Where federal tax dollars land around Denver
Federal contracts, grants and other awards with work performed in the county containing Denver, CO — the yearly total, the biggest agencies and the largest recipients.
USAspending.gov API, federal awards by place of performance.
This story was assembled using AI and public data sources.
$7.6B in federal awards was spent in Denver County.
Federal awards, FY 2025: $7.6B — $10,629 per county resident
Federal awards in Denver County, by fiscal year
- 2016: 8788591071
- 2017: 4553753616
- 2018: 4353601939
- 2019: 4100775972
- 2020: 7785031534
- 2021: 8169405118
- 2022: 5684843212
- 2023: 5700766487
- 2024: 7241150896
- 2025: 7586044978
Biggest awarding agencies
- Social Security Administration: 2262961034
- Department of Defense: 1835105086
- Department of Veterans Affairs: 867727453
- Department of Health and Human Services: 666099345
- Department of Education: 650986648
- Department of Housing and Urban Development: 576529639
Largest recipients
- MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS: 2990918444
- SIERRA NEVADA COMPANY, LLC: 1722245223
- DAVITA INC.: 532685470
- BOARD OF EDUCATION COLORADO: 452492587
- THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER: 212029221
- DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS: 200702513
What it means
Social Security Administration accounts for the largest share — $2.3B of the $7.6B total.
That works out to about $10,629 for every resident of the county, counting contracts, grants, loans and direct payments.
Place of performance means the work happened here — the money may be awarded to a company or agency headquartered elsewhere, and multi-year awards can land in a single year's total.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates — Population, income, housing, education, commuting and poverty figures
- Census Bureau API — ACS Detailed Tables — The endpoint these pages are generated from
- data.census.gov — Look up the same tables for any place yourself
- ACS accuracy statement — Estimates carry margins of error; small places vary the most
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