PlainSpending

Kentucky Federal Spending

$173.3B in FY2025 (+145.8% vs national per-capita average).

$173.3B total · $38,460 per capita · FY2025 · Ranked #9 total, #6 per capita · 145.8% above national avg

In FY2025, Kentucky received $173.3B in federal spending - $38,460 per capita, ranking #6 among 57 states and 145.8% above the national average. The most common award type is direct payments, accounting for 43.8% of tracked awards. The top spending agency is Department of Health and Human Services.

Kentucky · FY2025

Kentucky received $173.3B in federal spending in FY2025 - $38,460 per resident, 145.8% above the national average, with direct payments the largest award category.

Total federal spending
$173.3B
#9 of 57 states
Per resident
$38,460
#6 per capita
Latest annual change
+$10.3B
FY2024 to FY2025 (+6.3%)
Top agency
Dept. of Health and Human Services
$127.3B

Well above national average

Kentucky's $38,460 runs 145.8% above the $15,647 national average.

According to USASpending.gov, the federal government directed a dense absolute book of $173.3B to Kentucky in FY2025 ($38,460 per resident across 4,505,836 people). Total-dollar rank #9 marks a heavy absolute footprint; per-capita rank is #6 (145.8% above the $15,647 national average).

High per-resident intensity shapes the award-count mix: 65,007 contracts, 6,628 grants, 8,162 loans, and 67,579 direct payments. The most common award type is direct payments at 43.8% of tracked awards in the state, with contracts a distant second at 65,007 awards. Department of Health and Human Services is the single largest federal agency operating in Kentucky, with $127.3B in obligations - more than Social Security Administration's $23.5B.

Over the available history, federal spending in Kentucky has grown 38.5% from $125.1B in FY2020 to $173.3B in FY2025 - against an already above-average intensity band. Combined with 120 counties and top recipient Health Services Kentucky Cabinet For at $18.2B, the trail shows whether the heavy intensity is still rising.

Figures are award-transaction data from USASpending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury). See our methodology for per-capita denominators and award categories.

Source: USAspending.gov, Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) + System for Award Management (SAM) Kentucky federal awards (contracts, grants, loans, direct payments) for FY2025 · 2025 USAspending.gov publishes award-level data within ~30 days of obligation; categories follow OMB Object Class Codes. Per-capita metrics use Census ACS population estimates as the denominator.

How far above the national average?

Total Spending

$173.3B

Rank #9

Per Capita

$38,460

Rank #6

Population

4,505,836

Contract Awards

65,007

Grant Awards

6,628

Total Federal Spending

$173.3B

FY2025 obligations

Per Capita

$38,460

Rank #6

Counties Receiving

120

federal dollars

Top Agency Share

$127.3B

Department of Health and Human

Kentucky award-type mix by count (FY2025)

Awards43.8%42.1%Direct PaymentsContractsLoansOtherGrants
Per-state share of tracked federal awards BY COUNT across major OMB-aligned award types (not a dollar-value breakdown). Mandatory-vs-discretionary marker reflects the entitlement-vs-appropriated split.
Kentucky per-capita federal spending vs. national average 83.3%
National average

Compared against the national average of $15,647 per resident.

Awards by Type

Direct Payments is the most common award type at 43.8% of tracked awards in Kentucky (by count, not dollar value).

Direct Payments 67,579 awards (43.8%)
Contracts 65,007 awards (42.1%)
Loans 8,162 awards (5.3%)
Other 7,025 awards (4.5%)
Grants 6,628 awards (4.3%)

Comparison to National Average

Metric Kentucky National Avg Difference
Per Capita Spending $38,460 $15,647 +145.8%
Contracts Share 0.0% - -
Grants Share 0.0% - -

Top Federal Agencies in Kentucky

Federal agencies ranked by total spending in Kentucky during FY2025.

# Agency Spending % of Total
1 Department of Health and Human Services $127.3B 73.5%
2 Social Security Administration $23.5B 13.6%
3 Department of Defense $9.7B 5.6%
4 Department of Agriculture $3.2B 1.8%
5 Department of Veterans Affairs $2.9B 1.7%
6 Department of Transportation $1.8B 1.0%
7 Department of Education $1.5B 0.9%
8 Department of Housing and Urban Development $804.2M 0.5%
9 Department of Homeland Security $505.3M 0.3%
10 Department of Energy $456.2M 0.3%

Top Recipients in Kentucky

Organizations and entities receiving the most federal funds in Kentucky.

