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Cliff-Zone Families
73,672
Total Wage Suppression
$53.6M
State Avg Cliff Zone
16.5%
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 Kansas, an estimated 73,672 families across 105 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedgwick County | 528,226 | 17.3% | 13,614 | $9.9M | 341% |
| Johnson County | 620,631 | 8.8% | 8,873 | $6.5M | 341% |
| Wyandotte County | 167,654 | 23.1% | 6,414 | $4.7M | 341% |
| Shawnee County | 178,025 | 17.2% | 4,159 | $3.0M | 341% |
| Reno County | 61,553 | 22.5% | 1,900 | $1.4M | 341% |
| Douglas County | 120,302 | 15.4% | 1,851 | $1.3M | 341% |
| Geary County | 35,815 | 23.0% | 1,795 | $1.3M | 341% |
| Butler County | 68,287 | 14.7% | 1,787 | $1.3M | 341% |
| Leavenworth County | 83,123 | 12.8% | 1,587 | $1.2M | 341% |
| Crawford County | 39,008 | 24.4% | 1,570 | $1.1M | 341% |
| Ford County | 34,074 | 24.2% | 1,364 | $993K | 341% |
| Riley County | 71,946 | 15.7% | 1,314 | $957K | 341% |
| Finney County | 38,084 | 18.3% | 1,270 | $925K | 341% |
| Saline County | 53,668 | 17.3% | 1,094 | $796K | 341% |
| Lyon County | 32,186 | 20.9% | 1,007 | $733K | 341% |
| Montgomery County | 30,940 | 23.0% | 959 | $698K | 341% |
| Cowley County | 34,411 | 22.3% | 942 | $686K | 341% |
| Seward County | 21,486 | 22.8% | 881 | $641K | 341% |
| Franklin County | 26,106 | 19.1% | 865 | $630K | 341% |
| Barton County | 25,097 | 21.4% | 810 | $590K | 341% |
| Harvey County | 33,756 | 16.4% | 807 | $587K | 341% |
| McPherson County | 30,205 | 14.1% | 725 | $528K | 341% |
| Miami County | 34,938 | 11.3% | 701 | $510K | 341% |
| Cherokee County | 19,151 | 24.0% | 675 | $491K | 341% |
| Pottawatomie County | 26,204 | 16.0% | 632 | $460K | 341% |
| Sumner County | 22,353 | 22.5% | 625 | $455K | 341% |
| Ellis County | 28,920 | 18.0% | 595 | $433K | 341% |
| Atchison County | 16,208 | 22.3% | 558 | $406K | 341% |
| Labette County | 19,869 | 21.5% | 548 | $399K | 341% |
| Bourbon County | 14,394 | 24.4% | 484 | $352K | 341% |
| Dickinson County | 18,445 | 14.8% | 438 | $319K | 341% |
| Neosho County | 15,656 | 20.5% | 434 | $316K | 341% |
| Osage County | 15,744 | 15.3% | 391 | $285K | 341% |
| Allen County | 12,483 | 19.3% | 386 | $281K | 341% |
| Marshall County | 9,993 | 21.2% | 386 | $281K | 341% |
| Jefferson County | 18,349 | 13.9% | 380 | $277K | 341% |
| Cloud County | 8,898 | 26.5% | 380 | $277K | 341% |
| Marion County | 11,754 | 21.1% | 363 | $264K | 341% |
| Jackson County | 13,341 | 19.0% | 345 | $251K | 341% |
| Kingman County | 7,186 | 24.2% | 329 | $240K | 341% |
| Grant County | 7,229 | 25.6% | 327 | $238K | 341% |
| Linn County | 9,767 | 19.7% | 314 | $229K | 341% |
| Rice County | 9,350 | 22.8% | 310 | $226K | 341% |
| Stevens County | 5,162 | 33.9% | 293 | $213K | 341% |
| Thomas County | 7,885 | 19.9% | 292 | $213K | 341% |
| Coffey County | 8,308 | 19.3% | 290 | $211K | 341% |
| Sherman County | 5,858 | 25.5% | 270 | $197K | 341% |
| Wilson County | 8,505 | 20.4% | 269 | $196K | 341% |
| Brown County | 9,343 | 18.7% | 262 | $191K | 341% |
