Whitley County
$429.6M in FY2025 federal spending, $11,702 per capita.
Kentucky · FIPS 21235
In FY2025, Whitley County in Kentucky received $429.6M in federal spending - $11,702 per capita for a population of 36,712. This is 25.2% below the national average and 69.6% below the Kentucky average. The leading federal agency by spending share is Social Security Administration. By per-capita federal spending, it ranks #8 of 120 Kentucky counties.
- Total spending
- $429.6M
- Per capita
- $11,702
- vs. national avg
- -25.2%
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
The verdict
Whitley County posts top-quartile federal per-capita spending nationally, with spending dominated by Social Security Administration.
- National per-capita rank
- Top 16%
- of 3,232 US counties
- Per-capita spending
- $11,702
- Leading agency
- Social Security Administration
- 74.9% of tracked spending
- Kentucky rank
- #8 of 120
How Whitley County Compares
Per-capita federal spending: Whitley County vs. Kentucky and the nation
Population: 36,712 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate) - the denominator behind the per-capita figures above.
Leading Federal Agencies in Whitley County
Top awarding agencies in Whitley County, FY2025
Among the 1,150 US counties with agency-level spending data, Social Security Administration is the most common leading agency nationally, topping 86% of agency-tracked counties.
These 3 agencies together account for $240.7M (56%) of Whitley County's $429.6M 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 - Whitley 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 | $180.2M | 74.9% |
| Department of Education | $30.4M | 12.6% |
| Department of Transportation | $30.1M | 12.5% |
How Whitley County Ranks Nationally
Per-capita federal spending vs. all US counties
All 3,232 US counties, FY2025
$11,702 Top 16% higher than 84% of 3,224 US counties
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, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source USASpending.gov FY2025 + U.S. Census Bureau population estimates
Whitley County Among Kentucky's Largest Counties
Population vs. per-capita spending: Kentucky's biggest counties
Read the chart as a table
| County | Population | Per capita | Total spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County | 782,969 | $155,985 | $122.1B |
| Fayette County | 322,570 | $9,646 | $3.1B |
| Kenton County | 169,064 | $6,476 | $1.1B |
| Boone County | 135,968 | $6,469 | $879.5M |
| Warren County | 134,554 | $5,564 | $748.7M |
| Hardin County | 110,702 | $11,800 | $1.3B |
| Daviess County | 103,312 | $7,051 | $728.4M |
| Campbell County | 93,076 | $6,361 | $592.0M |
| Madison County | 92,701 | $10,599 | $982.6M |
| Bullitt County | 82,217 | $6,206 | $510.3M |
| Christian County | 72,748 | $8,491 | $617.7M |
| Mccracken County | 67,875 | $8,085 | $548.8M |
| Oldham County | 67,607 | $5,593 | $378.1M |
| Pulaski County | 65,034 | $8,056 | $523.9M |
| Laurel County | 62,613 | $7,885 | $493.7M |
| Whitley County (this county) | 36,712 | $11,702 | $429.6M |
Federal Spending Guides
Nearby Counties With Similar Federal Spending
Counties with per-capita federal spending closest to Whitley County's $11,702 - prioritizing Kentucky peers first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much federal spending did Whitley County, Kentucky receive?
How does Whitley County's per capita spending compare to the national average?
What is the population of Whitley County, Kentucky?
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.
Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →
Every figure on PlainSpending is computed directly from USASpending.gov award-transaction data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every federal award with a place-of-performance in this county, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.