TANF approval rates by state, 2016 versus 2022

The percentage of TANF cash assistance applications approved each month varies drastically from state to state. The states with the lowest application approval rates in 2022* are Texas (4.6%), Arkansas (6%), Indiana (7%), Michigan (7.5%) and Mississippi (7.9%). In most states, the rate of TANF application approval has fallen from 2016 (figures in red) to 2022 (figures in green). Only in Mississippi--which has the lowest approval rate on record at 1.5% in 2016--Florida, Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Wyoming, and Washington D.C. did the rate of approval increase, in most cases only slightly. The average for the country fell from 34.5% to 28.4% from 2016 to 2022. Louisiana's application approval rate fell drastically from 95% in 2016 to less than 10% in 2022.

*The 2022 figures include months October 2021 to March 2022, the most recent data on record. Mississippi Today analyzed this data by combining federal annual application reports together and calculating the rate by dividing the number of approved applications by the number of applications received each year.
Chart: Anna Wolfe - Mississippi Today Source: HHS - ACF Get the data