Who Is Most Affected By The Government Shutdown? District Of Columbia Feels The Biggest Impact

With the U.S. government shutting down for the 21^st time in its history, several states are feeling the impact of the closure. This is the third and longest shutdown under the Trump administration which has continued through the New Year.

More than 41,000 law enforcement officers, 52,000 IRS workers and 96 percent of NASA employees fall under the government umbrella, working without pay or on furlough during the shutdown. Nonessential governmental services are inactive, and some benefits are set to run out of funding.

As Trump looks for a consensus on border security and funding for a border wall, states across the country are feeling the burden of the government standstill. A study conducted by WalletHub investigated this impact by looking at everything from the share of federal jobs to contract dollars and percentage of families receiving SNAP. The results may surprise you as not all of the government shutdown is centered in Washington, D.C.

Of course, the District of Columbia would feel the biggest burden to a government shutdown as it has the most federal jobs in the country, according to WalletHub. New Mexico, Maryland, Hawaii, Alaska, and Virginia follow behind as the worst states to be in during a government shutdown, respectively, the study indicated.

The District of Columbia also ranks high because it sees the most federal contract dollars as well as it has the most SNAP recipient families, making it even harder on its residents during a shutdown period, WalletHub reported. The study also showed that Arkansas sees the lowest federal contract dollars, and Wyoming has the lowest percentage of families receiving SNAP, easing the burden felt there.

According to WalletHub, the state that is affected the least by the government shutdown is Minnesota. This is followed by New Hampshire, Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. These states, along with Wisconsin and Connecticut, have a low number of federal jobs, possibly explaining why the government shutdown is not causing as much of a disruption, according to the study.