Puerto Rico Has The Highest Share Of US Households On Welfare; Utah, The Lowest

This post was republished with permission from Zero Hedge

Between persistent inflation, trade wars, and AI-related job disruptions, the outlook on the U.S. economy is once again ticking to “uncertain.”

If things get worse and unemployment starts to tick up, then more Americans might be forced to rely on state support to make ends meet.

But what’s the current picture? How many families in the country are already in need of benefits?

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, shows the share of households in each state that reported receiving cash public assistance (also known as TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) or food assistance (also known as SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in 2023.

The data for this visualization comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s. Figures are rounded.

Ranked: U.S. Households on Welfare by State

Puerto Rico stands out with 47% of households receiving assistance.

This reflects sustained economic challenges and unique territorial program structures.

Rank	State or Jurisdiction	Code	Share of Households on Welfare	# of Households on Welfare
1	Puerto Rico	PR	47%	586K
2	New Mexico	NM	20%	162K
3	West Virginia	WV	18%	129K
4	Louisiana	LA	17%	308K
5	Oregon	OR	17%	284K
6	New York	NY	16%	1253K
7	Massachusetts	MA	15%	418K
8	Oklahoma	OK	15%	224K
9	Pennsylvania	PA	15%	787K
10	Rhode Island	RI	15%	67K
11	Alabama	AL	14%	277K
12	District of Columbia	DC	14%	46K
13	Florida	FL	14%	1157K
14	Illinois	IL	14%	723K
15	Michigan	MI	14%	571K
16	Mississippi	MS	14%	162K
17	Nevada	NV	14%	162K
18	Alaska	AK	13%	35K
19	California	CA	13%	1748K
20	Connecticut	CT	13%	182K
21	Georgia	GA	13%	524K
22	Hawaii	HI	13%	63K
23	Kentucky	KY	13%	240K
24	Maine	ME	13%	76K
25	North Carolina	NC	13%	553K
26	Ohio	OH	13%	641K
27	Washington	WA	13%	382K
28	Delaware	DE	12%	46K
29	Maryland	MD	12%	279K
30	Tennessee	TN	12%	329K
31	Texas	TX	12%	1322K
32	Vermont	VT	12%	32K
33	Wisconsin	WI	12%	282K
34	Arizona	AZ	11%	311K
35	Arkansas	AR	11%	132K
36	Missouri	MO	11%	264K
37	South Carolina	SC	11%	230K
38	Indiana	IN	10%	262K
39	Iowa	IA	10%	131K
40	New Jersey	NJ	10%	342K
41	Virginia	VA	10%	320K
42	Colorado	CO	9%	215K
43	Idaho	ID	9%	63K
44	Minnesota	MN	9%	201K
45	Montana	MT	9%	42K
46	Nebraska	NE	9%	69K
47	South Dakota	SD	9%	32K
48	Kansas	KS	8%	90K
49	New Hampshire	NH	7%	39K
50	North Dakota	ND	7%	24K
51	Utah	UT	6%	68K
52	Wyoming	WY	6%	14K

Among the states, New Mexico has the highest share at 20%, followed by West Virginia (18%), Oregon (17%), Louisiana (17%), and New York (16%).

A large cluster of state jurisdictions have low?to?mid teens of U.S. households on welfare.

And at the other end, Utah and Wyoming are lowest at 6%, with New Hampshire and North Dakota at 7% and Kansas at 8%.

Regional Patterns and Notable Outliers

Appalachia and parts of the South post elevated welfare participation, mirroring higher poverty rates in the region.

However, even the richer Northeast has several higher?than?average states with households on benefits.

This includes Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island (each 15%), alongside low New Hampshire (7%).

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Oregon is an outlier at 17%, while California and Washington are closer to the national middle at 13%.

Overall, the median across the 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico is 13%, showing most places cluster in a narrow band.

Policy Design Matters for Welfare Access

Safety?net participation reflects more than local poverty rates.

For example, SNAP is federally funded but state?administered, and states differ in outreach, enrolment ease, and recertification cadence.

Cash assistance (often via TANF) is a capped block grant, and states set their own eligibility thresholds and work rules, which can meaningfully raise or lower participation.

States Will Have to Start Paying for Food Stamp Programs

Per reporting from Politico, Trump’s recent megabill has slashed federal funding for safety net programs and pushes food aid costs to the states.

Draft proposals would require states to cover between 5% and 25% of benefit costs starting in 2028 and pick up 75% of administrative expenses.

This marks a major change from today, where the federal government funds SNAP benefits entirely.

As a result states with higher participation and elevated error rates would face the greatest budget implications if these plans are implemented.

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