PlainSpending

Vilas County

$11,766 per resident in FY2025 ($271.2M total) - high intensity.

Wisconsin · FIPS 55125

In FY2025, Vilas County in Wisconsin received $271.2M in federal spending - $11,766 per capita for a population of 23,047. This is 24.8% below the national average and 38.6% below the Wisconsin average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #9 of 72 Wisconsin counties.

Total spending
$271.2M
Per capita
$11,766
vs. national avg
-24.8%
Fiscal year
FY2025

High per-resident intensity

Per-capita intensity is the standout: $11,766 puts Vilas County at #488 of 3,224.

High per-resident intensity

Vilas County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 16%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$11,766
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
88.6% of tracked spending
Wisconsin rank
#9 of 72

How Vilas County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Vilas County vs. Wisconsin and the nation

Vilas County$11,766Wisconsin avg$19,169National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 23,047 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Vilas County

Top awarding agencies in Vilas County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$228.0MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$19.0MDepartment of Education$10.4M
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 $257.4M (94.9%) of Vilas County's $271.2M in total tracked federal spending.

All 3 individually-tracked agencies are shown above - Vilas 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 $228.0M 88.6%
Department of Veterans Affairs $19.0M 7.4%
Department of Education $10.4M 4%

How Vilas County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$11,766 Top 16% higher than 84% 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

Vilas County Among Wisconsin's Largest Counties

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

The 16 largest-population counties in Wisconsin by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Vilas 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 0200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,000 $0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000$120,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 16 largest-population counties in Wisconsin by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Vilas County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Milwaukee County 939,489 $6,376 $6.0B
Dane County 561,504 $96,863 $54.4B
Waukesha County 406,978 $7,959 $3.2B
Brown County 268,740 $6,595 $1.8B
Racine County 197,727 $6,617 $1.3B
Outagamie County 190,705 $7,226 $1.4B
Winnebago County 171,730 $21,391 $3.7B
Kenosha County 169,151 $6,400 $1.1B
Rock County 163,687 $9,463 $1.5B
Marathon County 138,013 $6,581 $908.3M
Washington County 136,761 $7,004 $957.9M
La Crosse County 120,784 $28,100 $3.4B
Sheboygan County 118,034 $6,979 $823.8M
Walworth County 106,478 $6,885 $733.1M
Eau Claire County 105,710 $6,379 $674.3M
Vilas County (this county) 23,047 $11,766 $271.2M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Vilas County's $11,766 - prioritizing Wisconsin peers first.

Sawyer County

Wisconsin

$11,878 per capita

$214.7M total

Forest County

Wisconsin

$11,894 per capita

$109.2M total

Adams County

Wisconsin

$11,473 per capita

$237.0M total

Burnett County

Wisconsin

$11,065 per capita

$182.9M total

Bayfield County

Wisconsin

$11,009 per capita

$178.6M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Wisconsin - 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 ($11,766 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($271.2M 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 →