The federal government spent the least amount of money per person last year in Utah and Nevada, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released this week.
Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties were among the top five counties in the state receiving the most federal dollars spent in 2009.
On Tuesday, Census officials released two annual reports about federal spending, one putting Utah in the 49th spot.
For all of the U.S., the spending numbers from the Consolidated Federal Funds Report show the largest annual percentage change -- plus 16 percent -- since the bureau started tracking the data for federal spending in 1983.
The spending in 2009 is equivalent to $10,548 per person living in the U.S. States with the lowest per person rates were Nevada ($7,148) and Utah ($7,435).
The state with the highest per capita federal spending was Alaska ($20,351).
Federal spending encompasses grants, salaries, wages, procurement contracts and direct payments, including for retirement or disability.
Census officials note the national increase is due in part to the federal stimulus package passed last year by Congress.
In the last two weeks, Vice President Joe Biden has been touring the country to promote the effects of the stimulus package, formally called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Biden said stimulus money spent on such things as home improvement are helping the economy.
"Thousands of construction workers across the country are now on the job making energy-saving home improvements that will save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their utility bills," Biden said while in New Hampshire.
But a government watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., believes federal politicians could be heading the country into more financial trouble.
"The administration and members of Congress need to wake up from their daze, develop policies to cut government spending, reduce the size of government, and decrease the tax burden for future generations," wrote Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.
Utah has received more than $3 billion in stimulus spending cash, but per capita still ranks below the national average, according to the investigative journalism website ProPublica.org.
Total federal expenditures in each Utah county for last year put Salt Lake County at the top spot with $8,006,645. Davis County was second at $2,826,7950. Weber County was third at $1,828,528, and Box Elder County came in fifth at $1,028,553.
The report said the federal government spent, through various accounts, nearly $21 billion in Utah in 2009.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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