowa

$8,184 per capita

$164.2M total

Benton County

Iowa

$8,160 per capita

$208.7M 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 ($8,246 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($812.5M 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 →