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Cliff-Zone Families
47,237
Total Wage Suppression
$34.4M
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 Nebraska, an estimated 47,237 families across 93 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County | 590,736 | 14.1% | 12,194 | $8.9M | 566% |
| Lancaster County | 326,696 | 15.8% | 7,268 | $5.3M | 509% |
| Sarpy County | 197,389 | 10.7% | 3,678 | $2.7M | 566% |
| Hall County | 62,536 | 19.1% | 1,882 | $1.4M | 522% |
| Platte County | 34,716 | 21.0% | 1,225 | $892K | 507% |
| Lincoln County | 33,802 | 22.2% | 1,223 | $890K | 506% |
| Buffalo County | 50,579 | 17.8% | 1,149 | $836K | 505% |
| Dawson County | 24,202 | 22.5% | 1,122 | $817K | 502% |
| Scotts Bluff County | 35,843 | 18.8% | 947 | $689K | 502% |
| Madison County | 35,532 | 18.6% | 944 | $687K | 502% |
| Adams County | 31,052 | 16.1% | 857 | $624K | 500% |
| Dodge County | 37,351 | 14.5% | 832 | $606K | 509% |
| Dakota County | 21,354 | 23.1% | 771 | $561K | 509% |
| Cass County | 27,161 | 12.9% | 526 | $383K | 566% |
| Gage County | 21,629 | 16.3% | 497 | $362K | 500% |
| Box Butte County | 10,714 | 24.5% | 482 | $351K | 500% |
| Saline County | 14,650 | 18.7% | 422 | $307K | 500% |
| Custer County | 10,518 | 21.1% | 409 | $298K | 500% |
| Saunders County | 23,048 | 10.8% | 391 | $285K | 509% |
| Seward County | 17,641 | 13.5% | 364 | $265K | 500% |
| Cheyenne County | 9,533 | 18.8% | 363 | $264K | 508% |
| Colfax County | 10,641 | 19.8% | 359 | $261K | 509% |
| York County | 14,286 | 15.2% | 327 | $238K | 503% |
| Washington County | 21,106 | 10.6% | 321 | $234K | 566% |
| Holt County | 10,102 | 21.0% | 312 | $227K | 500% |
| Richardson County | 7,751 | 24.5% | 310 | $226K | 500% |
| Cherry County | 5,498 | 27.3% | 280 | $204K | 504% |
| Pierce County | 7,325 | 20.4% | 276 | $201K | 500% |
| Dawes County | 8,140 | 21.2% | 269 | $196K | 505% |
| Nemaha County | 7,046 | 22.1% | 261 | $190K | 500% |
| Knox County | 8,363 | 19.9% | 259 | $189K | 500% |
| Keith County | 8,219 | 17.6% | 238 | $173K | 500% |
| Thurston County | 6,627 | 25.8% | 224 | $163K | 500% |
| Red Willow County | 10,557 | 15.8% | 215 | $157K | 500% |
| Otoe County | 16,241 | 9.0% | 212 | $154K | 504% |
| Cuming County | 8,975 | 15.2% | 208 | $151K | 500% |
| Cedar County | 8,315 | 15.9% | 205 | $149K | 500% |
| Hamilton County | 9,464 | 13.8% | 202 | $147K | 500% |
| Jefferson County | 7,161 | 18.1% | 197 | $143K | 500% |
| Clay County | 6,095 | 18.2% | 194 | $141K | 500% |
| Kearney County | 6,713 | 20.1% | 191 | $139K | 502% |
| Wayne County | 9,844 | 13.7% | 188 | $137K | 500% |
| Antelope County | 6,305 | 20.1% | 187 | $136K | 500% |
| Burt County | 6,740 | 16.3% | 181 | $132K | 500% |
| Dixon County | 5,545 | 20.6% | 174 | $127K | 500% |
| Sheridan County | 5,014 | 21.5% | 172 | $125K | 500% |
| Merrick County | 7,724 | 13.9% | 164 | $119K | 500% |
| Phelps County | 9,009 | 14.3% | 160 | $116K | 500% |
| Webster County | 3,360 | 25.3% | 158 | $115K | 500% |
| Thayer County | 4,901 | 20.4% | 155 | $113K | 500% |
| Polk County | 5,225 | 17.6% | 143 | $104K | 500% |
| Kimball County | 3,248 | 27.4% | 140 | $102K | 500% |
| Nuckolls County | 4,087 | 21.0% | 139 | $101K | 500% |
| Johnson County | 5,261 | 16.1% | 138 | $100K | 501% |
| Howard County | 6,534 | 14.2% | 133 | $97K | 506% |
| Boone County | 5,356 | 16.5% | 132 | $96K | 500% |
| Morrill County | 4,534 | 21.2% | 131 | $95K | 500% |
| Butler County | 8,424 | 10.8% | 120 | $87K | 500% |
| Fillmore County | 5,541 | 14.2% | 120 | $87K | 500% |
| Hitchcock County | 2,569 | 26.5% | 116 | $84K | 500% |
| Stanton County | 5,796 | 12.6% | 109 | $79K | 509% |
| Nance County | 3,324 | 21.0% | 108 | $79K | 500% |
| Furnas County | 4,568 | 17.1% | 105 | $76K | 500% |
| Valley County | 4,066 | 18.7% | 105 | $76K | 500% |
| Sherman County | 2,967 | 21.7% | 102 | $74K | 500% |
| Frontier County | 2,569 | 17.3% | 90 | $66K | 500% |
| Brown County | 2,869 | 24.1% | 89 | $65K | 500% |
| Perkins County | 2,821 | 15.3% | 86 | $63K | 500% |
| Garden County | 1,761 | 26.2% | 77 | $56K | 500% |
| Chase County | 3,671 | 15.3% | 75 | $55K | 500% |
| Harlan County | 2,847 | 18.1% | 71 | $52K | 500% |
| Pawnee County | 2,530 | 23.3% | 71 | $52K | 500% |
| Sioux County | 1,171 | 33.4% | 64 | $47K | 500% |
| Boyd County | 1,688 | 24.3% | 62 | $45K | 500% |
| Franklin County | 2,846 | 17.7% | 60 | $44K | 500% |
| Greeley County | 2,202 | 21.5% | 60 | $44K | 500% |
| Garfield County | 1,718 | 21.4% | 57 | $41K | 500% |
| Gosper County | 2,040 | 11.8% | 50 | $36K | 500% |
| Dundy County | 1,736 | 15.2% | 48 | $35K | 500% |
| Deuel County | 1,847 | 18.5% | 47 | $34K | 500% |
| Rock County | 1,319 | 17.0% | 45 | $33K | 500% |
| Hayes County | 843 | 14.2% | 26 | $19K | 500% |
| Blaine County | 422 | 23.9% | 26 | $19K | 500% |
| Wheeler County | 847 | 23.5% | 25 | $18K | 500% |
| Keya Paha County | 822 | 21.9% | 21 | $15K | 500% |
| Loup County | 578 | 13.7% | 18 | $13K | 500% |
| Grant County | 626 | 22.5% | 17 | $12K | 500% |
| Thomas County | 564 | 12.4% | 17 | $12K | 500% |
| Logan County | 773 | 14.2% | 13 | $9K | 500% |
| Arthur County | 484 | 16.7% | 12 | $9K | 500% |
| McPherson County | 475 | 23.4% | 12 | $9K | 501% |
| Banner County | 742 | 9.2% | 10 | $7K | 500% |
| Hooker County | 647 | 18.1% | 2 | $1K | 500% |
93 of 93 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.