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Cliff-Zone Families
74,263
Total Wage Suppression
$54.1M
State Avg Cliff Zone
15.7%
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 Iowa, an estimated 74,263 families across 99 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk County | 503,175 | 14.3% | 11,330 | $8.2M | 287% |
| Linn County | 230,004 | 15.3% | 5,220 | $3.8M | 287% |
| Scott County | 174,608 | 13.9% | 3,681 | $2.7M | 287% |
| Black Hawk County | 131,049 | 18.6% | 3,435 | $2.5M | 287% |
| Woodbury County | 106,247 | 19.2% | 3,130 | $2.3M | 287% |
| Pottawattamie County | 93,424 | 16.4% | 2,369 | $1.7M | 287% |
| Johnson County | 156,639 | 12.6% | 2,011 | $1.5M | 287% |
| Dubuque County | 99,030 | 12.8% | 1,843 | $1.3M | 287% |
| Dallas County | 107,968 | 8.8% | 1,521 | $1.1M | 287% |
| Story County | 100,466 | 14.1% | 1,289 | $938K | 287% |
| Cerro Gordo County | 42,632 | 18.4% | 1,227 | $893K | 287% |
| Clinton County | 46,268 | 16.5% | 1,100 | $801K | 287% |
| Marshall County | 40,114 | 18.3% | 1,085 | $790K | 287% |
| Wapello County | 35,362 | 17.3% | 1,068 | $778K | 287% |
| Jasper County | 37,954 | 20.1% | 1,024 | $745K | 287% |
| Muscatine County | 42,559 | 15.2% | 1,019 | $742K | 287% |
| Warren County | 54,409 | 11.1% | 996 | $725K | 287% |
| Sioux County | 36,212 | 15.0% | 959 | $698K | 287% |
| Lee County | 32,893 | 19.5% | 939 | $684K | 287% |
| Des Moines County | 38,487 | 17.0% | 887 | $646K | 287% |
| Webster County | 36,886 | 16.9% | 774 | $563K | 287% |
| Marion County | 33,642 | 15.4% | 729 | $531K | 287% |
| Washington County | 22,561 | 20.9% | 656 | $478K | 287% |
| Mahaska County | 22,021 | 17.7% | 656 | $478K | 287% |
| Buena Vista County | 20,753 | 22.7% | 641 | $467K | 287% |
| Fayette County | 19,288 | 21.3% | 593 | $432K | 287% |
| Plymouth County | 25,747 | 13.2% | 568 | $414K | 287% |
| Hamilton County | 14,886 | 21.7% | 546 | $397K | 287% |
| Carroll County | 20,594 | 17.0% | 527 | $384K | 287% |
| Jones County | 20,896 | 16.0% | 519 | $378K | 287% |
| Henry County | 20,004 | 16.9% | 515 | $375K | 287% |
| Cedar County | 18,349 | 15.0% | 507 | $369K | 287% |
| Benton County | 25,724 | 12.3% | 498 | $363K | 287% |
| Boone County | 26,668 | 12.2% | 491 | $357K | 287% |
| Clayton County | 17,013 | 17.1% | 489 | $356K | 287% |
| Hardin County | 16,639 | 19.8% | 489 | $356K | 287% |
| Poweshiek County | 18,545 | 16.8% | 484 | $352K | 287% |
| Buchanan County | 20,694 | 17.1% | 462 | $336K | 287% |
| Harrison County | 14,632 | 16.7% | 455 | $331K | 287% |
| Appanoose County | 12,184 | 24.7% | 455 | $331K | 287% |
| Crawford County | 16,277 | 19.2% | 454 | $331K | 287% |
| Delaware County | 17,558 | 15.7% | 443 | $323K | 287% |
| Page County | 15,131 | 24.2% | 441 | $321K | 287% |
| Allamakee County | 14,092 | 21.2% | 431 | $314K | 287% |
| Tama County | 16,868 | 15.9% | 419 | $305K | 287% |
| Jefferson County | 15,705 | 21.8% | 417 | $304K | 287% |
| Bremer County | 25,204 | 10.7% | 415 | $302K | 287% |
