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Cliff-Zone Families
946,314
Total Wage Suppression
$688.9M
State Avg Cliff Zone
15.3%
The benefits cliff — sometimes called the welfare cliff or cliff effect — occurs when families lose public benefits faster than they can replace them through increased earnings. In California, an estimated 946,314 families across 58 counties earn between 100–200% of the Federal Poverty Level, where benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, childcare subsidies, and housing assistance phase out. The CLIFF Index measures this exposure at the county level, including peak marginal effective tax rates, wage suppression estimates, and advancement thresholds. Click any county below for the full diagnostic report.
| CountyCounty↕ | PopulationPopulation↕ | Cliff Zone %Cliff Zone %↕ | Families AffectedFamilies↓ | Wage SuppressionWage Gap↕ | Peak METRPeak METR↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | 9,808,667 | 17.2% | 277,480 | $202.0M | 496% |
| San Bernardino County | 2,197,104 | 19.0% | 69,370 | $50.5M | 403% |
| San Diego County | 3,288,774 | 13.0% | 67,366 | $49.0M | 588% |
| Orange County | 3,165,820 | 13.0% | 66,468 | $48.4M | 642% |
| Riverside County | 2,478,600 | 17.0% | 64,324 | $46.8M | 403% |
| Sacramento County | 1,594,006 | 15.1% | 37,422 | $27.2M | 416% |
| Kern County | 915,075 | 22.8% | 32,795 | $23.9M | 250% |
| Fresno County | 1,016,725 | 20.9% | 32,548 | $23.7M | 287% |
| Alameda County | 1,649,473 | 10.6% | 28,118 | $20.5M | 568% |
| Santa Clara County | 1,902,047 | 8.6% | 26,747 | $19.5M | 699% |
| San Joaquin County | 797,334 | 16.4% | 20,387 | $14.8M | 300% |
| Tulare County | 478,693 | 24.8% | 20,222 | $14.7M | 248% |
| Contra Costa County | 1,165,012 | 10.3% | 19,482 | $14.2M | 568% |
| Stanislaus County | 553,990 | 19.9% | 17,089 | $12.4M | 302% |
| Ventura County | 837,469 | 13.4% | 16,896 | $12.3M | 517% |
| Monterey County | 437,613 | 20.1% | 12,999 | $9.5M | 515% |
| San Francisco County | 830,235 | 10.4% | 12,595 | $9.2M | 727% |
| Santa Barbara County | 443,701 | 16.3% | 9,656 | $7.0M | 616% |
| Merced County | 290,201 | 22.9% | 9,542 | $6.9M | 255% |
| San Mateo County | 742,340 | 8.2% | 9,458 | $6.9M | 727% |
| Solano County | 451,918 | 12.4% | 8,720 | $6.3M | 398% |
| Sonoma County | 485,040 | 11.5% | 7,952 | $5.8M | 548% |
| Imperial County | 180,202 | 26.9% | 6,764 | $4.9M | 220% |
| Placer County | 419,156 | 9.2% | 6,026 | $4.4M | 416% |
| Kings County | 153,298 | 22.7% | 5,273 | $3.8M | 247% |
| Butte County | 207,929 | 17.8% | 4,967 | $3.6M | 281% |
| Madera County | 160,940 | 23.4% | 4,905 | $3.6M | 224% |
| San Luis Obispo County | 281,555 | 12.3% | 4,436 | $3.2M | 475% |
| Santa Cruz County | 264,926 | 12.7% | 4,407 | $3.2M | 868% |
| Yolo County | 220,564 | 13.7% | 4,349 | $3.2M | 381% |
| Shasta County | 181,436 | 16.7% | 3,992 | $2.9M | 274% |
| Humboldt County | 134,541 | 21.7% | 3,375 | $2.5M | 265% |
| Sutter County | 98,857 | 18.5% | 2,805 | $2.0M | 265% |
| Marin County | 257,969 | 8.2% | 2,584 | $1.9M | 727% |
| Yuba County | 84,507 | 18.9% | 2,519 | $1.8M | 265% |
| El Dorado County | 192,662 | 9.5% | 2,476 | $1.8M | 416% |
| Napa County | 134,869 | 12.2% | 2,451 | $1.8M | 535% |
| Mendocino County | 90,244 | 18.6% | 2,117 | $1.5M | 295% |
| Tehama County | 65,167 | 22.6% | 2,015 | $1.5M | 220% |
| Nevada County | 102,481 | 13.5% | 1,793 | $1.3M | 314% |
| San Benito County | 67,290 | 14.1% | 1,575 | $1.1M | 565% |
| Lake County | 68,152 | 20.3% | 1,537 | $1.1M | 265% |
| Siskiyou County | 43,466 | 19.6% | 1,062 | $773K | 186% |
| Calaveras County | 46,248 | 16.2% | 1,001 | $729K | 263% |
| Tuolumne County | 54,498 | 15.7% | 866 | $630K | 274% |
| Del Norte County | 27,107 | 22.1% | 836 | $609K | 222% |
| Glenn County | 28,494 | 20.3% | 791 | $576K | 220% |
| Colusa County | 21,984 | 20.1% | 670 | $488K | 203% |
| Lassen County | 30,356 | 19.2% | 568 | $414K | 195% |
| Amador County | 41,428 | 11.4% | 492 | $358K | 292% |
| Plumas County | 19,423 | 21.9% | 454 | $331K | 229% |
| Mariposa County | 17,082 | 16.3% | 402 | $293K | 242% |
| Inyo County | 18,739 | 15.8% | 387 | $282K | 257% |
| Trinity County | 15,860 | 25.4% | 275 | $200K | 172% |
| Mono County | 13,148 | 10.5% | 248 | $181K | 289% |
| Modoc County | 8,600 | 18.7% | 199 | $145K | 152% |
| Sierra County | 2,746 | 22.0% | 33 | $24K | 260% |
| Alpine County | 1,616 | 12.0% | 28 | $20K | 260% |
58 of 58 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.