Loading diagnostic...
Cliff-Zone Families
199,653
Total Wage Suppression
$145.3M
State Avg Cliff Zone
18.1%
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 Tennessee, an estimated 199,653 families across 95 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby County | 919,173 | 19.6% | 28,145 | $20.5M | 359% |
| Davidson County | 715,388 | 16.0% | 18,227 | $13.3M | 359% |
| Knox County | 494,148 | 16.7% | 12,158 | $8.9M | 359% |
| Rutherford County | 360,646 | 15.9% | 10,046 | $7.3M | 359% |
| Hamilton County | 376,192 | 14.3% | 8,317 | $6.1M | 359% |
| Montgomery County | 234,153 | 18.2% | 7,469 | $5.4M | 359% |
| Sullivan County | 160,624 | 18.5% | 4,709 | $3.4M | 359% |
| Sumner County | 204,424 | 12.3% | 4,471 | $3.3M | 359% |
| Bradley County | 111,065 | 19.8% | 3,671 | $2.7M | 359% |
| Sevier County | 99,652 | 22.3% | 3,608 | $2.6M | 359% |
| Washington County | 136,261 | 18.8% | 3,589 | $2.6M | 359% |
| Blount County | 139,333 | 15.0% | 3,355 | $2.4M | 359% |
| Williamson County | 260,351 | 7.1% | 3,322 | $2.4M | 359% |
| Maury County | 107,791 | 17.4% | 3,291 | $2.4M | 359% |
| Wilson County | 158,805 | 11.8% | 3,006 | $2.2M | 359% |
| Madison County | 99,295 | 18.4% | 2,681 | $2.0M | 359% |
| Putnam County | 82,558 | 20.3% | 2,622 | $1.9M | 359% |
| Hamblen County | 65,669 | 24.3% | 2,456 | $1.8M | 359% |
| Anderson County | 79,153 | 19.9% | 2,406 | $1.8M | 359% |
| Greene County | 71,628 | 22.4% | 2,242 | $1.6M | 359% |
| Hawkins County | 57,964 | 24.3% | 2,055 | $1.5M | 359% |
| Cumberland County | 63,553 | 23.1% | 2,019 | $1.5M | 359% |
| Bedford County | 52,237 | 20.6% | 2,003 | $1.5M | 359% |
| Jefferson County | 56,864 | 21.3% | 2,001 | $1.5M | 359% |
| McMinn County | 54,884 | 22.7% | 1,936 | $1.4M | 359% |
| Robertson County | 75,539 | 14.6% | 1,844 | $1.3M | 359% |
| Monroe County | 47,695 | 23.7% | 1,816 | $1.3M | 359% |
| Carter County | 56,712 | 23.6% | 1,798 | $1.3M | 359% |
| Coffee County | 59,710 | 19.3% | 1,773 | $1.3M | 359% |
| Gibson County | 50,869 | 21.7% | 1,721 | $1.3M | 359% |
| Warren County | 42,166 | 26.3% | 1,692 | $1.2M | 359% |
| Tipton County | 61,553 | 16.5% | 1,594 | $1.2M | 359% |
| Campbell County | 39,761 | 25.1% | 1,556 | $1.1M | 359% |
| Cocke County | 36,813 | 26.0% | 1,515 | $1.1M | 359% |
| Rhea County | 33,992 | 27.6% | 1,512 | $1.1M | 359% |
| Lawrence County | 45,385 | 22.7% | 1,495 | $1.1M | 359% |
| Roane County | 55,208 | 18.9% | 1,479 | $1.1M | 359% |
| Dyer County | 36,508 | 21.2% | 1,332 | $970K | 359% |
| Claiborne County | 32,466 | 25.4% | 1,271 | $925K | 359% |
| White County | 28,160 | 28.5% | 1,241 | $903K | 359% |
| Loudon County | 58,580 | 14.2% | 1,198 | $872K | 359% |
| Cheatham County | 41,829 | 15.3% | 1,180 | $859K | 359% |
| Dickson County | 55,983 | 13.6% | 1,160 | $844K | 359% |
| Franklin County | 43,990 | 19.6% | 1,136 | $827K | 359% |
| Henderson County | 27,980 | 26.6% | 1,087 | $791K | 359% |
