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Cliff-Zone Families
610,578
Total Wage Suppression
$444.5M
State Avg Cliff Zone
17.6%
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 Florida, an estimated 610,578 families across 67 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade County | 2,738,356 | 20.1% | 104,569 | $76.1M | 716% |
| Broward County | 1,977,129 | 17.3% | 57,367 | $41.8M | 692% |
| Orange County | 1,471,937 | 18.9% | 46,925 | $34.2M | 609% |
| Hillsborough County | 1,522,748 | 16.7% | 42,582 | $31.0M | 610% |
| Palm Beach County | 1,533,806 | 15.9% | 33,817 | $24.6M | 674% |
| Duval County | 1,023,153 | 17.7% | 29,871 | $21.7M | 548% |
| Polk County | 790,694 | 21.4% | 25,822 | $18.8M | 511% |
| Pinellas County | 963,481 | 15.4% | 18,790 | $13.7M | 610% |
| Lee County | 817,666 | 16.6% | 17,883 | $13.0M | 607% |
| Osceola County | 427,415 | 23.0% | 17,316 | $12.6M | 609% |
| Volusia County | 579,622 | 18.5% | 15,506 | $11.3M | 558% |
| Pasco County | 611,444 | 17.1% | 14,576 | $10.6M | 610% |
| Brevard County | 632,780 | 15.6% | 13,479 | $9.8M | 560% |
| Seminole County | 481,470 | 14.9% | 12,692 | $9.2M | 609% |
| Marion County | 400,078 | 22.3% | 11,673 | $8.5M | 482% |
| Lake County | 412,924 | 16.6% | 10,023 | $7.3M | 609% |
| St. Lucie County | 360,500 | 18.7% | 9,569 | $7.0M | 571% |
| Escambia County | 325,923 | 19.5% | 9,209 | $6.7M | 505% |
| Manatee County | 429,792 | 16.4% | 9,025 | $6.6M | 607% |
| Sarasota County | 459,547 | 13.9% | 7,842 | $5.7M | 607% |
| Collier County | 398,291 | 14.1% | 7,468 | $5.4M | 612% |
| Leon County | 297,542 | 16.8% | 6,522 | $4.7M | 478% |
| Alachua County | 285,492 | 16.1% | 5,978 | $4.4M | 510% |
| Okaloosa County | 216,599 | 16.8% | 5,964 | $4.3M | 577% |
| Clay County | 227,584 | 14.8% | 5,954 | $4.3M | 548% |
| Bay County | 186,393 | 18.0% | 5,744 | $4.2M | 554% |
| Hernando County | 207,018 | 18.6% | 5,277 | $3.8M | 610% |
| Santa Rosa County | 198,472 | 13.2% | 4,328 | $3.2M | 505% |
| St. Johns County | 306,934 | 9.3% | 4,305 | $3.1M | 548% |
| Charlotte County | 201,064 | 16.7% | 3,816 | $2.8M | 505% |
| Citrus County | 162,472 | 19.3% | 3,590 | $2.6M | 445% |
| Martin County | 162,176 | 15.1% | 3,006 | $2.2M | 571% |
| Indian River County | 166,936 | 15.0% | 2,945 | $2.1M | 536% |
| Flagler County | 126,528 | 15.7% | 2,705 | $2.0M | 582% |
| Highlands County | 105,702 | 22.4% | 2,645 | $1.9M | 459% |
| Columbia County | 71,789 | 22.1% | 2,452 | $1.8M | 470% |
| Putnam County | 75,164 | 25.0% | 2,406 | $1.8M | 424% |
| Nassau County | 97,859 | 12.5% | 2,069 | $1.5M | 548% |
| Hendry County | 42,382 | 23.7% | 1,899 | $1.4M | 459% |
| Walton County | 82,948 | 13.6% | 1,838 | $1.3M | 480% |
| Suwannee County | 45,342 | 25.6% | 1,678 | $1.2M | 411% |
| Monroe County | 81,860 | 13.2% | 1,672 | $1.2M | 731% |
| Levy County | 45,391 | 23.1% | 1,530 | $1.1M | 378% |
| Gadsden County | 43,710 | 21.3% | 1,433 | $1.0M | 478% |
| Jackson County | 48,250 | 23.0% | 1,339 | $975K | 400% |
| Okeechobee County | 40,816 | 24.4% | 1,242 | $904K | 476% |
| Sumter County | 143,408 | 12.8% | 1,164 | $847K | 472% |
| DeSoto County | 35,386 | 24.8% | 1,010 | $735K | 440% |
| Wakulla County | 35,387 | 16.2% | 932 | $678K | 437% |
| Holmes County | 19,513 | 32.3% | 759 | $553K | 402% |
| Taylor County | 21,503 | 29.3% | 750 | $546K | 388% |
| Bradford County | 27,885 | 20.0% | 703 | $512K | 414% |
| Gilchrist County | 19,040 | 22.9% | 691 | $503K | 510% |
| Madison County | 18,089 | 30.3% | 679 | $494K | 404% |
| Washington County | 25,529 | 20.2% | 657 | $478K | 388% |
| Hardee County | 25,675 | 18.5% | 641 | $467K | 452% |
| Baker County | 28,430 | 13.5% | 599 | $436K | 409% |
| Dixie County | 17,058 | 22.0% | 496 | $361K | 424% |
| Calhoun County | 13,492 | 31.9% | 476 | $347K | 378% |
| Gulf County | 15,131 | 19.9% | 471 | $343K | 558% |
| Hamilton County | 13,616 | 29.1% | 435 | $317K | 380% |
| Jefferson County | 15,091 | 17.8% | 399 | $290K | 478% |
| Union County | 15,701 | 19.3% | 365 | $266K | 417% |
| Franklin County | 12,553 | 24.2% | 360 | $262K | 433% |
| Glades County | 12,563 | 23.7% | 349 | $254K | 453% |
| Lafayette County | 8,161 | 21.9% | 159 | $116K | 471% |
| Liberty County | 7,687 | 13.9% | 142 | $103K | 403% |
67 of 67 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.