States › Alaska › Bethel Census Area
County · Alaska · FIPS 02050
Federal spending in Bethel Census Area, AK
USAspending caveat. Figures are obligations reported by federal agencies to USAspending.gov, not payments. In USAspending's words: "An outlay occurs when federal money is actually paid out, not just promised to be paid ('obligated')." "Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official who must officially certify that the quarterly financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete." "If there are any discrepancies in procurement data, FPDS is the authoritative source." Contract data for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is published with a 90-day delay. Data loaded 30 Sep 2026.
Bethel Census Area, Alaska, received $660M in federal award obligations in FY2026: $35,876 for each of its 18,391 residents.
That is above the Alaska rate of $25,248 per resident and above the national rate of $14,744; it ranks 6 of 30 counties in the state.
The FY2026 mix was 82% direct payments, 18% grants.
Obligations were up 134% on FY2025, and the five-year total since FY2023 is $1.7B.
Over FY2022–FY2025, the largest awarding agencies were Department of the Interior ($308M), Department of Transportation ($294M) and Federal Communications Commission ($179M).
Per resident, by award type FY2026
- Contracts $4.3M
- Grants $117M
- Direct payments $538M
- Loans (subsidy cost) $268K
- Other assistance $200K
| Per resident | This county | Alaska | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| All award obligations | $35,876 | $25,248 | $14,744 |
| Contracts | $236 | $5,557 | $2,007 |
| Grants | $6,360 | $9,858 | $3,528 |
| Direct payments | $29,254 | $9,763 | $9,185 |
| Loans (subsidy cost) | $15 | $2 | −$16 |
| Other assistance | $11 | $69 | $40 |
| Rank by per-resident rate | 6 of 30 in state · 46 of 3,144 US | 7 of 51 states | — |
Direct payments include Social Security, Medicare and similar benefit records that USAspending attributes to a county; Medicare payments are attributed to the county of the administrative contractor, which can lift or lower a county's rate a great deal. Loans count the subsidy cost, not the face value.
Obligations by fiscal year
Who funds the county FY2022–FY2025
Awarding agencies
Assistance programs
Contract industries by NAICS sector
Cross-tabulations cover the four closed fiscal years FY2022–FY2025 (the 24 largest agencies, 40 largest listings and all NAICS sectors), fetched 18 Sep 2026.
Recipients with the largest awards performed here $1.0M+ awards since FY2023
| # | Recipient organisation | Awards | Award value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities | 15 | $169M | 43% |
| 2 | Lower Kuskokwim School District | 8 | $89M | 23% |
| 3 | Bush-Tell, Incorporated | 1 | $30M | 8% |
| 4 | Native Village of Kipnuk | 1 | $20M | 5% |
| 5 | Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp | 4 | $17M | 4% |
| 6 | Yupiit School District | 4 | $16M | 4% |
| 7 | Kuspuk School District | 4 | $14M | 4% |
| 8 | Native Village of Mekoryuk | 1 | $11M | 3% |
| 9 | Association of Village Council Presidents | 3 | $10M | 3% |
| 10 | Yuut Elitnaurviat-People's Learning Center | 1 | $10.0M | 3% |
A further $3.6M went to recipients not shown: individuals, aggregated records and names USAspending withholds.
Largest awards performed in the county
Congressional districts
| District | Share of county land area | District FY2026 obligations | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska's at-large congressional district | 100% | $18B | $24,971 |
Other counties in Alaska
- Anchorage Municipality $13,852
- Fairbanks North Star Borough $12,693
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough $7,417
- Juneau City and Borough $25,911
- Kenai Peninsula Borough $11,475
- Kodiak Island Borough $54,450
- Southeast Fairbanks Census Area $81,157
- Nome Census Area $30,909
- Northwest Arctic Borough $34,959
- North Slope Borough $18,552
- Ketchikan Gateway Borough $13,547
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area $34,614
- Denali Borough $93,574
- Dillingham Census Area $25,342
- Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area $17,899
- Chugach Census Area $11,837
- Aleutians West Census Area $14,597
- Sitka City and Borough $8,926
- Lake and Peninsula Borough $43,623
- Kusilvak Census Area $6,759
- Haines Borough $23,331
- Petersburg Borough $13,884
- Copper River Census Area $17,630
- Aleutians East Borough $13,399
- Skagway Municipality $40,558
- Hoonah-Angoon Census Area $14,469
- Yakutat City and Borough $32,735
- Bristol Bay Borough $24,763
- Wrangell City and Borough $9,479
Per-resident rate, FY2026. All counties in Alaska.
Questions and answers
How much federal spending goes to Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
$660M in award obligations in FY2026 and $1.7B since FY2023, counting awards whose primary place of performance is in the county. Obligations are commitments, not payments.
How much federal spending per person is that?
$35,876 per resident in FY2026 (population 18,391), against $25,248 for Alaska and $14,744 nationally. Direct payments such as Social Security and Medicare are included; the table on this page splits the rate by award type.
Which recipients dominate Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
By the value of $1.0M-plus awards begun since FY2023: Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities ($169M), Lower Kuskokwim School District ($89M), Bush-Tell, Incorporated ($30M), Native Village of Kipnuk ($20M) and Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp ($17M). Individuals are never listed.
Which agencies fund Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
Department of the Interior ($308M), Department of Transportation ($294M), Federal Communications Commission ($179M), Department of Housing and Urban Development ($145M) and Social Security Administration ($128M), over FY2022–FY2025.
What does "place of performance" mean here?
USAspending records where the work is done or the payment is directed, as reported by the awarding agency. Some awards, especially grants to state governments, carry only a state-level location and are not attributed to any county or district; Medicare payments are attributed to the county of the administrative contractor.
Provenance
Source: USAspending.gov API v2, spending-by-geography (place of performance, county layer) by fiscal year and award type, loaded 30 Sep 2026; award lists from the award search endpoint; cross-tabulations for FY2022–FY2025. Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 county estimates (USAspending's population figure where the Census file has none, as for Connecticut's former counties). Boundaries: Census cartographic boundary files (1:20m). Errors in processing are corrected at the next build; see corrections.