Federal Assistance

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the level of federal assistance provided to Suffolk County, New York, as well as data on incomes and the distribution of population within the county.

GAO noted that: (1) during fiscal year 1998, Suffolk County, New York, received more than $10.7 billion in federal assistance, according to the latest Consolidated Federal Funds Report; (2) that figure includes about $6 billion in direct expenditures or obligations, such as salaries and grants, and $4.7 billion in other federal assistance, such as guaranteed loans and insurance; (3) in the 1990 Census, the median household income for Suffolk County, New York, was $49,128--well above the median household income of $22,737 for the nation as a whole that year; (4) at this level, the county ranked 21st among the nation's 3,141 counties or county equivalents; (5) at that time, Suffolk County consisted of 136 Census population areas, of which 106 were urban and 30 were rural; (6) about 94 percent of Suffolk County's more than 1.32 million residents were located in urban population areas; and (7) the Bureau of the Census estimated that Suffolk County's median household income increased to $52,080 by 1995 and that its population increased to 1.37 million by July 1998--the most recent dates for which these data have been estimated.