| Rank |
County |
Total Direct Payments
2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Robeson County, North Carolina | $3,082,022 | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| 2 | Sampson County, North Carolina | $2,982,140 | 4.8% | 9.8% |
| 3 | Halifax County, North Carolina | $2,851,563 | 4.6% | 14.4% |
| 4 | Northampton County, North Carolina | $2,704,857 | 4.4% | 18.8% |
| 5 | Beaufort County, North Carolina | $2,536,822 | 4.1% | 22.8% |
| 6 | Bertie County, North Carolina | $2,411,449 | 3.9% | 26.7% |
| 7 | Edgecombe County, North Carolina | $2,387,189 | 3.9% | 30.6% |
| 8 | Martin County, North Carolina | $2,320,912 | 3.7% | 34.3% |
| 9 | Pitt County, North Carolina | $2,159,359 | 3.5% | 37.8% |
| 10 | Wayne County, North Carolina | $2,096,781 | 3.4% | 41.2% |
| 11 | Duplin County, North Carolina | $1,782,560 | 2.9% | 44.1% |
| 12 | Perquimans County, North Carolina | $1,575,397 | 2.5% | 46.6% |
| 13 | Union County, North Carolina | $1,476,736 | 2.4% | 49.0% |
| 14 | Lenoir County, North Carolina | $1,455,838 | 2.3% | 51.4% |
| 15 | Washington County, North Carolina | $1,381,222 | 2.2% | 53.6% |
| 16 | Hyde County, North Carolina | $1,369,347 | 2.2% | 55.8% |
| 17 | Columbus County, North Carolina | $1,317,483 | 2.1% | 57.9% |
| 18 | Pasquotank County, North Carolina | $1,299,804 | 2.1% | 60.0% |
| 19 | Johnston County, North Carolina | $1,248,687 | 2.0% | 62.0% |
| 20 | Gates County, North Carolina | $1,234,556 | 2.0% | 64.0% |
| 21 | Chowan County, North Carolina | $1,228,851 | 2.0% | 66.0% |
| 22 | Hertford County, North Carolina | $1,180,399 | 1.9% | 67.9% |
| 23 | Greene County, North Carolina | $1,169,552 | 1.9% | 69.8% |
| 24 | Wilson County, North Carolina | $1,140,676 | 1.8% | 71.7% |
| 25 | Craven County, North Carolina | $1,091,116 | 1.8% | 73.4% |
| 26 | Jones County, North Carolina | $1,084,646 | 1.8% | 75.2% |
| 27 | Nash County, North Carolina | $1,025,773 | 1.7% | 76.8% |
| 28 | Bladen County, North Carolina | $961,113 | 1.6% | 78.4% |
| 29 | Tyrrell County, North Carolina | $901,586 | 1.5% | 79.8% |
| 30 | Harnett County, North Carolina | $805,631 | 1.3% | 81.1% |
| 31 | Hoke County, North Carolina | $784,105 | 1.3% | 82.4% |
| 32 | Camden County, North Carolina | $783,809 | 1.3% | 83.7% |
| 33 | Stanly County, North Carolina | $721,840 | 1.2% | 84.8% |
| 34 | Cumberland County, North Carolina | $719,138 | 1.2% | 86.0% |
| 35 | Pamlico County, North Carolina | $664,522 | 1.1% | 87.1% |
| 36 | Scotland County, North Carolina | $620,060 | 1.0% | 88.1% |
| 37 | Currituck County, North Carolina | $528,415 | 0.9% | 88.9% |
| 38 | Onslow County, North Carolina | $517,874 | 0.8% | 89.7% |
| 39 | Pender County, North Carolina | $428,516 | 0.7% | 90.4% |
| 40 | Yadkin County, North Carolina | $414,683 | 0.7% | 91.1% |
| 41 | Anson County, North Carolina | $391,685 | 0.6% | 91.7% |
| 42 | Iredell County, North Carolina | $349,735 | 0.6% | 92.3% |
| 43 | Rowan County, North Carolina | $337,766 | 0.5% | 92.8% |
| 44 | Cleveland County, North Carolina | $242,709 | 0.4% | 93.2% |
| 45 | Person County, North Carolina | $227,115 | 0.4% | 93.6% |
| 46 | Surry County, North Carolina | $217,680 | 0.4% | 94.0% |
| 47 | Franklin County, North Carolina | $217,343 | 0.4% | 94.3% |
| 48 | Carteret County, North Carolina | $216,842 | 0.3% | 94.7% |
| 49 | Guilford County, North Carolina | $204,298 | 0.3% | 95.0% |
| 50 | Randolph County, North Carolina | $178,455 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
| 51 | Wake County, North Carolina | $170,683 | 0.3% | 95.5% |
| 52 | Orange County, North Carolina | $168,752 | 0.3% | 95.8% |
| 53 | Brunswick County, North Carolina | $166,193 | 0.3% | 96.1% |
| 54 | Warren County, North Carolina | $165,177 | 0.3% | 96.4% |
| 55 | Davidson County, North Carolina | $162,269 | 0.3% | 96.6% |
| 56 | Richmond County, North Carolina | $149,309 | 0.2% | 96.9% |
| 57 | Davie County, North Carolina | $146,717 | 0.2% | 97.1% |
| 58 | Cabarrus County, North Carolina | $143,903 | 0.2% | 97.3% |
| 59 | Rockingham County, North Carolina | $136,943 | 0.2% | 97.5% |
| 60 | Lee County, North Carolina | $132,533 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 61 | Catawba County, North Carolina | $118,832 | 0.2% | 98.0% |
| 62 | Lincoln County, North Carolina | $111,179 | 0.2% | 98.1% |
| 63 | Granville County, North Carolina | $102,089 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 64 | Vance County, North Carolina | $90,775 | 0.1% | 98.4% |
| 65 | Alamance County, North Carolina | $89,094 | 0.1% | 98.6% |
| 66 | Caswell County, North Carolina | $80,724 | 0.1% | 98.7% |
| 67 | Chatham County, North Carolina | $80,676 | 0.1% | 98.9% |
