| Rank |
County |
Total USDA - Subsidies
1995-2011 | Pct of
Total | Running
Percentage |
| 1 | Southampton County, Virginia | $178,998,632 | 10.0% | 10.0% |
| 2 | Rockingham County, Virginia | $83,672,455 | 4.7% | 14.6% |
| 3 | Isle of Wight County, Virginia | $81,550,628 | 4.5% | 19.2% |
| 4 | Suffolk City, Virginia | $77,422,827 | 4.3% | 23.5% |
| 5 | Sussex County, Virginia | $60,881,051 | 3.4% | 26.9% |
| 6 | Accomack County, Virginia | $56,596,143 | 3.1% | 30.0% |
| 7 | Pittsylvania County, Virginia | $52,674,674 | 2.9% | 32.9% |
| 8 | Greensville County, Virginia | $47,379,993 | 2.6% | 35.6% |
| 9 | Northampton County, Virginia | $47,277,734 | 2.6% | 38.2% |
| 10 | Virginia NRCS | $45,715,151 | 2.5% | 40.7% |
| 11 | Surry County, Virginia | $43,853,747 | 2.4% | 43.2% |
| 12 | Halifax County, Virginia | $42,161,588 | 2.3% | 45.5% |
| 13 | Augusta County, Virginia | $41,742,678 | 2.3% | 47.9% |
| 14 | Essex County, Virginia | $35,675,976 | 2.0% | 49.8% |
| 15 | Dinwiddie County, Virginia | $31,891,160 | 1.8% | 51.6% |
| 16 | Westmoreland County, Virginia | $31,277,641 | 1.7% | 53.4% |
| 17 | Hanover County, Virginia | $28,857,402 | 1.6% | 55.0% |
| 18 | Caroline County, Virginia | $28,761,313 | 1.6% | 56.6% |
| 19 | Northumberland County, Virginia | $28,408,821 | 1.6% | 58.1% |
| 20 | King William County, Virginia | $27,909,541 | 1.6% | 59.7% |
| 21 | Chesapeake City, Virginia | $26,317,338 | 1.5% | 61.2% |
| 22 | King and Queen County, Virginia | $25,354,370 | 1.4% | 62.6% |
| 23 | Mecklenburg County, Virginia | $25,177,382 | 1.4% | 64.0% |
| 24 | Franklin County, Virginia | $25,085,563 | 1.4% | 65.4% |
| 25 | Washington County, Virginia | $23,928,776 | 1.3% | 66.7% |
| 26 | Richmond County, Virginia | $22,260,587 | 1.2% | 67.9% |
| 27 | Brunswick County, Virginia | $20,343,834 | 1.1% | 69.1% |
| 28 | Fauquier County, Virginia | $20,297,238 | 1.1% | 70.2% |
| 29 | Culpeper County, Virginia | $19,496,352 | 1.1% | 71.3% |
| 30 | Amelia County, Virginia | $19,184,264 | 1.1% | 72.4% |
| 31 | Shenandoah County, Virginia | $18,200,579 | 1.0% | 73.4% |
| 32 | Prince George County, Virginia | $17,767,324 | 1.0% | 74.4% |
| 33 | Virginia Beach City, Virginia | $16,141,901 | 0.9% | 75.3% |
| 34 | Madison County, Virginia | $15,687,900 | 0.9% | 76.1% |
| 35 | Campbell County, Virginia | $15,192,154 | 0.8% | 77.0% |
| 36 | Charlotte County, Virginia | $15,051,519 | 0.8% | 77.8% |
| 37 | Russell County, Virginia | $14,941,622 | 0.8% | 78.6% |
| 38 | Charles City County, Virginia | $14,854,137 | 0.8% | 79.5% |
| 39 | Scott County, Virginia | $14,537,556 | 0.8% | 80.3% |
| 40 | Orange County, Virginia | $14,437,317 | 0.8% | 81.1% |
| 41 | Smyth County, Virginia | $13,794,940 | 0.8% | 81.9% |
| 42 | Bedford County, Virginia | $12,648,513 | 0.7% | 82.6% |
| 43 | Frederick County, Virginia | $12,502,750 | 0.7% | 83.3% |
| 44 | Loudoun County, Virginia | $12,372,811 | 0.7% | 83.9% |
| 45 | Prince Edward County, Virginia | $11,522,668 | 0.6% | 84.6% |
| 46 | Lancaster County, Virginia | $11,103,473 | 0.6% | 85.2% |
| 47 | Albemarle County, Virginia | $11,037,078 | 0.6% | 85.8% |
| 48 | Wythe County, Virginia | $10,897,961 | 0.6% | 86.4% |
| 49 | Lunenburg County, Virginia | $10,861,791 | 0.6% | 87.0% |
| 50 | Middlesex County, Virginia | $10,274,080 | 0.6% | 87.6% |
| 51 | Louisa County, Virginia | $10,271,938 | 0.6% | 88.2% |
| 52 | King George County, Virginia | $10,016,021 | 0.6% | 88.7% |
