With Tax Day postponed to July 15 and states having received hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released updated rankings for 2020’s Most & Least Federally Dependent States.
This report illustrates the extent to which states are independent economically. However, the oxymoron in this situation is that states with a higher level of federal dependence are likely better positioned to handle the coronavirus pandemic, given that most relief has come from the federal government. In order to identify which states most and least depend on federal support, the site compared the 50 states across three key metrics: return on taxes paid to the federal government; federal funding as a share of state revenue; and share of federal jobs.
South Carolina was ranked #7 (3 spots higher than their previous ranking) and North Carolina ranked #28 (7 spots higher than their previous ranking).
Most Federally Dependent States
Rank (1 = Most Dependent) | State | Total Score | ‘State Residents’ Dependency’ Rank | ‘State Government’s Dependency’ Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New Mexico | 85.80 | 1 | 5 |
2 | Kentucky | 78.18 | 3 | 7 |
3 | Mississippi | 77.02 | 6 | 4 |
4 | West Virginia | 73.86 | 5 | 9 |
5 | Montana | 70.78 | 14 | 2 |
6 | Alaska | 68.61 | 7 | 8 |
7 | South Carolina | 67.58 | 4 | 16 |
8 | Indiana | 64.37 | 8 | 11 |
9 | Arizona | 62.71 | 13 | 6 |
10 | Wyoming | 62.26 | 24 | 1 |
11 | Alabama | 58.89 | 9 | 14 |
12 | Louisiana | 54.89 | 31 | 3 |
13 | Maine | 52.11 | 10 | 21 |
14 | North Dakota | 51.63 | 2 | 44 |
15 | Tennessee | 47.73 | 22 | 10 |
16 | Pennsylvania | 46.54 | 17 | 18 |
17 | Missouri | 44.29 | 26 | 12 |
18 | Oklahoma | 42.17 | 19 | 23 |
19 | Maryland | 41.82 | 15 | 31 |
20 | South Dakota | 40.39 | 23 | 17 |
21 | Arkansas | 39.46 | 41 | 13 |
22 | Vermont | 39.42 | 20 | 30 |
23 | Georgia | 35.18 | 35 | 20 |
24 | New York | 35.04 | 46 | 15 |
25 | Oregon | 34.89 | 27 | 27 |
26 | Idaho | 34.33 | 21 | 35 |
27 | Michigan | 34.06 | 29 | 25 |
28 | North Carolina | 33.89 | 32 | 24 |
29 | Rhode Island | 33.79 | 39 | 22 |
30 | New Hampshire | 32.42 | 34 | 26 |
31 | Nevada | 31.70 | 36 | 29 |
32 | Ohio | 31.32 | 45 | 19 |
33 | Wisconsin | 31.24 | 16 | 43 |
34 | Texas | 29.90 | 42 | 28 |
35 | Florida | 29.89 | 28 | 33 |
36 | Connecticut | 28.04 | 18 | 42 |
37 | Colorado | 27.64 | 40 | 32 |
38 | Hawaii | 25.49 | 11 | 50 |
39 | Nebraska | 25.32 | 43 | 34 |
40 | Virginia | 24.99 | 12 | 49 |
41 | California | 24.42 | 44 | 36 |
42 | Washington | 24.32 | 37 | 37 |
43 | Minnesota | 21.99 | 25 | 45 |
44 | Massachusetts | 19.16 | 47 | 38 |
45 | Illinois | 18.53 | 48 | 39 |
46 | Utah | 17.83 | 33 | 46 |
47 | Iowa | 16.53 | 30 | 47 |
48 | Delaware | 14.91 | 50 | 40 |
49 | New Jersey | 14.52 | 49 | 41 |
50 | Kansas | 12.73 | 38 | 48 |