States › New Mexico › Lincoln County
County · New Mexico · FIPS 35027
Federal spending in Lincoln County, NM
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.
Lincoln County, New Mexico, received $278M in federal award obligations in FY2025: $14,010 for each of its 19,844 residents.
That is below the New Mexico rate of $19,510 per resident and in line with the national rate of $15,158; it ranks 8 of 33 counties in the state.
The FY2025 mix was 60% direct payments, 25% grants, 23% other assistance.
Obligations were about level on FY2024, and the five-year total since FY2022 is $1.3B, with $362M so far in FY2026.
Over FY2022–FY2025, the largest awarding agencies were Social Security Administration ($536M), Department of Agriculture ($164M) and Department of Transportation ($80M).
Per resident, by award type FY2025
- Contracts −$25M
- Grants $69M
- Direct payments $167M
- Loans (subsidy cost) $2.3M
- Other assistance $65M
| Per resident | This county | New Mexico | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| All award obligations | $14,010 | $19,510 | $15,158 |
| Contracts | −$1,280 | $6,346 | $2,164 |
| Grants | $3,497 | $5,953 | $3,542 |
| Direct payments | $8,410 | $7,140 | $9,398 |
| Loans (subsidy cost) | $118 | $16 | $1 |
| Other assistance | $3,266 | $55 | $53 |
| Rank by per-resident rate | 8 of 33 in state · 291 of 3,144 US | 11 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 FY2022
| # | Recipient organisation | Awards | Award value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | County of Lincoln | 7 | $256M | 56% |
| 2 | New Mexico Department of Transportation | 14 | $60M | 13% |
| 3 | National Forest Foundation | 1 | $55M | 12% |
| 4 | Cotton Commercial Usa, Inc. | 1 | $38M | 8% |
| 5 | Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department | 1 | $14M | 3% |
| 6 | Village of Ruidoso | 4 | $11M | 2% |
| 7 | Region Ix Education Cooperative | 2 | $5.8M | 1% |
| 8 | R-Con Construction Inc | 2 | $2.5M | 1% |
| 9 | Timberline Construction Group, LLC | 1 | $1.6M | 0% |
| 10 | State of New Mexico | 1 | $1.3M | 0% |
A further $15M went to recipients not shown: individuals, aggregated records and names USAspending withholds.
Largest awards performed in the county
| Recipient | Awarding agency | Type | Award value | Begun | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County of Lincoln | Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $191M | 13 Mar 2026 | USAspending |
| National Forest Foundation | Department of AgricultureForest Service | Other assistanceOther Reimbursable, Contingent, Intangible, or Indirect Financial Assistance | $55M | 19 Aug 2025 | USAspending |
| County of Lincoln | Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | $54M | 23 Aug 2024 | USAspending |
| Cotton Commercial Usa, Inc. | Department of Homeland SecurityFederal Emergency Management Agency | ContractDelivery Order | $38M | 25 Jun 2024 | USAspending |
| New Mexico Department of Transportation | Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration | GrantFormula Grant (a) | $15M | 17 Jun 2022 | USAspending |
| Recipient not shown | Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service | Other assistanceOther Reimbursable, Contingent, Intangible, or Indirect Financial Assistance | $15M | 26 Sep 2023 | USAspending |
| Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department | Department of AgricultureForest Service | GrantProject Grant (B) | $14M | 22 Jul 2025 | USAspending |
| New Mexico Department of Transportation | Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration | GrantFormula Grant (a) | $7.0M | 17 Jun 2022 | USAspending |
| New Mexico Department of Transportation | Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration | GrantFormula Grant (a) | $6.5M | 12 Sep 2023 | USAspending |
| New Mexico Department of Transportation | Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration | GrantFormula Grant (a) | $6.1M | 17 Jun 2022 | USAspending |
Congressional districts
| District | Share of county land area | District FY2025 obligations | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico's 1st congressional district | 100% | $14B | $19,185 |
Other counties in New Mexico
- Bernalillo County $18,105
- Los Alamos County $278,046
- Santa Fe County $16,361
- Doña Ana County $7,521
- Sandoval County $7,538
- San Juan County $8,514
- McKinley County $11,109
- Otero County $9,262
- Valencia County $6,841
- Chaves County $7,090
- Taos County $11,623
- Eddy County $6,033
- Curry County $7,681
- Grant County $12,038
- Lea County $4,246
- Cibola County $11,703
- Rio Arriba County $7,864
- Socorro County $14,877
- San Miguel County $7,736
- Colfax County $15,674
- Sierra County $14,832
- Torrance County $8,761
- Roosevelt County $6,456
- Quay County $9,333
- Catron County $14,534
- Mora County $12,433
- Guadalupe County $9,803
- Hidalgo County $10,246
- Union County $8,684
- Harding County $11,651
- Luna County $25
- De Baca County −$16,580
Per-resident rate, FY2025. All counties in New Mexico.
Questions and answers
How much federal spending goes to Lincoln County, New Mexico?
$278M in award obligations in FY2025 and $1.3B since FY2022, counting awards whose primary place of performance is in the county. Obligations are commitments, not payments.
How much federal spending per person is that?
$14,010 per resident in FY2025 (population 19,844), against $19,510 for New Mexico and $15,158 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 Lincoln County, New Mexico?
By the value of $1.0M-plus awards begun since FY2022: County of Lincoln ($256M), New Mexico Department of Transportation ($60M), National Forest Foundation ($55M), Cotton Commercial Usa, Inc. ($38M) and Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department ($14M). Individuals are never listed.
Which agencies fund Lincoln County, New Mexico?
Social Security Administration ($536M), Department of Agriculture ($164M), Department of Transportation ($80M), Department of Veterans Affairs ($61M) and Department of Homeland Security ($59M), 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.