County spending per person: Williamson and nearby big counties (DRAFT – not published)

In short

In fiscal 2025, Williamson County’s total costs came to about $1,088 per resident. Travis was about $902, Fort Bend about $777 and Collin about $710. But Williamson’s total jumped $274 million in one year, and each county counts some big one-time or pass-through costs. Read the notes before you compare. (Sources: each county’s 2025 audited report.)

The numbers

County	Total costs, FY2025	Residents (report’s own count)	Per resident (our math)
Williamson	$791.3M	727,480	$1,088
Travis	$1,265.2M	1,403,265	$902
Fort Bend	$768.6M	989,748	$777
Collin	$890.8M	1,254,658	$710

“Total costs” is the audited total of all county expenses for the year, the “Statement of Activities.” It counts costs as they are owed, not cash spent from the budget.¹²³⁴

Hays and Denton are missing. We could not open Hays County’s 2025 audit. Denton County’s 2025 audit was not finished when it filed its yearly bond notice. We will add them when we can read the final reports.

Why they don’t line up (counterweights)

• Williamson’s year was unusual. Its costs rose $273.7 million in one year. Roads alone rose $154.7 million. A health program that passes money through to hospitals added $56.8 million.¹ In fiscal 2024 the total was $517.5 million, about $711 per resident using the same 2025 count (our math).
• Pass-through money. Collin’s total includes about $256 million spent from a hospital payment program that passes money through the state, plus federal pandemic aid. It also includes a one-time $172 million accounting entry for its toll road authority.³ Take those out and Collin looks lower still. Williamson’s total has its own hospital program money too.¹
• Different jobs. Some counties run ambulances, toll roads, hospitals or clinics. Others leave those to separate districts. Fort Bend’s toll road groups are reported apart from the county.⁴ Travis counts $132.8 million of in-house service costs.²
• Different counts. Each county uses its own population estimate.¹²³⁴
• Not your tax bill. Grants, fees and state money pay part of these costs.¹ Higher costs per person do not necessarily mean higher county taxes per home.

Spending per person is not a grade. It does not show whether the money was well spent. See spending per resident and value for money.

Questions to ask

• How much of the county’s road cost was one-time building?
• How does the county separate pass-through money in its reports?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We re-checked every figure against the audited reports. We cut a counterweight we had not measured.

What we still don’t know

• Hays and Denton 2025 figures.
• How much of Williamson’s 2025 road cost was one-time building.
• A clean “same services” comparison that removes pass-through money for every county.

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

Footnotes

1. Williamson County FY2025 ACFR, Statement of Activities (total primary government expenses $791,255,976; FY2024 $517,528,816), management’s discussion of expenses, and population 727,480. Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P11938140.pdf (MSRB EMMA). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Travis County FY2025 ACFR, Statement of Activities ($1,265,189,370) and demographic statistics (1,403,265). https://tctransparency.traviscountytx.gov/Reports/FinancialDocuments/fy2025-acfr.pdf (county transparency site; same audited report filed on EMMA). ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Collin County FY2025 ACFR, Statement of Activities ($890,774,909), management’s discussion, and demographic statistics (1,254,658). https://eagenda.collincountytx.gov/docs/2026/CC/20260420_3198/59959_FY2025%20Annual%20Comprehensive%20Financial%20Report%203.30.26.pdf (county agenda site). ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Fort Bend County FY2025 ACFR, Statement of Activities ($768,645,319) and demographic statistics (989,748). https://transparencydocs.fortbendcountytx.gov/Traditional_Finances/2025/FY2025%20ACFR.pdf (county transparency site). ↩ ↩² ↩³