| Floyd County | 15,328 | 21.3% | 404 | $294K | 287% |
| Jackson County | 19,390 | 15.6% | 401 | $292K | 287% |
| Shelby County | 11,778 | 19.6% | 400 | $291K | 287% |
| Kossuth County | 14,516 | 17.6% | 390 | $284K | 287% |
| Clarke County | 9,662 | 21.8% | 389 | $283K | 287% |
| O'Brien County | 14,126 | 18.2% | 387 | $282K | 287% |
| Iowa County | 16,507 | 15.9% | 367 | $267K | 287% |
| Cass County | 13,096 | 21.1% | 350 | $255K | 287% |
| Wright County | 12,791 | 18.4% | 350 | $255K | 287% |
| Louisa County | 10,678 | 17.4% | 349 | $254K | 287% |
| Winneshiek County | 19,873 | 11.7% | 347 | $253K | 287% |
| Madison County | 16,926 | 13.5% | 347 | $253K | 287% |
| Lyon County | 12,162 | 17.5% | 347 | $253K | 287% |
| Calhoun County | 9,803 | 24.3% | 344 | $250K | 287% |
| Union County | 11,993 | 19.8% | 330 | $240K | 287% |
| Davis County | 9,157 | 23.8% | 320 | $233K | 287% |
| Mitchell County | 10,575 | 19.4% | 317 | $231K | 287% |
| Butler County | 14,268 | 13.7% | 316 | $230K | 287% |
| Monona County | 8,557 | 22.8% | 312 | $227K | 287% |
| Chickasaw County | 11,807 | 16.9% | 309 | $225K | 287% |
| Mills County | 14,568 | 11.6% | 308 | $224K | 287% |
| Franklin County | 9,956 | 19.7% | 293 | $213K | 287% |
| Lucas County | 8,716 | 25.1% | 291 | $212K | 287% |
| Howard County | 9,445 | 17.8% | 290 | $211K | 287% |
| Hancock County | 10,671 | 15.9% | 283 | $206K | 287% |
| Sac County | 9,689 | 19.5% | 281 | $205K | 287% |
| Keokuk County | 9,924 | 19.0% | 271 | $197K | 287% |
| Dickinson County | 17,990 | 12.2% | 265 | $193K | 287% |
| Humboldt County | 9,591 | 17.3% | 263 | $191K | 287% |
| Winnebago County | 10,583 | 17.3% | 254 | $185K | 287% |
| Guthrie County | 10,688 | 15.1% | 252 | $183K | 287% |
| Emmet County | 9,262 | 18.3% | 243 | $177K | 287% |
| Pocahontas County | 7,046 | 20.6% | 233 | $170K | 287% |
| Grundy County | 12,384 | 11.0% | 222 | $162K | 287% |
| Greene County | 8,688 | 16.4% | 216 | $157K | 287% |
| Cherokee County | 11,600 | 14.0% | 212 | $154K | 287% |
| Adair County | 7,460 | 20.2% | 211 | $154K | 287% |
| Ida County | 6,911 | 18.6% | 210 | $153K | 287% |
| Montgomery County | 10,214 | 16.0% | 209 | $152K | 287% |
| Wayne County | 6,532 | 24.1% | 206 | $150K | 287% |
| Taylor County | 5,868 | 17.7% | 203 | $148K | 287% |
| Decatur County | 7,759 | 19.3% | 202 | $147K | 287% |
| Clay County | 16,461 | 13.8% | 191 | $139K | 287% |
| Van Buren County | 7,241 | 22.0% | 191 | $139K | 287% |
| Monroe County | 7,513 | 19.4% | 190 | $138K | 287% |
| Fremont County | 6,514 | 18.3% | 180 | $131K | 287% |
| Ringgold County | 4,645 | 20.5% | 158 | $115K | 287% |
| Audubon County | 5,599 | 19.0% | 157 | $114K | 287% |
| Palo Alto County | 8,863 | 14.8% | 148 | $108K | 287% |
| Worth County | 7,350 | 13.6% | 133 | $97K | 287% |
| Osceola County | 6,100 | 14.0% | 112 | $82K | 287% |
| Adams County | 3,622 | 21.0% | 102 | $74K | 287% |
99 of 99 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.