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Cliff-Zone Families
279,791
Total Wage Suppression
$203.7M
State Avg Cliff Zone
14.3%
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 Illinois, an estimated 279,791 families across 102 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 5,182,090 | 15.1% | 124,073 | $90.3M | 329% |
| DuPage County | 930,024 | 9.1% | 14,431 | $10.5M | 329% |
| Will County | 701,462 | 10.5% | 12,525 | $9.1M | 329% |
| Lake County | 714,223 | 10.5% | 12,371 | $9.0M | 329% |
| Kane County | 517,255 | 12.6% | 10,622 | $7.7M | 329% |
| Winnebago County | 283,292 | 18.8% | 7,791 | $5.7M | 160% |
| Madison County | 264,238 | 14.8% | 6,243 | $4.5M | 173% |
| St. Clair County | 253,694 | 15.3% | 5,748 | $4.2M | 173% |
| McHenry County | 312,591 | 9.8% | 5,269 | $3.8M | 329% |
| Peoria County | 179,645 | 16.4% | 4,203 | $3.1M | 154% |
| Champaign County | 208,741 | 15.3% | 3,835 | $2.8M | 154% |
| Sangamon County | 194,947 | 13.7% | 3,753 | $2.7M | 168% |
| Rock Island County | 142,757 | 16.6% | 3,285 | $2.4M | 154% |
| Kankakee County | 106,635 | 18.1% | 2,943 | $2.1M | 205% |
| McLean County | 171,556 | 12.3% | 2,472 | $1.8M | 198% |
| DeKalb County | 100,703 | 16.0% | 2,430 | $1.8M | 219% |
| LaSalle County | 108,714 | 14.7% | 2,393 | $1.7M | 154% |
| Tazewell County | 130,290 | 12.9% | 2,379 | $1.7M | 154% |
| Kendall County | 137,675 | 9.4% | 2,323 | $1.7M | 391% |
| Macon County | 101,849 | 15.9% | 2,035 | $1.5M | 154% |
| Vermilion County | 72,386 | 21.4% | 1,980 | $1.4M | 154% |
| Williamson County | 66,876 | 18.3% | 1,943 | $1.4M | 154% |
| Adams County | 64,754 | 17.5% | 1,692 | $1.2M | 154% |
| Boone County | 53,230 | 17.0% | 1,641 | $1.2M | 160% |
| Whiteside County | 54,947 | 16.2% | 1,337 | $973K | 154% |
| Henry County | 48,643 | 16.0% | 1,317 | $959K | 154% |
| Coles County | 46,777 | 18.5% | 1,276 | $929K | 154% |
| Jackson County | 53,064 | 21.9% | 1,243 | $905K | 154% |
| Grundy County | 53,219 | 12.8% | 1,174 | $855K | 245% |
| Marion County | 37,000 | 21.4% | 1,139 | $829K | 154% |
| Stephenson County | 43,768 | 16.6% | 1,127 | $820K | 154% |
| Knox County | 49,046 | 19.7% | 1,103 | $803K | 154% |
| Jefferson County | 36,550 | 20.5% | 1,070 | $779K | 154% |
| Ogle County | 51,495 | 15.3% | 1,050 | $764K | 154% |
| Franklin County | 37,323 | 19.3% | 1,035 | $753K | 154% |
| Macoupin County | 44,350 | 15.5% | 1,005 | $732K | 154% |
| Fulton County | 33,020 | 20.7% | 993 | $723K | 154% |
| Livingston County | 35,565 | 16.6% | 954 | $695K | 154% |
| Bureau County | 32,866 | 19.3% | 922 | $671K | 154% |
| Christian County | 33,538 | 21.6% | 895 | $652K | 154% |
| Morgan County | 33,021 | 20.3% | 868 | $632K | 154% |
| Effingham County | 34,522 | 13.3% | 793 | $577K | 154% |
| Edgar County | 16,535 | 25.5% | 785 | $571K | 154% |
| Shelby County | 20,720 | 20.4% | 751 | $547K | 154% |
| Iroquois County | 26,449 | 18.6% | 710 | $517K | 154% |
| Clinton County | 36,954 | 13.6% | 708 | $515K | 173% |
| Lee County | 33,869 | 15.5% | 697 | $507K | 154% |
| Fayette County | 21,315 | 22.6% | 625 | $455K | 154% |
