Money Matters - States Most Affected by Government Shutdown

 With the U.S. government experiencing its 23rd funding lapse since 1976 – and its 11th actual shutdown – this time a partial one, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the States Most & Least Affected by the 2025 Government Shutdown to add some hard data to all the rhetoric.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of five key metrics, ranging from each state’s share of federal jobs to federal contract dollars per capita to the share of families receiving food stamps.
 

States Most Affected by the Gov. Shutdown	States Least Affected by the Gov. Shutdown
1. District of Columbia	42. Arkansas
2. Hawaii	43. North Dakota
3. New Mexico	44. Kansas
4. Alaska	45. New Jersey
5. Maryland	46. Wisconsin
6. Virginia	47. New Hampshire
7. West Virginia	48. Nebraska
8. Alabama	49. Indiana
9. Oklahoma	50. Iowa
10. Arizona	51. Minnesota

 
Key Stats

• Red states are less affected by the government shutdown than Blue states, ranking 26.97 and 24.50, respectively, on average. (Lower rank = greater impact). 
   
• New Mexico has the highest share of families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, 20.33 percent. That’s 4.1 times higher than in Wyoming, the state with the lowest at 4.9 percent. 
   
• Wisconsin has the lowest share of federal jobs, at 1.07 percent. The average state has 2.4 times more federal jobs, at 2.62 percent. 

To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit: 
https://wallethub.com/edu/government-shutdown-report/1111/

“The latest government shutdown makes life stressful for people across the U.S., but places like D.C. and Hawaii, where a high percentage of residents work directly for the government or have government contracts, are getting hit the hardest. States with a lot of residents who receive SNAP benefits, such as New Mexico, also could be in a dire situation if money for this vital program runs out before the gridlock ends. Plus, states with real-estate dependent economies are suffering from federal delays in mortgage processing, and states with a lot of national parks may hurt their tourism and revenue by not being able to offer certain park services.”

- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst