Loading diagnostic...
Cliff-Zone Families
286,875
Total Wage Suppression
$208.8M
State Avg Cliff Zone
14.9%
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 Pennsylvania, an estimated 286,875 families across 67 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County | 1,579,706 | 19.6% | 45,875 | $33.4M | 483% |
| Allegheny County | 1,238,177 | 12.9% | 21,911 | $16.0M | 483% |
| Lancaster County | 557,931 | 14.1% | 12,320 | $9.0M | 483% |
| Montgomery County | 867,573 | 9.0% | 12,289 | $8.9M | 483% |
| Delaware County | 579,222 | 12.8% | 11,597 | $8.4M | 483% |
| York County | 462,924 | 13.6% | 10,315 | $7.5M | 483% |
| Lehigh County | 378,792 | 16.0% | 10,314 | $7.5M | 483% |
| Bucks County | 647,461 | 8.8% | 9,749 | $7.1M | 483% |
| Berks County | 433,015 | 15.2% | 9,695 | $7.1M | 483% |
| Luzerne County | 327,675 | 18.9% | 8,983 | $6.5M | 483% |
| Westmoreland County | 352,500 | 13.3% | 7,096 | $5.2M | 483% |
| Chester County | 547,840 | 8.4% | 7,058 | $5.1M | 483% |
| Erie County | 269,052 | 18.7% | 6,922 | $5.0M | 483% |
| Northampton County | 318,580 | 12.9% | 6,152 | $4.5M | 483% |
| Dauphin County | 289,593 | 14.3% | 6,053 | $4.4M | 483% |
| Lackawanna County | 216,146 | 16.8% | 5,265 | $3.8M | 483% |
| Cumberland County | 268,323 | 12.9% | 4,749 | $3.5M | 483% |
| Washington County | 210,042 | 14.0% | 4,451 | $3.2M | 483% |
| Schuylkill County | 143,558 | 18.2% | 3,913 | $2.8M | 483% |
| Monroe County | 167,515 | 15.6% | 3,877 | $2.8M | 483% |
| Lebanon County | 144,186 | 16.2% | 3,715 | $2.7M | 483% |
| Franklin County | 157,379 | 15.9% | 3,655 | $2.7M | 483% |
| Beaver County | 166,324 | 14.2% | 3,585 | $2.6M | 483% |
| Fayette County | 125,997 | 17.7% | 3,398 | $2.5M | 483% |
| Blair County | 121,277 | 19.0% | 3,172 | $2.3M | 483% |
| Lycoming County | 113,489 | 18.8% | 3,065 | $2.2M | 483% |
| Butler County | 197,254 | 10.8% | 3,011 | $2.2M | 483% |
| Cambria County | 131,538 | 17.5% | 2,945 | $2.1M | 483% |
| Mercer County | 109,257 | 18.9% | 2,823 | $2.1M | 483% |
| Northumberland County | 90,560 | 20.5% | 2,640 | $1.9M | 483% |
| Crawford County | 82,716 | 21.5% | 2,473 | $1.8M | 483% |
| Lawrence County | 85,024 | 18.8% | 2,386 | $1.7M | 483% |
| Centre County | 158,576 | 13.7% | 2,162 | $1.6M | 483% |
| Adams County | 106,115 | 13.7% | 2,112 | $1.5M | 483% |
| Clearfield County | 78,635 | 18.6% | 2,085 | $1.5M | 483% |
| Somerset County | 72,799 | 20.0% | 2,053 | $1.5M | 483% |
| Indiana County | 83,042 | 19.4% | 2,052 | $1.5M | 483% |
| Armstrong County | 64,622 | 20.0% | 1,971 | $1.4M | 483% |
| Columbia County | 65,362 | 19.7% | 1,951 | $1.4M | 483% |
| Bradford County | 59,858 | 19.2% | 1,560 | $1.1M | 483% |
| Venango County | 49,801 | 21.8% | 1,498 | $1.1M | 483% |
| Bedford County | 47,513 | 20.3% | 1,444 | $1.1M | 483% |
| Carbon County | 65,382 | 16.4% | 1,413 | $1.0M | 483% |
| Mifflin County | 46,041 | 20.0% | 1,405 | $1.0M | 483% |
| Wayne County | 51,262 | 19.0% | 1,367 | $995K | 483% |
| Jefferson County | 43,864 | 21.8% | 1,366 | $994K | 483% |
| Tioga County | 40,945 | 21.4% | 1,319 | $960K | 483% |
| Snyder County | 39,668 | 21.5% | 1,314 | $957K | 483% |
| Pike County | 60,621 | 13.2% | 1,201 | $874K | 483% |
| McKean County | 39,904 | 21.7% | 1,164 | $847K | 483% |
| Perry County | 46,239 | 15.3% | 1,162 | $846K | 483% |
| Susquehanna County | 38,219 | 20.6% | 1,135 | $826K | 483% |
| Clinton County | 37,798 | 20.1% | 1,132 | $824K | 483% |
| Warren County | 37,920 | 20.4% | 1,066 | $776K | 483% |
| Clarion County | 37,179 | 19.3% | 1,065 | $775K | 483% |
| Huntingdon County | 43,653 | 17.9% | 961 | $700K | 483% |
| Union County | 42,456 | 16.1% | 864 | $629K | 483% |
| Elk County | 30,506 | 18.7% | 861 | $627K | 483% |
| Greene County | 34,835 | 16.2% | 750 | $546K | 483% |
| Juniata County | 23,379 | 21.0% | 749 | $545K | 483% |
| Wyoming County | 25,967 | 15.3% | 601 | $438K | 483% |
| Potter County | 16,188 | 22.3% | 532 | $387K | 483% |
| Fulton County | 14,531 | 16.7% | 387 | $282K | 483% |
| Montour County | 18,103 | 14.2% | 331 | $241K | 483% |
| Cameron County | 4,427 | 25.9% | 148 | $108K | 483% |
| Sullivan County | 5,888 | 16.1% | 127 | $92K | 483% |
| Forest County | 6,715 | 20.4% | 115 | $84K | 483% |
67 of 67 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.