Study: R.I. in middle when it comes to dependence on federal government

WALLETHUB SAID Rhode Island ranks 24th on its list of the most and least federally dependent states, putting it in the middle of the pack. / COURTESY WALLETHUB
WALLETHUB SAID Rhode Island ranks 24th on its list of the most and least federally dependent states, putting it in the middle of the pack. / COURTESY WALLETHUB

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is in the middle of the pack when it comes to states that are the most dependent on the federal government, while Massachusetts is one of the least federally dependent.

That’s according to a study released Tuesday by the financial website WalletHub.

Rhode Ialand is No. 24 on the list, while Massachusetts is eighth lowest. Connecticut is ninth lowest, and New Hampshire, 10th lowest. Both Maine and Vermont ranked higher than Rhode Island, coming in ninth and 18th most federally dependent, respectively.

WalletHub said it conducted the study because the tax deadline is approaching, and it
wanted to find out how much states with the lowest tax rates lean on the government compared with those paying the highest tax rates. States were compared across three metrics: return on taxes paid to the federal government, federal funding as a share of state revenue and share of federal jobs.

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Based on that criteria, Kentucky is the most federally dependent state, while Delaware is the least, WalletHub said.

Massachusetts was singled out for having the third-highest gross domestic product per capita, behind North Dakota and Alaska, and also for having the third-lowest amount of other financial assistance received (per money in federal taxes paid), behind Delaware and New Jersey.

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1 COMMENT

  1. The WalletHub correlation analysis shows Rhode Island highest among states with ‘high dependency and high taxes.’ This is a more accurate (and less flattering) picture of our position in the country.