Congressional District
Congressional District 4Beta·Data under review
149,704 people in the cliff zone (19.1%) · Pop. 784,544· #3 of 9 in Tennessee by cliff exposure
Key metrics
Cliff zone by income band
How the 149,704 people in Congressional District 4’s cliff zone are distributed across FPL income bands. Higher concentration in the 100–124% band means more people are near the sharpest benefit cliffs.
Income band · 784,544 in poverty universe
Education
Education level shapes which wage paths stay in or near the cliff zone. Below a bachelor’s degree, most wage paths don’t clear the phase-out range.
Of 534,694 adults age 25+ in this community, those without a bachelor’s degree typically earn in the range where benefit cliffs concentrate. An associate degree adds about $17K in annual earnings — but for a family of three, that still lands near the cliff zone ceiling.
74% of adults lack a bachelor’s degree — credential levels associated with occupations where wages typically overlap with benefit phase-out ranges. This education profile suggests the local workforce is disproportionately exposed to cliff-zone earnings, making benefits navigation a workforce retention strategy, not just a social service.
Housing burden
42.7% of renters in this district spend more than 30% of income on housing, and 18.5% spend more than 50%. High housing costs leave less buffer when a benefit cliff triggers a loss.
Families that spend more on housing have less capacity to absorb benefit losses at cliff thresholds. Research shows severely burdened renters (50%+ of income on rent) spend 39% less on food and 42% less on healthcare than unburdened families at similar income levels.
18% of renter households spend over half their income on housing. A family of four at 150% FPL takes home ~$4,125/month. At 50% housing burden, that leaves $2,062/month for everything else. Losing a $200 SNAP benefit or $400 childcare subsidy at that margin doesn’t just hurt — it can make continued employment impossible.
Data accuracy notice
The CLIFF Index is in beta. District-level estimates are derived from Census ACS data and may differ from county-level figures due to geographic apportionment. Send feedback to luke@thepovertysolution.com