| 53 | Gloucester County, Virginia | $9,855,184 | 0.5% | 89.3% |
| 54 | Goochland County, Virginia | $9,722,897 | 0.5% | 89.8% |
| 55 | Lee County, Virginia | $9,539,802 | 0.5% | 90.3% |
| 56 | New Kent County, Virginia | $8,491,473 | 0.5% | 90.8% |
| 57 | Patrick County, Virginia | $8,491,270 | 0.5% | 91.3% |
| 58 | Nottoway County, Virginia | $8,146,697 | 0.5% | 91.7% |
| 59 | Rockbridge County, Virginia | $8,075,142 | 0.4% | 92.2% |
| 60 | Clarke County, Virginia | $7,880,610 | 0.4% | 92.6% |
| 61 | Page County, Virginia | $7,739,670 | 0.4% | 93.1% |
| 62 | Carroll County, Virginia | $7,698,024 | 0.4% | 93.5% |
| 63 | Grayson County, Virginia | $7,424,805 | 0.4% | 93.9% |
| 64 | Botetourt County, Virginia | $7,364,288 | 0.4% | 94.3% |
| 65 | Spotsylvania County, Virginia | $6,561,609 | 0.4% | 94.7% |
| 66 | Montgomery County, Virginia | $6,301,456 | 0.4% | 95.0% |
| 67 | Cumberland County, Virginia | $5,919,925 | 0.3% | 95.4% |
| 68 | Henrico County, Virginia | $5,866,988 | 0.3% | 95.7% |
| 69 | Buckingham County, Virginia | $5,560,618 | 0.3% | 96.0% |
| 70 | Appomattox County, Virginia | $5,269,046 | 0.3% | 96.3% |
| 71 | Prince William County, Virginia | $4,988,040 | 0.3% | 96.6% |
| 72 | Tazewell County, Virginia | $4,737,197 | 0.3% | 96.8% |
| 73 | Nelson County, Virginia | $4,434,235 | 0.2% | 97.1% |
| 74 | Floyd County, Virginia | $4,329,654 | 0.2% | 97.3% |
| 75 | Rappahannock County, Virginia | $4,232,575 | 0.2% | 97.6% |
| 76 | Pulaski County, Virginia | $3,964,051 | 0.2% | 97.8% |
| 77 | Powhatan County, Virginia | $3,718,497 | 0.2% | 98.0% |
| 78 | Stafford County, Virginia | $3,165,078 | 0.2% | 98.2% |
| 79 | James City County, Virginia | $3,135,765 | 0.2% | 98.3% |
| 80 | Greene County, Virginia | $3,092,118 | 0.2% | 98.5% |
| 81 | Amherst County, Virginia | $3,086,948 | 0.2% | 98.7% |
| 82 | Highland County, Virginia | $2,729,928 | 0.2% | 98.8% |
| 83 | Bland County, Virginia | $2,626,313 | 0.1% | 99.0% |
| 84 | Chesterfield County, Virginia | $2,465,499 | 0.1% | 99.1% |
| 85 | Fluvanna County, Virginia | $2,320,648 | 0.1% | 99.2% |
| 86 | Henry County, Virginia | $1,978,112 | 0.1% | 99.4% |
| 87 | Mathews County, Virginia | $1,755,005 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 88 | Bath County, Virginia | $1,609,161 | 0.1% | 99.5% |
| 89 | Craig County, Virginia | $1,444,219 | 0.1% | 99.6% |
| 90 | Alleghany County, Virginia | $1,129,485 | 0.1% | 99.7% |
| 91 | Giles County, Virginia | $867,432 | 0.0% | 99.7% |
| 92 | Roanoke County, Virginia | $839,825 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 93 | Warren County, Virginia | $784,035 | 0.0% | 99.8% |
| 94 | Buchanan County, Virginia | $565,122 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 95 | Wise County, Virginia | $428,568 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 96 | Dickenson County, Virginia | $253,058 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 97 | York County, Virginia | $44,838 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 98 | Newport News City, Virginia | $11,942 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
| 99 | Fairfax County, Virginia | $3,293 | 0.0% | 99.9% |
Source: Environmental Working Group. Compiled from USDA data.
Note: The information on conservation spending for 2011 is 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 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.
