PlainSpending

Whatcom County

$1.6B in FY2025 - a heavy absolute book at $7,105 per capita.

Washington · FIPS 53073

In FY2025, Whatcom County in Washington posted a dense absolute book of $1.6B ($7,105 per capita across 226,847 residents). That is 54.6% below the national average and 38.8% below the Washington average. Social Security Administration leads tracked agency share. Statewide per-capita rank: #35 of 39.

Total spending
$1.6B
Per capita
$7,105
vs. national avg
-54.6%
Fiscal year
FY2025

Heavy absolute federal book

Whatcom County sits #367 of 3,224 counties by total obligations ($1.6B).

Heavy absolute federal book

Whatcom County posts below-median federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending concentrated almost entirely in Social Security Administration.

National per-capita rank
Top 73%
of 3,232 US counties
Per-capita spending
$7,105
Leading agency
Social Security Administration
88.9% of tracked spending
Washington rank
#35 of 39

How Whatcom County Compares

Per-capita federal spending: Whatcom County vs. Washington and the nation

Whatcom County$7,105Washington avg$11,619National avg$15,647
Source: USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

Population: 226,847 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.

Leading Federal Agencies in Whatcom County

Top awarding agencies in Whatcom County, FY2025

Social Security Administrati…$1.3BDepartment of Veterans Affai…$107.2MDepartment of Housing and Ur…$48.9M
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 $1.4B (87.6%) of Whatcom County's $1.6B 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 - Whatcom 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 $1.3B 88.9%
Department of Veterans Affairs $107.2M 7.6%
Department of Housing and Urban Development $48.9M 3.5%

How Whatcom County Ranks Nationally

Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties

All 3,232 US counties, FY2025

$7,105 Around the middle higher than 27% 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

Whatcom County Among Washington's Largest Counties

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

The 15 largest-population counties in Washington by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Whatcom 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 0500,0001,000,0001,500,0002,000,0002,500,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000 Population Spending per capita ($)
The 15 largest-population counties in Washington by FY2025 federal spending, plotted by population against spending per resident. Bubble size tracks total spending; Whatcom County is highlighted.
Read the chart as a table
County Population Per capita Total spending
King County 2,269,675 $9,117 $20.7B
Pierce County 921,130 $7,598 $7.0B
Snohomish County 827,957 $5,959 $4.9B
Spokane County 539,339 $7,955 $4.3B
Clark County 503,311 $6,557 $3.3B
Thurston County 294,793 $12,033 $3.5B
Kitsap County 275,611 $13,725 $3.8B
Yakima County 256,728 $6,350 $1.6B
Whatcom County (this county) 226,847 $7,105 $1.6B
Benton County 206,873 $27,737 $5.7B
Skagit County 129,523 $9,714 $1.3B
Cowlitz County 110,730 $8,563 $948.2M
Grant County 99,123 $7,281 $721.7M
Franklin County 96,749 $4,360 $421.9M
Island County 86,857 $11,572 $1.0B

Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending

Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Whatcom County's $7,105 - prioritizing Washington peers first.

Adams County

Washington

$7,105 per capita

$146.5M total

Grant County

Washington

$7,281 per capita

$721.7M total

Douglas County

Washington

$7,334 per capita

$314.9M total

Pierce County

Washington

$7,598 per capita

$7.0B total

Clark County

Washington

$6,557 per capita

$3.3B total

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

Nationwide counties with similar per-capita or total federal spending

Two peer sets outside Washington - 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 ($7,105 here).

Similar total federal spending

Nearest out-of-state counties by total obligations ($1.6B 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 →