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Cliff-Zone Families
139,819
Total Wage Suppression
$101.8M
State Avg Cliff Zone
12.5%
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 Washington, an estimated 139,819 families across 39 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↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King County | 2,287,171 | 9.1% | 29,464 | $21.4M | 539% |
| Pierce County | 930,319 | 11.7% | 17,285 | $12.6M | 417% |
| Snohomish County | 844,430 | 10.1% | 12,887 | $9.4M | 539% |
| Spokane County | 549,056 | 15.3% | 11,627 | $8.5M | 327% |
| Clark County | 516,959 | 12.8% | 9,559 | $7.0M | 406% |
| Yakima County | 257,152 | 24.4% | 9,513 | $6.9M | 291% |
| Thurston County | 299,067 | 11.1% | 4,622 | $3.4M | 414% |
| Benton County | 212,905 | 14.6% | 4,433 | $3.2M | 328% |
| Kitsap County | 277,881 | 10.4% | 4,221 | $3.1M | 431% |
| Whatcom County | 230,503 | 13.3% | 3,673 | $2.7M | 376% |
| Franklin County | 98,902 | 20.7% | 3,534 | $2.6M | 328% |
| Grant County | 101,799 | 19.0% | 3,034 | $2.2M | 256% |
| Cowlitz County | 112,360 | 16.6% | 2,668 | $1.9M | 309% |
| Skagit County | 131,328 | 12.3% | 2,194 | $1.6M | 359% |
| Chelan County | 80,172 | 18.4% | 1,974 | $1.4M | 320% |
| Lewis County | 85,154 | 16.1% | 1,951 | $1.4M | 269% |
| Grays Harbor County | 77,053 | 18.7% | 1,638 | $1.2M | 252% |
| Island County | 86,836 | 12.4% | 1,509 | $1.1M | 350% |
| Clallam County | 77,813 | 16.5% | 1,402 | $1.0M | 266% |
| Douglas County | 44,366 | 17.7% | 1,323 | $963K | 320% |
| Stevens County | 48,067 | 19.4% | 1,312 | $955K | 231% |
| Okanogan County | 43,425 | 19.5% | 1,187 | $864K | 230% |
| Kittitas County | 47,172 | 16.0% | 1,102 | $802K | 310% |
| Walla Walla County | 62,161 | 15.9% | 1,064 | $775K | 330% |
| Mason County | 67,982 | 13.0% | 1,008 | $734K | 286% |
| Adams County | 20,800 | 25.0% | 825 | $601K | 232% |
| Whitman County | 47,003 | 18.0% | 821 | $598K | 243% |
| Pacific County | 23,994 | 23.0% | 704 | $513K | 232% |
| Jefferson County | 33,577 | 16.4% | 547 | $398K | 289% |
| Asotin County | 22,467 | 17.7% | 506 | $368K | 253% |
| Pend Oreille County | 14,050 | 21.2% | 436 | $317K | 230% |
| Klickitat County | 23,411 | 14.0% | 422 | $307K | 282% |
| Lincoln County | 11,489 | 17.6% | 332 | $242K | 230% |
| San Juan County | 18,478 | 12.7% | 321 | $234K | 369% |
| Skamania County | 12,402 | 14.7% | 241 | $175K | 406% |
| Ferry County | 7,387 | 22.5% | 198 | $144K | 230% |
| Wahkiakum County | 4,658 | 21.7% | 135 | $98K | 233% |
| Columbia County | 4,014 | 16.5% | 98 | $71K | 230% |
| Garfield County | 2,353 | 13.6% | 49 | $36K | 230% |
39 of 39 counties shown. Click any county for full diagnostic.