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Cliff-Zone Families
80,037
Total Wage Suppression
$58.3M
State Avg Cliff Zone
14.5%
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 Utah, an estimated 80,037 families across 29 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake County | 1,196,523 | 13.4% | 24,872 | $18.1M | 574% |
| Utah County | 705,400 | 14.6% | 17,604 | $12.8M | 574% |
| Weber County | 269,648 | 15.5% | 7,053 | $5.1M | 574% |
| Davis County | 370,924 | 10.9% | 6,808 | $5.0M | 574% |
| Washington County | 196,431 | 16.0% | 4,882 | $3.6M | 574% |
| Cache County | 140,046 | 17.9% | 4,741 | $3.5M | 574% |
| Iron County | 62,252 | 24.8% | 2,195 | $1.6M | 574% |
| Tooele County | 79,347 | 13.5% | 1,797 | $1.3M | 574% |
| Box Elder County | 61,246 | 15.7% | 1,481 | $1.1M | 574% |
| Sanpete County | 29,719 | 26.1% | 1,109 | $807K | 574% |
| Uintah County | 37,056 | 20.0% | 1,015 | $739K | 574% |
| Wasatch County | 36,642 | 10.4% | 851 | $620K | 574% |
| Duchesne County | 20,185 | 20.1% | 745 | $542K | 574% |
| Sevier County | 22,085 | 17.7% | 675 | $491K | 574% |
| Carbon County | 20,517 | 21.8% | 674 | $491K | 574% |
| Summit County | 42,970 | 9.4% | 670 | $488K | 574% |
| San Juan County | 14,483 | 26.5% | 609 | $443K | 574% |
| Millard County | 13,315 | 20.0% | 428 | $312K | 574% |
| Grand County | 9,754 | 21.6% | 374 | $272K | 574% |
| Emery County | 10,046 | 17.0% | 277 | $202K | 574% |
| Garfield County | 5,219 | 22.2% | 234 | $170K | 574% |
| Juab County | 12,586 | 11.3% | 195 | $142K | 574% |
| Beaver County | 7,273 | 11.8% | 149 | $108K | 574% |
| Kane County | 8,170 | 15.5% | 145 | $106K | 574% |
| Morgan County | 12,802 | 6.7% | 136 | $99K | 574% |
| Wayne County | 2,584 | 24.2% | 129 | $94K | 574% |
| Rich County | 2,631 | 26.5% | 120 | $87K | 574% |
| Piute County | 1,694 | 31.8% | 56 | $41K | 574% |
| Daggett County | 783 | 11.3% | 13 | $9K | 574% |
29 of 29 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.