Residents of U.S. metropolitan areas received an average of $2,007 per capita of Federal outlays and loan guarantees, or 9 percent more than the $1,845 per capita in nonmetropolitan areas, during fiscal 1978. Outlays vary considerably between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Nonmetropolitan areas received $195 more per capita for agriculture, energy, and the environment, for example, while metropolitan areas received almost $300 more per capita for defense programs. This study estimates or traces 86 percent of the $499 billion of Federal outlays and loan guarantees made in 1978 to individual counties.