| Anderson County | 7,834 | 22.2% | 256 | $186K | 341% |
| Clay County | 8,048 | 19.3% | 242 | $176K | 341% |
| Scott County | 5,027 | 18.9% | 223 | $162K | 341% |
| Russell County | 6,679 | 20.0% | 221 | $161K | 341% |
| Nemaha County | 10,160 | 14.2% | 216 | $157K | 341% |
| Pratt County | 9,127 | 20.2% | 213 | $155K | 341% |
| Gray County | 5,701 | 20.2% | 205 | $149K | 341% |
| Greenwood County | 5,919 | 20.4% | 202 | $147K | 341% |
| Mitchell County | 5,779 | 19.1% | 186 | $135K | 341% |
| Kearny County | 3,864 | 24.5% | 186 | $135K | 341% |
| Rooks County | 4,813 | 23.3% | 180 | $131K | 341% |
| Ellsworth County | 6,360 | 20.0% | 169 | $123K | 341% |
| Doniphan County | 7,503 | 15.9% | 163 | $119K | 341% |
| Morris County | 5,340 | 19.6% | 157 | $114K | 341% |
| Wabaunsee County | 7,009 | 14.4% | 155 | $113K | 341% |
| Ottawa County | 5,819 | 15.7% | 155 | $113K | 341% |
| Washington County | 5,533 | 21.1% | 154 | $112K | 341% |
| Harper County | 5,400 | 20.7% | 151 | $110K | 341% |
| Stafford County | 3,978 | 22.3% | 148 | $108K | 341% |
| Barber County | 4,069 | 17.3% | 143 | $104K | 341% |
| Jewell County | 2,916 | 29.8% | 137 | $100K | 341% |
| Chautauqua County | 3,370 | 22.8% | 136 | $99K | 341% |
| Phillips County | 4,813 | 19.3% | 134 | $98K | 341% |
| Republic County | 4,646 | 26.5% | 132 | $96K | 341% |
| Osborne County | 3,452 | 23.8% | 132 | $96K | 341% |
| Gove County | 2,799 | 25.2% | 119 | $87K | 341% |
| Norton County | 5,359 | 22.2% | 109 | $79K | 341% |
| Stanton County | 2,038 | 32.1% | 104 | $76K | 341% |
| Pawnee County | 6,144 | 16.1% | 103 | $75K | 341% |
| Rawlins County | 2,516 | 25.1% | 103 | $75K | 341% |
| Rush County | 2,947 | 23.1% | 101 | $74K | 341% |
| Elk County | 2,453 | 23.0% | 96 | $70K | 341% |
| Lincoln County | 2,923 | 19.9% | 95 | $69K | 341% |
| Haskell County | 3,641 | 18.2% | 94 | $68K | 341% |
| Smith County | 3,552 | 18.4% | 93 | $68K | 341% |
| Graham County | 2,389 | 18.9% | 92 | $67K | 341% |
| Ness County | 2,653 | 17.8% | 89 | $65K | 341% |
| Greeley County | 1,304 | 28.4% | 89 | $65K | 341% |
| Woodson County | 3,109 | 19.8% | 84 | $61K | 341% |
| Decatur County | 2,726 | 23.0% | 84 | $61K | 341% |
| Meade County | 3,903 | 15.5% | 76 | $55K | 341% |
| Edwards County | 2,779 | 20.1% | 73 | $53K | 341% |
| Hodgeman County | 1,652 | 23.8% | 70 | $51K | 341% |
| Kiowa County | 2,422 | 21.0% | 66 | $48K | 341% |
| Logan County | 2,707 | 16.4% | 65 | $47K | 341% |
| Chase County | 2,561 | 23.7% | 65 | $47K | 341% |
| Wichita County | 2,091 | 18.1% | 65 | $47K | 341% |
| Hamilton County | 2,471 | 17.4% | 64 | $47K | 341% |
| Morton County | 2,611 | 14.4% | 63 | $46K | 341% |
| Comanche County | 1,729 | 20.5% | 62 | $45K | 341% |
| Trego County | 2,777 | 14.8% | 60 | $44K | 341% |
| Cheyenne County | 2,628 | 21.1% | 60 | $44K | 341% |
| Clark County | 1,974 | 18.2% | 51 | $37K | 341% |
| Lane County | 1,461 | 21.3% | 50 | $36K | 341% |
| Sheridan County | 2,426 | 12.4% | 34 | $25K | 341% |
| Wallace County | 1,417 | 17.0% | 32 | $23K | 341% |
105 of 105 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.