Criteria for the ranking included share of federal jobs, return on tax money and federal funding as part of the state's revenue.
The study looked at the states with the highest and lowest tax rates, along with an in-depth analysis of 2016’s most and least federally dependent states, to determine how dependent states with the lowest tax rates are compared with those paying the highest.
WalletHub first decided to tackle the extensive study after the idea of the American freeloader burst into the public eye when the figure 47percent began trending on Twitter in 2012.
And though the freeloader tag is insulting to millions of struggling Americans, it is true that some states receive a much higher return on their federal income-tax contributions than others, WalletHub said.
In order to identify which states most and least depend on federal support, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across three key metrics:
- Return on taxes paid to the federal government.
- Federal funding as a percentage of state revenue.
- Share of federal jobs.
The study found that Mississippi is the most dependent state, and Delaware is the least dependent. Locally, New York came in as 41st least dependent state; New Jersey as 48th least dependent; and Rhode Island as 23rd least dependent.
In Connecticut the overall number shook out like this:
- 19th, return on taxes paid to the federal government.
- 46th, federal funding as a percentage of state revenue.
- 49th, share of federal jobs.
For the full report, click here.
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