
When the clock struck midnight closing Donald Trump’s,(the 45th president) first year in office, the United States government shut down for the 19th time in history. Before the chimes stopped ringing both sides of the political aisle began attempting to assign blame and assume the moral high ground with the aid of hashtags and tales of children at risk. But this isn’t just another soap opera from the swamp, for the swamp. History and hard data indicates the gears of government grinding to a halt will have nationwide consequences, hurting red states and blue states alike.
To determine whose homes a government shutdown strikes closest to, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia using six key metrics. These range from each state’s share of federal jobs and contracts to the percentage of kids covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Below is an interactive map that reflects the Ranking of each state:
States Most Affected by the Gov. Shutdown | States Least Affected by the Gov. Shutdown | |||
1 | District of Columbia | 42 | North Dakota | |
2 | Maryland | 43 | North Carolina | |
3 | Virginia | 44 | Illinois | |
4 | Alaska | 45 | Iowa | |
5 | Hawaii | 46 | Tennessee | |
6 | New Mexico | 47 | Ohio | |
7 | Montana | 48 | Delaware | |
8 | Oklahoma | 49 | Indiana | |
9 | California | 50 | Michigan | |
10 | Alabama | 51 | Minnesota |
Key Statistics:
- Red states are less affected by the government shutdown than Blue states, average ranking 28.17 and 22.90, respectively, on average. (lower rank = greater impact).
- California has the highest percentage of children under CHIP, 22.1 percent. That’s 73.7 times higher than in Minnesota, the state with the lowest, at 0.3 percent.
- Georgia has the highest average small business loan size, $459,133. That’s 5.2 times higher than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest average loan size, at $88,608.
- Wisconsin has the lowest share of federal jobs, at 1.03 percent. The average state has 2.6 times more federal jobs, at 2.63 percent.
To view the full report, please visit the WalletHub site.