Do Red States Use More Welfare

Return on Statehood: How Much Value Every State Gets From the Federal Government

Last Updated: 2/x/2022

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Dr. Aleksandar (Sasha) Tomic

Every bit Americans head to the polls — or the mail-in ballot drib boxes — voters will weigh in on their own state's fiscal health based on who they elect in land, local and federal elections.

To put states' fiscal wellness — and the potential impact on residents of those states — into context, MoneyGeek analyzed and ranked states co-ordinate to their dependence on the federal government. Rankings account for political affiliation, net benefits individuals and organizations in the country receive, land government revenue from federal sources and Gdp per capita. We too examined which states received the nearly in child tax credits — both in terms of the annualized total amount and amount received per capita.

Key Findings:

Eight of the x states near dependent on the federal authorities were Republican-voting, with the average red state receiving $1.35 per dollar spent.
Nine states sent more to the federal government than they received — seven of these were Democrat-voting and had higher per capita GDPs than many of the ruddy states that received the virtually.
New Mexico had the highest render on federal spending of whatsoever land ($four.33), and Delaware had the lowest ($0.63).
The 8 states receiving the highest kid taxation credit per capita were all Republican-voting.

Federal Dependency Rankings by State

To find the states in the U.S. that were nigh dependent on the federal regime in 2021, MoneyGeek analyzed the return on taxes sent to the federal government and the percent of each state's revenue provided by the federal authorities. We also compared states by political affiliation and per capita GDP to larn more about the factors that contribute to federal dependency.

Land Federal Dependency Ranking

Rank	Country	Political Affiliation	Dependency Score	Render on Tax Dollars	Fed Fund % of Land Revenues	GDP (in $Thousand)
1	New United mexican states	Blue	100.0	$4.33	25.94%	$401,241
two	West Virginia	Ruddy	89.9	$3.74	27.18%	$294,837
3	Mississippi	Red	82.five	$iii.xl	27.10%	$456,802
iv	Alaska	Carmine	81.one	$3.nineteen	28.64%	$200,987
5	Montana	Red	62.0	$2.25	29.23%	$205,955
half dozen	Kentucky	Red	54.5	$2.05	27.77%	$840,097
7	Alabama	Red	53.8	$two.46	23.32%	$899,482
8	Arizona	Crimson	52.five	$ii.xxx	24.35%	$1,489,844
9	Louisiana	Red	52.two	$1.81	29.07%	$967,963
x	Vermont	Blue	45.4	$1.97	24.forty%	$131,187
eleven	Maine	Blue	44.ii	$ii.31	xx.42%	$264,784
12	District of Columbia	Blue	39.nine	$1.78	23.78%	$574,131
thirteen	Wyoming	Carmine	39.0	$1.58	25.32%	$144,966
xiv	Oklahoma	Cherry-red	36.half dozen	$ii.02	19.78%	$746,325
15	Hawaii	Blue	36.five	$2.49	15.14%	$359,425
sixteen	S Carolina	Blood-red	35.3	$2.17	17.76%	$966,755
17	Arkansas	Red	31.4	$1.09	26.66%	$516,296
18	Idaho	Ruby-red	30.4	$1.75	19.73%	$336,129
19	Michigan	Bluish	29.9	$1.45	22.46%	$2,063,713
xx	South Dakota	Red	28.9	$1.65	xix.96%	$219,409
21	Indiana	Scarlet	26.3	$1.23	22.99%	$i,490,547
22	Maryland	Blue	24.4	$1.51	xix.34%	$i,690,905
23	Due north Dakota	Cherry-red	23.nine	$1.83	fifteen.90%	$216,132
24	Oregon	Blue	23.9	$1.51	nineteen.11%	$1,001,834
25	Pennsylvania	Blueish	22.iii	$ane.15	21.91%	$three,120,704
26	Rhode Island	Blue	21.2	$1.13	21.65%	$240,899
27	Due north Carolina	Crimson	20.half dozen	$i.27	xix.97%	$2,344,545
28	Virginia	Blue	20.3	$1.91	13.50%	$2,207,041
29	Wisconsin	Bluish	18.9	$ane.23	19.55%	$1,354,713
30	Missouri	Red	18.seven	$i.xiv	20.xl%	$ane,286,835
31	Nevada	Bluish	18.0	$1.45	17.00%	$690,391
32	New Hampshire	Bluish	17.0	$1.34	17.65%	$340,437
33	Connecticut	Blueish	16.6	$i.30	17.81%	$1,123,601
34	Tennessee	Cherry	15.7	$i.17	18.67%	$i,457,944
35	Ohio	Red	14.two	$0.xc	twenty.71%	$2,700,149
36	Georgia	Red	14.one	$i.23	17.46%	$2,476,960
37	Iowa	Cherry	fourteen.0	$1.43	15.37%	$770,841
38	Texas	Red	13.5	$one.twenty	17.47%	$7,038,938
39	Florida	Red	10.vii	$1.15	16.lx%	$four,383,553
40	New York	Blue	10.three	$0.93	18.65%	$half-dozen,796,179
41	Massachusetts	Blue	10.two	$0.88	19.x%	$2,336,156
42	Colorado	Blue	8.8	$ane.14	15.85%	$1,560,395
43	Utah	Ruby	eight.1	$i.12	15.74%	$779,943
44	California	Blue	8.0	$1.00	16.92%	$12,367,486
45	Delaware	Blue	7.half-dozen	$0.63	xx.39%	$302,050
46	Kansas	Red	vi.half dozen	$ane.24	13.88%	$693,193
47	Illinois	Blue	5.9	$0.94	xvi.54%	$3,454,067
48	Minnesota	Bluish	3.two	$0.85	16.17%	$1,497,407
49	Washington	Bluish	one.vi	$0.94	14.54%	$ii,474,820
50	Nebraska	Red	0.8	$0.93	14.33%	$515,235
51	New Jersey	Blue	0.0	$0.78	fifteen.43%	$ii,476,244

