State Safety Net Interactive

We are pleased to launch the latest version of the State Safety Net Interactive. This tool describes safety net program generosity in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, characterizing eligibility and benefits for a fixed representative sample of families. The interactive covers five major components of the safety net, accounting for program interactions. Policymakers, researchers, and advocates can use the information to better characterize the overall safety net policy landscape across states and over time.

We have expanded the tool to include two additional years and added two safety net programs. The latest release covers 2001 through 2024, and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid programs are now captured, in addition to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and refundable tax credits, which were also covered in previous releases. The tool also now describes program generosity for more types of families, including married-parent, single-parent, and partnered-parent families. This release also captures how the rules apply to families with a disabled member.

Government-funded food assistance, health insurance, and cash transfers are key tools for alleviating poverty and inequality, with millions of families across the U.S. relying on social safety net programs to help meet their basic needs. State and federal policies interact to determine eligibility and benefit levels, resulting in 51 distinct safety nets—one for each of the states and the District of Columbia. Use the State Safety Net Interactive on this page to explore the data for yourself. See also our latest work using the new data to characterize how the safety net looks across states and over time.

Data on safety net expenditures can be misleading, because they conflate how needy the population is with the generosity of programs by design. High per-capita spending in a state could be because the safety net policies are generous or it could be because the state’s poverty rate is high. Similarly, increases in spending during recessions might be due to changes in states’ program rules or because more families are facing hardship and qualify for existing programs.

To isolate the generosity of safety net program rules, we calculate the benefits that would theoretically be available to a fixed group of single-parent, married, or unmarried partner families with children if they lived in different states and years and fully participated in the programs for which they were eligible. This approach (detailed in the data appendix) allows us to hold constant the earnings and demographic factors that influence safety net eligibility, so that we can assess how safety net policy itself has evolved. We then combine average values of food and cash benefits available to this fixed group families into an index of generosity, reported in 2024 dollars. When the index rises or falls, it is because of changes in state or federal program rules. We report Medicaid generosity separately. 

We describe the index as representing eligibility and benefits available to a “typical” or average family, but it is important to note that the index does not reflect actual benefits received by any particular family. Family characteristics in each state and year vary, so actual benefit eligibility differs from what the index suggests. In addition, there is incomplete take-up: Not all families use programs for which they are eligible, but the index describes safety net benefits available according to program rules.

The data are available for download from this page. The download folder contains four datasets, at increasing levels of detail: state-year; state-year-family type; state-year-any disability; and state-year-family type-any disability. All dollar amounts are reported in 2024 dollars, with state-level cost of living (COLA)-adjusted values also provided starting in 2008. A complete variable list is provided in the data appendix.