PlainSpending

Van Buren County

$9,373 per resident in FY2025 ($148.1M total) - high intensity.

Arkansas · FIPS 05141

In FY2025, Van Buren County carried a thin absolute book of $148.1M - $9,373 per capita for 15,796 residents. Intensity sits 40.1% below the national average (-19.2% vs Arkansas). Leading tracked agency: Social Security Administration. Per-capita rank in-state: #16/75.

Total spending
$148.1M
Per capita
$9,373
vs. national avg
-40.1%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $9,373 puts Van Buren County at #1029 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

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

National per-capita rank
Top 32%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$9,373
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
86.3% of tracked spending
Arkansas rank
#16 of 75

How Van Buren County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Van Buren County vs. Arkansas and the nation

Van Buren County$9,373Arkansas avg$11,603National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 15,796 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Van Buren County

Top awarding agencies in Van Buren County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$126.3MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$18.9MRailroad Retirement Board$1.2M
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 $146.5M (98.9%) of Van Buren County's $148.1M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Van Buren 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 $126.3M 86.3%
Department of Veterans Affairs $18.9M 12.9%
Railroad Retirement Board $1.2M 0.9%

How Van Buren County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$9,373 Higher than most higher than 68% 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

Van Buren County Among Arkansas's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Arkansas by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Van Buren 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 0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000 $4,000$6,000$8,000$10,000$12,000$14,000$16,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Arkansas by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Van Buren County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Pulaski County 399,125 $13,660 $5.5B
Benton County 284,333 $5,417 $1.5B
Washington County 245,871 $5,609 $1.4B
Sebastian County 127,799 $7,291 $931.8M
Faulkner County 123,498 $6,069 $749.6M
Saline County 123,416 $7,103 $876.6M
Craighead County 111,231 $6,684 $743.4M
Garland County 100,180 $9,850 $986.8M
White County 76,822 $7,251 $557.0M
Lonoke County 74,015 $7,351 $544.1M
Jefferson County 67,260 $8,884 $597.6M
Pope County 63,381 $7,208 $456.9M
Crawford County 60,133 $7,641 $459.5M
Crittenden County 48,163 $6,834 $329.1M
Greene County 45,736 $6,634 $303.4M
Van Buren County (this county) 15,796 $9,373 $148.1M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Van Buren County's $9,373 - prioritizing Arkansas peers first.

Fulton County

Arkansas

$9,361 per capita

$113.0M total

Searcy County

Arkansas

$9,328 per capita

$73.0M total

Desha County

Arkansas

$9,257 per capita

$105.5M total

Lee County

Arkansas

$9,533 per capita

$82.0M total

Phillips County

Arkansas

$9,152 per capita

$151.6M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Arkansas - 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 ($9,373 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($148.1M 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 →