# Recipient Total Awards
1 Health Services Kentucky Cabinet For $18.2B
2 Humana Government Business INC $6.5B
3 Executive Office of the Commonwealth of Kentucky $1.4B
4 Kentucky Department of Education $1.2B
5 Lockheed Martin Corporation $837.5M
6 East Kentucky Power Cooperative, INC. $671.0M
7 Energy && Environment Cabinet $318.1M
8 Kentucky Department of Military Affairs $317.4M
9 Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, a Joint Venture $289.5M
10 Wieland North America Recycling LLC $270.0M
11 University of Kentucky Research Foundation, The $261.4M
12 Louisville Metro Housing Authority $186.5M
13 Kentucky Infrastructure Authority $170.9M

Spending Trends

The latest annual comparison is +$10.3B (+6.3%) from FY2024 to FY2025; this is a difference in recorded award obligations, not a claim about cause or local benefit. Federal spending in Kentucky increased 38.5% from FY2020 to FY2025.

$120B$140B$160B$180B FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025 $173B
Fiscal Year Total Spending Per Capita Population
FY2025 $173.3B $38,460 4,505,836
FY2024 $163.0B $36,176 4,505,836
FY2023 $159.3B $35,362 4,505,836
FY2022 $150.4B $33,376 4,505,836
FY2021 $144.9B $32,161 4,505,836
FY2020 $125.1B $27,771 4,505,836

Counties in Kentucky

120 counties ranked by federal spending in FY2025.

# County Total Spending Per Capita Population
1 Jefferson County $122.1B $155,985 782,969
2 Fayette County $3.1B $9,646 322,570
3 Franklin County $1.7B $33,394 51,541
4 Hardin County $1.3B $11,800 110,702
5 Kenton County $1.1B $6,476 169,064
6 Madison County $982.6M $10,599 92,701
7 Clark County $898.9M $24,314 36,972
8 Boone County $879.5M $6,469 135,968
9 Warren County $748.7M $5,564 134,554
10 Daviess County $728.4M $7,051 103,312
11 Christian County $617.7M $8,491 72,748
12 Shelby County $593.3M $12,344 48,065
13 Campbell County $592.0M $6,361 93,076
14 Mccracken County $548.8M $8,085 67,875
15 Pulaski County $523.9M $8,056 65,034
16 Bullitt County $510.3M $6,206 82,217
17 Laurel County $493.7M $7,885 62,613
18 Pike County $481.4M $8,206 58,669
19 Whitley County $429.6M $11,702 36,712
20 Henderson County $405.1M $9,045 44,793
21 Boyd County $390.9M $8,099 48,261
22 Oldham County $378.1M $5,593 67,607
23 Floyd County $364.3M $10,135 35,942
24 Hopkins County $349.6M $7,698 45,423
25 Jessamine County $349.5M $6,596 52,991
26 Nelson County $333.0M $7,126 46,738
27 Marshall County $325.9M $10,294 31,659
28 Scott County $308.0M $5,389 57,155
29 Greenup County $295.9M $8,229 35,962
30 Barren County $280.6M $6,308 44,485
31 Calloway County $270.4M $7,287 37,103
32 Boyle County $266.2M $8,696 30,614
33 Graves County $252.7M $6,894 36,649
34 Muhlenberg County $242.6M $7,843 30,928
35 Woodford County $242.1M $9,009 26,871
36 Knox County $231.6M $7,672 30,193
37 Perry County $228.1M $8,010 28,473
38 Letcher County $227.3M $10,547 21,548
39 Harlan County $223.1M $8,315 26,831
40 Carter County $217.3M $8,160 26,627
41 Anderson County $211.7M $8,874 23,852
42 Trigg County $192.7M $13,705 14,061
43 Meade County $187.7M $6,255 30,003
44 Bell County $186.5M $7,738 24,097
45 Grayson County $184.2M $6,972 26,420
46 Ohio County $184.0M $7,742 23,772
47 Mccreary County $182.9M $10,831 16,888
48 Montgomery County $181.6M $6,461 28,114
49 Johnson County $180.5M $7,957 22,680
50 Logan County $175.8M $6,409 27,432
51 Rowan County $173.1M $7,018 24,662
52 Lincoln County $169.9M $6,998 24,275
53 Taylor County $169.1M $6,499 26,023
54 Bourbon County $165.3M $8,164 20,252
55 Russell County $164.8M $9,158 17,991
56 Mercer County $162.0M $7,155 22,641
57 Grant County $162.0M $6,495 24,941
58 Breckinridge County $153.9M $7,531 20,432
59 Wayne County $151.8M $7,760 19,555
60 Mason County $141.3M $8,253 17,120
61 Rockcastle County $137.5M $8,575 16,037
62 Clay County $136.4M $6,705 20,345
63 Allen County $136.1M $6,610 20,588
64 Knott County $128.6M $9,027 14,251
65 Simpson County $126.7M $6,464 19,594
66 Magoffin County $126.2M $10,844 11,637
67 Adair County $126.0M $6,663 18,903
68 Harrison County $125.0M $6,685 18,692
69 Lyon County $123.1M $14,178 8,680
70 Garrard County $122.0M $7,195 16,953
71 Marion County $118.8M $6,066 19,581
72 Breathitt County $117.2M $8,540 13,718
73 Spencer County $117.0M $6,005 19,490
74 Lawrence County $116.2M $7,133 16,293
75 Hart County $113.6M $5,890 19,288
76 Butler County $110.7M $8,950 12,371
77 Union County $106.4M $7,787 13,668
78 Washington County $106.2M $8,830 12,027
79 Henry County $105.5M $6,729 15,678
80 Estill County $102.1M $7,212 14,163
81 Webster County $100.6M $7,729 13,017
82 Fleming County $99.8M $6,617 15,082
83 Casey County $99.3M $6,232 15,941
84 Larue County $99.2M $6,671 14,867
85 Livingston County $98.9M $11,131 8,888
86 Caldwell County $97.3M $7,695 12,649
87 Pendleton County $92.8M $6,334 14,644
88 Todd County $90.1M $7,360 12,243
89 Powell County $89.2M $6,791 13,129
90 Carroll County $88.8M $8,218 10,810
91 Martin County $87.7M $7,774 11,287
92 Jackson County $87.0M $6,717 12,955
93 Morgan County $86.6M $6,309 13,726
94 Edmonson County $84.2M $6,948 12,126
95 Lewis County $80.1M $6,126 13,080
96 Mclean County $78.3M $8,555 9,152
97 Bath County $77.4M $6,067 12,750
98 Green County $75.2M $6,766 11,107
99 Leslie County $73.9M $7,033 10,513
100 Menifee County $70.1M $11,469 6,113
101 Ballard County $69.5M $8,999 7,728
102 Owen County $68.5M $6,071 11,278
103 Hancock County $66.7M $7,333 9,095
104 Monroe County $64.7M $5,709 11,338
105 Metcalfe County $64.1M $6,231 10,286
106 Gallatin County $63.9M $7,351 8,690
107 Crittenden County $63.7M $7,082 8,990
108 Clinton County $63.0M $6,804 9,253
109 Bracken County $59.8M $7,119 8,400
110 Fulton County $58.9M $9,043 6,515
111 Lee County $58.1M $7,856 7,395
112 Cumberland County $56.2M $9,537 5,888
113 Trimble County $55.3M $6,529 8,474
114 Wolfe County $47.8M $7,287 6,562
115 Elliott County $44.7M $6,080 7,354
116 Nicholas County $43.5M $5,767 7,537
117 Hickman County $40.7M $8,996 4,521
118 Carlisle County $37.1M $7,682 4,826
119 Owsley County $27.9M $6,889 4,051
120 Robertson County $14.8M $6,752 2,193
DOGE impact for Kentucky → Per-capita rankings → Why spending varies by state →

