Here are the most federally dependent states in 2026, data suggests

While federal funding supports everything from infrastructure to emergency relief, the level of support varies drastically by state. 

A new analysis details which states rely most on the federal government for additional resources. WalletHub released a new study examining the most and least federally dependent states. 

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The personal finance website compared all 50 states using three key data points: the return on federal taxes paid, the share of federal jobs, and federal funding as a percentage of state revenue. 

Rankings for each state were also quantified using two key dimensions: "State Residents’ Dependency" and "State Government’s Dependency." 

Most federally dependent states in 2026

Local perspective:

WalletHub used several key metrics and graded each state on a 100-point scale, with a perfect score representing the state with the highest level of federal dependency. 

1. Alaska
2. Kentucky
3. West Virginia
4. Mississippi
5. Louisiana
6. South Carolina
7. Arizona
8. Indiana
9. New Mexico
10. Montana
11. Alabama
12. Oklahoma
13. Maine
14. Wyoming
15. Missouri
16. Tennessee
17. North Dakota
18. Pennsylvania
19. Rhode Island
20. Maryland

To see the complete list of most federally dependent states, click here. 

Least federally dependent states in 2026

The other side:

Data from WalletHub’s report ranks these states as the least federally dependent. 

1. New Jersey
2. Massachusetts
3. Delaware
4. Utah
5. Kansas

The full list of rankings of the least federally dependent states, can be viewed here. 

An analysis of the top three most federally dependent states 

Dig deeper:

WalletHub ranked Alaska, Kentucky, and West Virginia as the top federally dependent states in the nation. 

Alaska

WalletHub ranked Alaska as the most federally dependent state, with almost 45% of the state’s revenue coming from federal funding. The report noted that Alaska receives ample federal money in part due to the challenges of maintaining infrastructure in a big state with tough weather conditions and a small population.

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Alaska has almost 5% of the state’s workforce employed by the federal government. Moreover, the state has a quality return on the taxes that its residents pay to the federal government. WalletHub reported that for each $1 that residents pay in taxes, the state receives $2.52 in federal funding.

Kentucky

Kentucky is the second-most federally dependent state, mainly because the state receives a large amount of federal funding compared to the taxes that residents pay. For every $1 paid in taxes, Kentucky gets $3.45 in federal funding. 

According to WalletHub’s report, federal funding accounts for a large number of the state’s revenue as well, at nearly 44%, among the highest in the nation. Meanwhile, roughly 1.8% of the Kentuck’s residents work for the federal government, which puts Kentucky around the middle of the 50 states for that metric.

West Virginia

WalletHub ranked West Virginia third on the list as the most federally dependent state with its residents receiving $2.74 in federal funding for every $1 they pay in taxes. Federal funding makes up an ample part of the state’s revenue at almost 42% and over 3.8% of the area’s workforce is employed by the federal government. 

 

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