| Macon County | 26,240 | 23.2% | 1,078 | $785K | 359% |
| Fayette County | 43,267 | 14.8% | 1,017 | $740K | 359% |
| Weakley County | 33,016 | 20.7% | 961 | $700K | 359% |
| Lincoln County | 35,946 | 18.5% | 954 | $695K | 359% |
| Marshall County | 36,049 | 16.2% | 953 | $694K | 359% |
| Marion County | 29,250 | 21.0% | 949 | $691K | 359% |
| Hickman County | 25,436 | 20.7% | 948 | $690K | 359% |
| Overton County | 23,065 | 29.0% | 928 | $676K | 359% |
| Henry County | 32,412 | 22.3% | 915 | $666K | 359% |
| Unicoi County | 17,756 | 29.4% | 911 | $663K | 359% |
| Scott County | 22,113 | 26.5% | 907 | $660K | 359% |
| Carroll County | 28,641 | 21.6% | 900 | $655K | 359% |
| Giles County | 30,620 | 20.7% | 882 | $642K | 359% |
| Obion County | 30,453 | 20.9% | 869 | $633K | 359% |
| Hardin County | 27,249 | 23.8% | 858 | $625K | 359% |
| McNairy County | 25,970 | 22.6% | 808 | $588K | 359% |
| Union County | 20,431 | 24.4% | 804 | $585K | 359% |
| DeKalb County | 20,959 | 23.3% | 783 | $570K | 359% |
| Lauderdale County | 24,784 | 22.3% | 782 | $569K | 359% |
| Fentress County | 19,309 | 27.1% | 737 | $537K | 359% |
| Grainger County | 24,266 | 21.3% | 734 | $534K | 359% |
| Hardeman County | 25,433 | 25.2% | 718 | $523K | 359% |
| Haywood County | 17,475 | 25.7% | 666 | $485K | 359% |
| Smith County | 20,389 | 18.5% | 661 | $481K | 359% |
| Johnson County | 18,196 | 21.2% | 578 | $421K | 359% |
| Crockett County | 13,944 | 19.4% | 551 | $401K | 359% |
| Polk County | 17,898 | 20.3% | 535 | $389K | 359% |
| Grundy County | 13,819 | 25.3% | 534 | $389K | 359% |
| Benton County | 16,006 | 21.5% | 513 | $373K | 359% |
| Morgan County | 21,361 | 19.6% | 512 | $373K | 359% |
| Humphreys County | 19,214 | 19.6% | 479 | $349K | 359% |
| Chester County | 17,611 | 18.3% | 479 | $349K | 359% |
| Bledsoe County | 15,032 | 22.9% | 465 | $339K | 359% |
| Sequatchie County | 16,809 | 19.8% | 456 | $332K | 359% |
| Cannon County | 14,818 | 17.0% | 427 | $311K | 359% |
| Wayne County | 16,168 | 21.1% | 420 | $306K | 359% |
| Lewis County | 12,992 | 17.7% | 408 | $297K | 359% |
| Decatur County | 11,579 | 21.6% | 396 | $288K | 359% |
| Jackson County | 12,029 | 21.6% | 384 | $280K | 359% |
| Perry County | 8,697 | 19.0% | 316 | $230K | 359% |
| Meigs County | 13,343 | 21.2% | 295 | $215K | 359% |
| Trousdale County | 11,957 | 14.4% | 295 | $215K | 359% |
| Clay County | 7,670 | 22.5% | 278 | $202K | 359% |
| Houston County | 8,353 | 22.6% | 258 | $188K | 359% |
| Stewart County | 14,027 | 15.4% | 222 | $162K | 359% |
| Moore County | 6,674 | 19.7% | 221 | $161K | 359% |
| Van Buren County | 6,437 | 23.2% | 221 | $161K | 359% |
| Hancock County | 6,852 | 25.3% | 205 | $149K | 359% |
| Lake County | 6,579 | 29.6% | 159 | $116K | 359% |
| Pickett County | 5,079 | 20.7% | 118 | $86K | 359% |
95 of 95 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.