Congressional District
Congressional District 17Beta·Data under review
50,067 people in the cliff zone (6.8%) · Pop. 740,872· #52 of 52 in California by cliff exposure
Key metrics
Cliff zone by income band
How the 50,067 people in Congressional District 17’s cliff zone are distributed across FPL income bands. Higher concentration in the 100–124% band means more people are near the sharpest benefit cliffs.
Income band · 740,872 in poverty universe
Education
Education level shapes which wage paths stay in or near the cliff zone. Below a bachelor’s degree, most wage paths don’t clear the phase-out range.
Of 548,006 adults age 25+ in this community, those without a bachelor’s degree typically earn in the range where benefit cliffs concentrate. An associate degree adds about $17K in annual earnings — but for a family of three, that still lands near the cliff zone ceiling.
Housing burden
35.7% of renters in this district spend more than 30% of income on housing, and 16.3% spend more than 50%. High housing costs leave less buffer when a benefit cliff triggers a loss.
Families that spend more on housing have less capacity to absorb benefit losses at cliff thresholds. Research shows severely burdened renters (50%+ of income on rent) spend 39% less on food and 42% less on healthcare than unburdened families at similar income levels.
16% of renter households spend over half their income on housing. A family of four at 150% FPL takes home ~$4,125/month. At 50% housing burden, that leaves $2,062/month for everything else. Losing a $200 SNAP benefit or $400 childcare subsidy at that margin doesn’t just hurt — it can make continued employment impossible.
Data accuracy notice
The CLIFF Index is in beta. District-level estimates are derived from Census ACS data and may differ from county-level figures due to geographic apportionment. Send feedback to luke@thepovertysolution.com