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Cliff-Zone Families
107,127
Total Wage Suppression
$78.0M
State Avg Cliff Zone
12.9%
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 Minnesota, an estimated 107,127 families across 87 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hennepin County | 1,269,496 | 11.1% | 18,222 | $13.3M | 660% |
| Ramsey County | 542,945 | 15.6% | 11,593 | $8.4M | 660% |
| Dakota County | 445,771 | 10.3% | 7,271 | $5.3M | 660% |
| Anoka County | 370,349 | 11.6% | 6,975 | $5.1M | 660% |
| St. Louis County | 200,123 | 16.4% | 3,875 | $2.8M | 660% |
| Washington County | 276,238 | 8.6% | 3,816 | $2.8M | 660% |
| Stearns County | 160,865 | 15.4% | 3,240 | $2.4M | 660% |
| Scott County | 154,557 | 9.6% | 2,917 | $2.1M | 660% |
| Wright County | 148,269 | 9.7% | 2,565 | $1.9M | 660% |
| Olmsted County | 164,498 | 10.7% | 2,557 | $1.9M | 660% |
| Sherburne County | 100,560 | 11.0% | 1,602 | $1.2M | 660% |
| Crow Wing County | 67,686 | 16.3% | 1,574 | $1.1M | 660% |
| Blue Earth County | 69,871 | 17.0% | 1,484 | $1.1M | 660% |
| Otter Tail County | 60,475 | 17.0% | 1,396 | $1.0M | 660% |
| Rice County | 67,917 | 12.8% | 1,221 | $889K | 660% |
| Mower County | 40,343 | 18.3% | 1,202 | $875K | 660% |
| Carver County | 110,041 | 6.1% | 1,197 | $871K | 660% |
| Beltrami County | 46,512 | 19.1% | 1,171 | $852K | 660% |
| Kandiyohi County | 44,079 | 16.6% | 1,084 | $789K | 660% |
| Itasca County | 45,275 | 17.1% | 1,037 | $755K | 660% |
| Winona County | 49,779 | 14.3% | 999 | $727K | 660% |
| Clay County | 66,059 | 11.5% | 996 | $725K | 660% |
| Benton County | 41,593 | 14.4% | 988 | $719K | 660% |
| Steele County | 37,439 | 15.1% | 916 | $667K | 660% |
| Morrison County | 34,249 | 16.9% | 904 | $658K | 660% |
| Isanti County | 42,596 | 13.6% | 888 | $646K | 660% |
| Becker County | 35,343 | 16.0% | 876 | $638K | 660% |
| Chisago County | 57,991 | 10.0% | 870 | $633K | 660% |
| Carlton County | 36,518 | 14.2% | 837 | $609K | 660% |
| Freeborn County | 30,623 | 18.4% | 836 | $609K | 660% |
| Nobles County | 22,041 | 21.7% | 817 | $595K | 660% |
| Todd County | 25,575 | 20.7% | 769 | $560K | 660% |
| Cass County | 30,992 | 18.8% | 765 | $557K | 660% |
| Goodhue County | 47,943 | 12.0% | 758 | $552K | 660% |
| McLeod County | 36,798 | 13.1% | 750 | $546K | 660% |
| Mille Lacs County | 27,125 | 17.4% | 740 | $539K | 660% |
| Douglas County | 39,575 | 12.6% | 713 | $519K | 660% |
| Waseca County | 18,885 | 20.4% | 707 | $515K | 660% |
| Polk County | 30,705 | 14.6% | 677 | $493K | 660% |
| Pine County | 29,640 | 17.2% | 670 | $488K | 660% |
| Martin County | 19,780 | 22.8% | 661 | $481K | 660% |
| Brown County | 25,800 | 16.3% | 641 | $467K | 660% |
| Nicollet County | 34,411 | 13.5% | 631 | $459K | 660% |
| Lyon County | 25,503 | 17.2% | 599 | $436K | 660% |
| Le Sueur County | 29,113 | 11.7% | 587 | $427K | 660% |
| Meeker County | 23,468 | 15.5% | 564 | $411K | 660% |
| Hubbard County | 21,831 | 18.0% | 522 | $380K | 660% |
| Fillmore County | 21,414 | 15.6% | 500 | $364K | 660% |
| Kanabec County | 16,390 | 19.7% | 496 | $361K | 660% |
| Houston County | 18,653 | 14.8% | 438 | $319K | 660% |
| Faribault County | 13,914 | 19.9% | 423 | $308K | 660% |
| Wadena County | 14,256 | 19.4% | 420 | $306K | 660% |
| Renville County | 14,558 | 18.6% | 393 | $286K | 660% |
| Dodge County | 21,045 | 11.0% | 374 | $272K | 660% |
| Wabasha County | 21,565 | 11.1% | 364 | $265K | 660% |
| Redwood County | 15,350 | 16.5% | 362 | $264K | 660% |
| Roseau County | 15,302 | 13.9% | 353 | $257K | 660% |
| Sibley County | 15,005 | 14.4% | 337 | $245K | 660% |
| Aitkin County | 16,056 | 17.6% | 324 | $236K | 660% |
| Swift County | 9,748 | 22.4% | 323 | $235K | 660% |
| Chippewa County | 12,377 | 16.6% | 309 | $225K | 660% |
| Yellow Medicine County | 9,451 | 19.2% | 291 | $212K | 660% |
| Cottonwood County | 11,458 | 15.0% | 290 | $211K | 660% |
| Koochiching County | 11,833 | 15.7% | 282 | $205K | 660% |
| Watonwan County | 11,205 | 17.1% | 278 | $202K | 660% |
| Pope County | 11,418 | 12.3% | 253 | $184K | 660% |
| Pennington County | 13,791 | 13.4% | 251 | $183K | 660% |
| Pipestone County | 9,284 | 19.5% | 249 | $181K | 660% |
| Lake County | 10,879 | 16.2% | 235 | $171K | 660% |
| Rock County | 9,621 | 14.9% | 233 | $170K | 660% |
| Stevens County | 9,739 | 16.0% | 228 | $166K | 660% |
| Marshall County | 8,909 | 16.1% | 224 | $163K | 660% |
| Murray County | 8,097 | 14.9% | 214 | $156K | 660% |
| Clearwater County | 8,616 | 18.3% | 210 | $153K | 660% |
| Jackson County | 9,933 | 14.6% | 209 | $152K | 660% |
| Grant County | 6,127 | 18.2% | 183 | $133K | 660% |
| Lac qui Parle County | 6,682 | 15.7% | 173 | $126K | 660% |
| Norman County | 6,367 | 16.5% | 167 | $122K | 660% |
| Mahnomen County | 5,358 | 22.9% | 160 | $116K | 660% |
| Wilkin County | 6,371 | 15.0% | 158 | $115K | 660% |
| Lake of the Woods County | 3,821 | 18.1% | 153 | $111K | 660% |
| Lincoln County | 5,603 | 16.1% | 132 | $96K | 660% |
| Kittson County | 4,084 | 14.2% | 106 | $77K | 660% |
| Cook County | 5,635 | 12.5% | 99 | $72K | 660% |
| Big Stone County | 5,127 | 13.3% | 95 | $69K | 660% |
| Red Lake County | 3,915 | 14.3% | 87 | $63K | 660% |
| Traverse County | 3,243 | 20.2% | 71 | $52K | 660% |
87 of 87 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.