PlainSpending

Thurston County

$233.8M in FY2025 federal spending, $34,512 per capita (+120.6% vs national).

Nebraska · FIPS 31173

In FY2025, Thurston County in Nebraska received $233.8M in federal spending - $34,512 per capita for a population of 6,773. This is 120.6% above the national average and 144.1% above the Nebraska average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Department of State. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #1 of 93 Nebraska counties.

Total spending
$233.8M
Per capita
$34,512
vs. national avg
+120.6%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Well above national average

Thurston County runs 120.6% above the $15,647 national average.

Well above national average

Thurston County posts top-5% federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Department of State.

National per-capita rank
Top 2%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$34,512
Leading agency
Department of State
65% of tracked spending
Nebraska rank
#1 of 93

How Thurston County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Thurston County vs. Nebraska and the nation

Thurston County$34,512Nebraska avg$14,140National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 6,773 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Thurston County

Top awarding agencies in Thurston County, FY2025

Department of State$103.5MDepartment of Education$29.8MDepartment of Transportation$26.0M
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025, aggregated by awarding agency.

Among the 3,224 US counties with agency-level spending data, Department of State is a comparatively unusual leading agency, topping only 0% 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 $159.4M (68.2%) of Thurston County's $233.8M 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 - Thurston 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 State $103.5M 65%
Department of Education $29.8M 18.7%
Department of Transportation $26.0M 16.3%

How Thurston County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$34,512 Top 2% higher than 98% 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

Thurston County Among Nebraska's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Nebraska by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Thurston 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Nebraska by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Thurston County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Douglas County 584,526 $15,987 $9.3B
Lancaster County 322,608 $9,515 $3.1B
Sarpy County 190,604 $8,801 $1.7B
Hall County 62,895 $5,919 $372.3M
Buffalo County 50,084 $7,023 $351.7M
Dodge County 37,167 $7,328 $272.4M
Scotts Bluff County 36,084 $8,232 $297.0M
Madison County 35,585 $11,743 $417.9M
Lincoln County 34,676 $9,362 $324.6M
Platte County 34,296 $12,089 $414.6M
Adams County 31,205 $7,627 $238.0M
Cass County 26,598 $7,855 $208.9M
Dawson County 24,111 $6,116 $147.5M
Saunders County 22,278 $7,207 $160.6M
Gage County 21,704 $9,312 $202.1M
Thurston County (this county) 6,773 $34,512 $233.8M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Thurston County's $34,512 - prioritizing Nebraska peers first.

Banner County

Nebraska

$26,640 per capita

$18.0M total

Keya Paha County

Nebraska

$24,700 per capita

$19.0M total

Boyd County

Nebraska

$17,245 per capita

$31.2M total

Frontier County

Nebraska

$16,706 per capita

$42.1M total

Deuel County

Nebraska

$16,477 per capita

$30.3M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Nebraska - 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 ($34,512 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($233.8M 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 →