PlainSpending

Ward County

$571.0M in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $8,166 per capita.

North Dakota · FIPS 38101

In FY2025, Ward County in North Dakota posted a dense absolute book of $571.0M ($8,166 per capita across 69,919 residents). That is 47.8% below the national average and 93.5% below the North Dakota average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #48 of 53.

Total spending
$571.0M
Per capita
$8,166
vs. national avg
-47.8%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Ward County sits #806 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($571.0M).

Heavy absolute federal book

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

National per-capita rank
Top 50%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$8,166
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
63.5% of tracked spending
North Dakota rank
#48 of 53

How Ward County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Ward County vs. North Dakota and the nation

Ward County$8,166North Dakota avg$126,315National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 69,919 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Ward County

Top awarding agencies in Ward County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$255.2MDepartment of Defense$78.7MDepartment of Veterans Affai…$67.9M
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 $401.8M (70.4%) of Ward County's $571.0M 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 - Ward 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 $255.2M 63.5%
Department of Defense $78.7M 19.6%
Department of Veterans Affairs $67.9M 16.9%

How Ward County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$8,166 Higher than most higher than 50% 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

Ward County Among North Dakota's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in North Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Ward 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 050,000100,000150,000200,000 $0$200,000$400,000$600,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in North Dakota by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Ward County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
Cass County 184,525 $483,874 $89.3B
Burleigh County 98,458 $15,671 $1.5B
Grand Forks County 73,170 $13,298 $973.0M
Ward County (this county) 69,919 $8,166 $571.0M
Williams County 40,950 $4,914 $201.2M
Stark County 33,646 $5,649 $190.1M
Morton County 33,291 $7,403 $246.5M
Stutsman County 21,593 $11,682 $252.2M
Richland County 16,529 $10,136 $167.5M
Mckenzie County 14,704 $9,218 $135.5M
Rolette County 12,187 $16,670 $203.2M
Ramsey County 11,605 $12,750 $148.0M
Barnes County 10,853 $10,613 $115.2M
Walsh County 10,563 $9,489 $100.2M
Mountrail County 9,809 $11,782 $115.6M

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Ward County's $8,166 - prioritizing North Dakota peers first.

Mercer County

North Dakota

$8,296 per capita

$69.3M total

Foster County

North Dakota

$8,008 per capita

$27.2M total

Logan County

North Dakota

$8,662 per capita

$16.2M total

Golden Valley County

North Dakota

$7,476 per capita

$13.0M total

Morton County

North Dakota

$7,403 per capita

$246.5M total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside North Dakota - 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 ($8,166 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($571.0M 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 →