| Douglas County | 19,751 | 17.0% | 613 | $446K | 154% |
| Saline County | 23,213 | 19.8% | 607 | $442K | 154% |
| Logan County | 27,713 | 14.3% | 572 | $416K | 154% |
| Montgomery County | 27,942 | 17.0% | 558 | $406K | 154% |
| Randolph County | 30,058 | 13.9% | 557 | $405K | 154% |
| McDonough County | 26,920 | 16.8% | 531 | $387K | 154% |
| Jo Daviess County | 21,851 | 15.4% | 513 | $373K | 154% |
| Woodford County | 38,312 | 10.7% | 487 | $355K | 154% |
| Wayne County | 15,973 | 22.1% | 482 | $351K | 154% |
| Cass County | 12,784 | 23.1% | 464 | $338K | 154% |
| Clark County | 15,266 | 16.6% | 445 | $324K | 154% |
| Warren County | 16,447 | 18.9% | 439 | $320K | 154% |
| Clay County | 13,052 | 21.8% | 435 | $317K | 154% |
| Moultrie County | 14,424 | 19.4% | 434 | $316K | 154% |
| Union County | 16,997 | 19.8% | 430 | $313K | 154% |
| Bond County | 16,716 | 19.4% | 429 | $312K | 154% |
| Mercer County | 15,495 | 17.7% | 426 | $310K | 154% |
| Carroll County | 15,576 | 19.9% | 413 | $301K | 154% |
| Ford County | 13,406 | 19.0% | 407 | $296K | 154% |
| White County | 13,619 | 25.6% | 402 | $293K | 154% |
| Richland County | 15,598 | 18.9% | 393 | $286K | 154% |
| Hancock County | 17,281 | 17.2% | 391 | $285K | 154% |
| Menard County | 12,095 | 15.5% | 370 | $269K | 168% |
| Pike County | 14,469 | 18.7% | 367 | $267K | 154% |
| De Witt County | 15,373 | 16.8% | 363 | $264K | 154% |
| Jersey County | 21,274 | 15.5% | 362 | $264K | 173% |
| Lawrence County | 15,031 | 19.7% | 353 | $257K | 154% |
| Mason County | 12,745 | 18.4% | 346 | $252K | 154% |
| Monroe County | 35,036 | 7.2% | 341 | $248K | 173% |
| Washington County | 13,627 | 14.8% | 336 | $245K | 154% |
| Marshall County | 11,647 | 15.9% | 318 | $232K | 154% |
| Greene County | 11,683 | 22.0% | 316 | $230K | 154% |
| Wabash County | 11,119 | 19.1% | 311 | $226K | 154% |
| Perry County | 20,639 | 14.5% | 310 | $226K | 154% |
| Crawford County | 18,511 | 12.8% | 297 | $216K | 154% |
| Piatt County | 16,695 | 10.3% | 282 | $205K | 154% |
| Jasper County | 9,180 | 15.7% | 281 | $205K | 154% |
| Massac County | 13,865 | 18.5% | 249 | $181K | 154% |
| Hamilton County | 7,916 | 21.1% | 203 | $148K | 154% |
| Edwards County | 6,075 | 17.4% | 190 | $138K | 154% |
| Johnson County | 13,376 | 14.7% | 175 | $127K | 154% |
| Schuyler County | 6,787 | 18.3% | 170 | $124K | 154% |
| Stark County | 5,308 | 19.2% | 169 | $123K | 154% |
| Cumberland County | 10,334 | 9.9% | 165 | $120K | 154% |
| Putnam County | 5,601 | 14.2% | 156 | $114K | 154% |
| Henderson County | 6,193 | 18.4% | 146 | $106K | 154% |
| Alexander County | 4,875 | 27.5% | 143 | $104K | 154% |
| Gallatin County | 4,819 | 21.5% | 137 | $100K | 154% |
| Hardin County | 3,605 | 28.1% | 127 | $92K | 154% |
| Scott County | 4,937 | 18.2% | 120 | $87K | 154% |
| Brown County | 6,322 | 21.1% | 108 | $79K | 154% |
| Pulaski County | 5,015 | 20.1% | 102 | $74K | 154% |
| Pope County | 3,739 | 16.0% | 54 | $39K | 154% |
| Calhoun County | 4,330 | 8.7% | 39 | $28K | 173% |
102 of 102 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.