| 68 | Wilkes County, North Carolina | $77,867 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 69 | Alexander County, North Carolina | $50,118 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 70 | Forsyth County, North Carolina | $47,842 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 71 | Moore County, North Carolina | $47,258 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 72 | Montgomery County, North Carolina | $46,072 | 0.1% | 99.3% |
| 73 | Gaston County, North Carolina | $44,814 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 74 | Henderson County, North Carolina | $43,459 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 75 | Rutherford County, North Carolina | $40,562 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 76 | Dare County, North Carolina | $39,934 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 77 | Caldwell County, North Carolina | $28,207 | 0.0% | 99.6% |
| 78 | Alleghany County, North Carolina | $28,020 | 0.0% | 99.6% |
| 79 | Stokes County, North Carolina | $26,500 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 80 | Burke County, North Carolina | $24,956 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 81 | Mecklenburg County, North Carolina | $22,246 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 82 | Cherokee County, North Carolina | $21,470 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 83 | Haywood County, North Carolina | $20,195 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 84 | Transylvania County, North Carolina | $16,673 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 85 | Buncombe County, North Carolina | $15,323 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 86 | Durham County, North Carolina | $14,647 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 87 | Clay County, North Carolina | $10,520 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 88 | New Hanover County, North Carolina | $10,453 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 89 | Macon County, North Carolina | $7,801 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 90 | Polk County, North Carolina | $7,496 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 91 | McDowell County, North Carolina | $7,483 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 92 | Watauga County, North Carolina | $2,813 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 93 | Madison County, North Carolina | $2,623 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 94 | Yancey County, North Carolina | $2,293 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 95 | Swain County, North Carolina | $1,432 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 96 | Ashe County, North Carolina | $1,361 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 97 | Jackson County, North Carolina | $1,005 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 98 | Graham County, North Carolina | $555 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 99 | Mitchell County, North Carolina | $326 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
Note: The information on conservation spending for 2011and 2012 are incomplete due to missing data from USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service. In addition some payments made in 2010 were not assigned to recipients in the data received from NRCS. Those payments are also not included.
The information provided for the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) provides an inaccurate picture of how WRP payments are distributed. USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service uses title companies as intermediaries to finalize wetlands easements under the Wetlands Reserve Program. As a result, the data provided to us shows large sums of money going to these title companies. In reality, the payments are ultimately distributed to landowners participating in the WRP.
Unfortunately, NRCS has not provided the data to show where these farms and wetlands are located or which farmers or landowners are enrolling in the program, so EWG is unable to allocate these large sums of money to individuals beyond the title companies. Therefore, these companies skew the conservation rankings and payment concentration, which EWG cannot avoid unless and until NRCS makes available the additional farm attribution data. Therefore, we have not included WRP payments in the 2011 or 2012 data update.
We have separated data on farm commodity, disaster and conservation payments in order to provide a more accurate picture of top recipients and concentration of payments among the three main categories of USDA programs.
Finally, EWG works hard to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides through its products and services, but obtains data for the Farm Subsidy Database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, EWG cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information USDA provides or any analysis based thereon. If you find an error or discrepancy on the site, please contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office to check its records before contacting EWG.