Ruby-red States Lead With Federal Dependence

Autonomous-voting blue states tend to exist wealthier and pay more than to the federal government than they get. In dissimilarity, Republican-voting reddish states tend to have less wealth and receive more than federal regime funds than they pay. In the MoneyGeek rankings, 8 of the 10 most dependent states are considered cerise states.

Policy choices may partially explain this relationship.

"A really conservative land might choose to tax itself at a lower rate, which means by default, they can give fewer state-funded services," explains Kathy Fallon, human services practice area director at Public Consulting Group. "That can exacerbate the situation."

Only a correlation between states' economical health and political affiliation may reverberate economical factors beyond those explained by political philosophy.

"If ruby states pay less in taxes than they receive in benefits, that's because they are generally poorer and program rules are progressive — not considering they are 'takers' while blue states are 'donors' in any value-laden sense," says Mark Shepard, banana professor at the Harvard Kennedy Schoolhouse of Government and faculty research boyfriend at the National Bureau of Economic Enquiry (NBER).

Higher Gross domestic product Equals Less Federal Dependence

MoneyGeek analysis shows that states with higher per capita GDP are less dependent on the federal government.

"College-income states produce the majority of the tax dollars that go into the federal government's pocket," Fallon says. Because of the college income, states and their residents demand less support and utilise fewer federal dollars.

Fallon noted that tax lawmaking changes take made wealthy states' contributions more pronounced.

"Before, people who paid big state income taxes would deduct those from their federal tax payments," she says. Now, country tax deductions are capped. "Ironically, it means the wealthier states' populations are paying even more."

Adept Insights on Federal Funding Disparities

Why practice some states receive more federal funding than others?
What role does federal funding play in country government finances?
Is the current resource allotment of funding fair and equitable? Why or why not?

Dr. Nada Eissa

Dr. Null Eissa

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics in the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Kathy Fallon

Practise Expanse Director / Human Services, Public Consulting Group

Dr. Aleksandar (Sasha) Tomic

Economist and Program Managing director of Boston College's MS in Applied Economic science Program, Associate Dean, Strategy, Innovation, & Technology, Woods College of Advancing Studies, Boston College

William C. Binning, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Political Science & Gerontology at Youngstown State University

Rosalyn Cooperman

Professor of Political Science at the Academy of Mary Washington

Joseph M. Knippenberg

Joseph Thou. Knippenberg

Professor of Politics at Oglethorpe Academy

Child Tax Credits By State

MoneyGeek analyzed child tax credit data to acquire more about which states received the most significant portion of this federal help.

The states receiving the largest annualized child revenue enhancement credit payments by and large correlated with the state'south population: California received the biggest annualized child tax credit payment at $xx,480 one thousand thousand, followed by Texas and Florida — the next 2 largest states by population.

Still, demographics prove that red states that have large families get the most money per capita for kid tax credits. Iowa got the nigh child tax credit per capita, followed past Oklahoma, South Dakota, Northward Dakota and Tennessee — all Republican-voting states.

