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Cliff-Zone Families
128,951
Total Wage Suppression
$93.9M
State Avg Cliff Zone
18.9%
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 Kentucky, an estimated 128,951 families across 120 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County | 783,022 | 16.6% | 19,403 | $14.1M | 242% |
| Fayette County | 323,725 | 17.1% | 7,850 | $5.7M | 242% |
| Warren County | 140,918 | 20.5% | 4,583 | $3.3M | 242% |
| Kenton County | 171,288 | 14.4% | 3,649 | $2.7M | 242% |
| Hardin County | 111,942 | 19.0% | 3,492 | $2.5M | 242% |
| Christian County | 72,069 | 26.5% | 3,220 | $2.3M | 242% |
| Madison County | 95,769 | 19.1% | 2,611 | $1.9M | 242% |
| Boone County | 139,841 | 11.2% | 2,506 | $1.8M | 242% |
| Daviess County | 103,648 | 18.6% | 2,493 | $1.8M | 242% |
| Pulaski County | 65,897 | 22.7% | 2,227 | $1.6M | 242% |
| Laurel County | 62,983 | 19.9% | 2,223 | $1.6M | 242% |
| Bullitt County | 84,027 | 13.7% | 2,114 | $1.5M | 242% |
| Barren County | 44,938 | 25.9% | 1,827 | $1.3M | 242% |
| McCracken County | 67,564 | 19.6% | 1,697 | $1.2M | 242% |
| Campbell County | 93,426 | 10.8% | 1,573 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Pike County | 56,727 | 22.5% | 1,569 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Nelson County | 47,606 | 18.3% | 1,537 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Henderson County | 44,280 | 22.6% | 1,531 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Jessamine County | 54,588 | 20.4% | 1,518 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Boyd County | 47,911 | 21.6% | 1,505 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Franklin County | 51,842 | 20.1% | 1,498 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Graves County | 36,630 | 24.7% | 1,467 | $1.1M | 242% |
| Hopkins County | 45,119 | 19.9% | 1,386 | $1.0M | 242% |
| Whitley County | 36,920 | 24.1% | 1,348 | $981K | 242% |
| Shelby County | 49,096 | 14.4% | 1,304 | $949K | 242% |
| Scott County | 59,536 | 11.9% | 1,187 | $864K | 242% |
| Oldham County | 69,257 | 8.5% | 1,178 | $858K | 242% |
| Calloway County | 38,224 | 23.0% | 1,177 | $857K | 242% |
| Ohio County | 23,735 | 27.8% | 1,134 | $826K | 242% |
| Lincoln County | 24,504 | 27.9% | 1,060 | $772K | 242% |
| Greenup County | 35,501 | 21.2% | 1,048 | $763K | 242% |
| Marshall County | 31,743 | 18.6% | 1,045 | $761K | 242% |
| Johnson County | 22,334 | 28.2% | 1,041 | $758K | 242% |
| Perry County | 27,499 | 24.0% | 1,038 | $756K | 242% |
| Harlan County | 25,772 | 27.7% | 974 | $709K | 242% |
| Floyd County | 35,224 | 18.1% | 964 | $702K | 242% |
| Boyle County | 30,941 | 21.4% | 940 | $684K | 242% |
| Clark County | 37,192 | 16.4% | 934 | $680K | 242% |
| Montgomery County | 28,395 | 21.0% | 913 | $665K | 242% |
| Carter County | 26,341 | 23.7% | 905 | $659K | 242% |
| Logan County | 27,986 | 20.2% | 853 | $621K | 242% |
| Muhlenberg County | 30,591 | 19.3% | 852 | $620K | 242% |
| Taylor County | 26,397 | 21.6% | 825 | $601K | 242% |
| Letcher County | 20,808 | 28.3% | 807 | $587K | 242% |
| Bell County | 23,509 | 28.6% | 777 | $566K | 242% |
| Hart County | 19,603 | 24.7% | 762 | $555K | 242% |
| Mercer County | 23,028 | 19.6% | 755 | $550K | 242% |
| Wayne County | 19,602 | 25.9% | 749 | $545K | 242% |
| Grant County | 25,418 | 19.8% | 748 | $545K | 242% |
| Grayson County | 26,707 | 21.6% | 736 | $536K | 242% |
| Allen County | 21,293 | 20.7% | 734 | $534K | 242% |
| Anderson County | 24,353 | 19.3% | 722 | $526K | 242% |
| Meade County | 30,158 | 14.6% | 705 | $513K | 242% |
| Knox County | 29,865 | 20.4% | 690 | $502K | 242% |
| Garrard County | 17,568 | 21.9% | 675 | $491K | 242% |