States With Similar Per Capita Spending

States with per capita federal spending closest to Kentucky's $38,460.

Minnesota

$42,425 per capita

$242.1B total

Connecticut

$42,600 per capita

$153.6B total

Guam

$31,490 per capita

$4.8B total

Indiana

$30,517 per capita

$207.1B total

South Carolina

$26,788 per capita

$137.1B total

Compare Kentucky to another state side-by-side →

States with similar total federal spending

Nearest nationwide peers by total obligation volume ($173.3B here) - a different axis from the per-capita neighbors above.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Kentucky's federal spending per capita compare to the national average?

Kentucky's $38,460 runs 145.8% above the $15,647 national average (rank #6 of 57).

How many counties in Kentucky receive federal spending?

120 counties in Kentucky receive federal spending. The county receiving the most is Jefferson County with $122.1B.

How much federal spending did Kentucky receive in FY2025?

Kentucky received a heavy absolute book of $173.3B in FY2025 ($38,460 per capita; population 4,505,836).

Where does Kentucky rank nationally in federal spending?

Kentucky ranks #6 of 57 on per-capita intensity ($38,460) and #9 on absolute volume ($173.3B) in FY2025.

What is the largest category of federal spending in Kentucky?

The most common award type is direct payments, accounting for 67,579 awards (43.8% of tracked awards). The second-largest is contracts at 65,007 awards.

Which federal agencies spend the most in Kentucky?

The top federal agency spending in Kentucky is Department of Health and Human Services with $127.3B. Followed by Social Security Administration ($23.5B) and Department of Defense ($9.7B).

How has federal spending in Kentucky changed over time?

Federal spending in Kentucky increased by 38.5% from FY2020 ($125.1B) to FY2025 ($173.3B).

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and presented.

Verify with USASpending.gov → Verify population with U.S. Census Bureau →