State	Political Amalgamation	Annualized Child Tax Credit Payments ($Yard)	Child Tax Credit $/ Per Capita	Average Monthly Credit/Child
Alabama	Red	$2,835	$585	$256.96
Alaska	Ruby-red	$467	$518	$251.96
Arizona	Cherry-red	$4,183	$564	$254.65
Arkansas	Crimson	$one,821	$515	$257.45
California	Blue	$20,480	$461	$249.92
Colorado	Blue	$two,997	$571	$247.72
Connecticut	Bluish	$1,679	$525	$244.15
Delaware	Blue	$523	$495	$253.46
Commune of Columbia	Bluish	$269	$535	$245.08
Florida	Cerise	$11,094	$591	$255.x
Georgia	Cerise	$6,341	$558	$254.35
Hawaii	Blueish	$779	$603	$253.52
Idaho	Ruby	$i,206	$566	$254.09
Illinois	Blue	$6,755	$518	$250.31
Indiana	Red	$iv,030	$618	$255.59
Iowa	Cerise	$one,885	$728	$254.03
Kansas	Red	$i,745	$521	$253.61
Kentucky	Carmine	$2,631	$584	$256.85
Louisiana	Crimson	$i,378	$571	$128.14
Maine	Blue	$651	$478	$253.55
Maryland	Blue	$3,241	$512	$246.74
Massachusetts	Bluish	$three,060	$592	$239.74
Michigan	Bluish	$five,394	$595	$253.39
Minnesota	Blue	$iii,252	$527	$248.27
Mississippi	Cherry	$1,848	$624	$258.46
Missouri	Blood-red	$3,517	$594	$254.39
Montana	Carmine	$601	$296	$254.40
Nebraska	Red	$1,238	$631	$253.58
Nevada	Blue	$1,784	$605	$257.63
New Hampshire	Blue	$634	$476	$245.33
New Jersey	Blueish	$4,596	$519	$242.70
New Mexico	Blue	$1,202	$568	$257.91
New York	Blue	$9,783	$575	$249.99
North Carolina	Red	$five,852	$532	$254.38
North Dakota	Red	$464	$637	$251.73
Ohio	Blood-red	$6,587	$594	$254.12
Oklahoma	Red	$two,447	$656	$257.31
Oregon	Blueish	$2,122	$561	$251.57
Pennsylvania	Bluish	$6,654	$484	$250.51
Rhode Island	Bluish	$522	$466	$251.36
S Carolina	Red	$2,922	$461	$255.77
Due south Dakota	Ruddy	$560	$637	$254.19
Tennessee	Red	$3,909	$631	$255.82
Texas	Red	$18,567	$540	$254.27
Utah	Scarlet	$2,382	$570	$251.77
Vermont	Blue	$296	$535	$253.xi
Virginia	Blue	$four,593	$501	$247.25
Washington	Blue	$four,017	$529	$247.95
Westward Virginia	Red	$929	$555	$256.87
Wisconsin	Blue	$three,182	$435	$252.ninety
Wyoming	Red	$348	$390	$254.38

Take Action in Your State

Taxes may be ane of life's merely two certainties — along with death — according to writing attributed to Benjamin Franklin. But how much you pay in taxes and what you lot get for your tax dollars can vary profoundly depending on where you live.

Suppose you're in a country that provides net contributions to the federal government and, therefore, to other states. In that case, you may consider whether your policy priorities are reflected in how the federal government spends and distributes that contribution.

If your state receives more than it contributes, y'all might examine the function the federal government plays in the day-to-day life of your state. Brainwash yourself, decide how you experience about how your state budgets and spends money and show your approving or disapproval at the polls when you vote. No affair how divided the nation feels politically, states remain interconnected economically, bound to each other through tax contributions and receipts. Participating in the procedure and voting ensures that your voice is heard at the state and national level.

Methodology & Data Sources

When evaluating the states most dependent on the federal government in 2021, MoneyGeek created an overall score focused on ii fundamental metrics: render on taxes sent to the federal government and the percent of each country's revenue provided by the federal authorities. This final overall score was converted to a 100-point scale.

To determine the return on taxes sent to the federal regime, MoneyGeek utilized reporting by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify the amount of taxes paid past the residents and businesses of each state for individual income revenue enhancement, business income tax, estate and souvenir taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and excise taxes. MoneyGeek then identified data from the Treasury Section on payments from the federal regime to individuals and organizations within each land and calculated the monetary benefit provided by the federal government to each state relative to the amount of taxes provided by each country (Medicare payments were removed from this calculation equally this information was consolidated to a handful of states). This metric was given a 3x weighting and converted to a 100-point calibration for inclusion in the final score.

The percentage of each state's acquirement provided by the federal government was calculated using information on each state's revenue sources collected by the U.S. Census. This metric was given a 1x weighting and converted to a 100-point scale for inclusion in the terminal score.

We defined each land equally being red or blueish based on its voting history in the by 5 presidential elections. States where the Democratic candidate won three out of the five elections were labeled as blue, and states where the Republican candidate won iii out of the v elections were labeled every bit red.

To calculate the annualized child care tax payments past country, nosotros analyzed the stated tax payments past state for July and August 2021 — the first 2 months of the programme every bit announced by the Department of Treasury.

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