| Russell County | 18,221 | 25.1% | 663 | $483K | 242% |
| Marion County | 19,749 | 20.7% | 662 | $482K | 242% |
| Woodford County | 27,279 | 15.3% | 641 | $467K | 242% |
| Clay County | 19,921 | 23.4% | 640 | $466K | 242% |
| Rowan County | 24,578 | 19.5% | 639 | $465K | 242% |
| Casey County | 15,914 | 27.2% | 632 | $460K | 242% |
| Adair County | 19,089 | 23.3% | 628 | $457K | 242% |
| Estill County | 14,035 | 28.6% | 599 | $436K | 242% |
| Jackson County | 13,086 | 28.6% | 598 | $435K | 242% |
| Edmonson County | 12,355 | 29.9% | 581 | $423K | 242% |
| Mason County | 16,956 | 22.4% | 580 | $422K | 242% |
| Simpson County | 19,972 | 19.1% | 565 | $411K | 242% |
| Lewis County | 12,965 | 28.8% | 556 | $405K | 242% |
| Webster County | 12,842 | 27.0% | 556 | $405K | 242% |
| Knott County | 13,830 | 26.7% | 547 | $398K | 242% |
| Morgan County | 14,053 | 29.8% | 544 | $396K | 242% |
| Bourbon County | 20,240 | 17.3% | 531 | $387K | 242% |
| Clinton County | 9,202 | 33.1% | 528 | $384K | 242% |
| Spencer County | 20,193 | 13.5% | 519 | $378K | 242% |
| Harrison County | 19,140 | 16.9% | 503 | $366K | 242% |
| Henry County | 15,856 | 19.2% | 500 | $364K | 242% |
| Fleming County | 15,323 | 24.1% | 499 | $363K | 242% |
| Powell County | 13,038 | 25.2% | 499 | $363K | 242% |
| Washington County | 12,140 | 23.4% | 496 | $361K | 242% |
| Lawrence County | 16,077 | 23.3% | 482 | $351K | 242% |
| Larue County | 15,107 | 17.1% | 461 | $336K | 242% |
| Rockcastle County | 16,163 | 20.1% | 454 | $331K | 242% |
| Monroe County | 11,269 | 22.2% | 453 | $330K | 242% |
| Breckinridge County | 20,881 | 16.1% | 448 | $326K | 242% |
| Pendleton County | 14,723 | 19.2% | 446 | $325K | 242% |
| McCreary County | 16,867 | 26.1% | 438 | $319K | 242% |
| Green County | 11,369 | 25.6% | 411 | $299K | 242% |
| Caldwell County | 12,618 | 17.5% | 405 | $295K | 242% |
| Butler County | 12,393 | 23.8% | 393 | $286K | 242% |
| Gallatin County | 8,769 | 23.0% | 383 | $279K | 242% |
| Breathitt County | 13,276 | 23.9% | 374 | $272K | 242% |
| Bath County | 12,851 | 18.4% | 367 | $267K | 242% |
| Bracken County | 8,444 | 19.1% | 352 | $256K | 242% |
| Trigg County | 14,315 | 18.7% | 344 | $250K | 242% |
| Union County | 13,260 | 20.7% | 344 | $250K | 242% |
| Carroll County | 10,954 | 19.0% | 336 | $245K | 242% |
| McLean County | 9,114 | 23.3% | 333 | $242K | 242% |
| Owen County | 11,330 | 20.2% | 322 | $234K | 242% |
| Crittenden County | 8,979 | 21.2% | 317 | $231K | 242% |
| Todd County | 12,469 | 15.3% | 294 | $214K | 242% |
| Livingston County | 8,903 | 19.0% | 276 | $201K | 242% |
| Hancock County | 9,034 | 16.8% | 270 | $197K | 242% |
| Metcalfe County | 10,425 | 16.3% | 267 | $194K | 242% |
| Magoffin County | 11,348 | 21.0% | 254 | $185K | 242% |
| Martin County | 11,027 | 22.5% | 253 | $184K | 242% |
| Wolfe County | 6,443 | 32.3% | 251 | $183K | 242% |
| Leslie County | 10,079 | 22.9% | 247 | $180K | 242% |
| Lee County | 7,339 | 22.5% | 244 | $178K | 242% |
| Elliott County | 7,307 | 24.6% | 221 | $161K | 242% |
| Nicholas County | 7,708 | 22.3% | 216 | $157K | 242% |
| Trimble County | 8,550 | 15.4% | 209 | $152K | 242% |
| Ballard County | 7,654 | 17.0% | 189 | $138K | 242% |
| Cumberland County | 5,948 | 24.6% | 177 | $129K | 242% |
| Lyon County | 8,900 | 20.5% | 166 | $121K | 242% |
| Carlisle County | 4,762 | 21.1% | 156 | $114K | 242% |
| Menifee County | 6,230 | 18.6% | 145 | $106K | 242% |
| Hickman County | 4,439 | 20.6% | 137 | $100K | 242% |
| Fulton County | 6,409 | 21.7% | 133 | $97K | 242% |
| Robertson County | 2,283 | 32.0% | 115 | $84K | 242% |
| Owsley County | 3,971 | 33.4% | 103 | $75K | 242% |
120 of 120 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.