Rural EITC Claims by State

Families living in rural and mixed-rural counties claim $24 billion in Earned Income Tax Credits annually*. In total, 6.1 million families (about one-in-five) claimed the credit on their taxes in 2012.

In the most rural places, 22% of households claimed the credit totaling $6.2 billion. In the poorest counties (counties with 30% child poverty or higher, home to 1.7 million children living in poverty), 32% of households claimed the credit worth $6.0 billion.

See the table below to find the value of EITC to rural communities in your state.

Value of Earned Income Tax Credit Claimed in Rural and Mixed-Rural Counties by State

State Total Tax
Returns
Returns with
EITC
% Returns
with EITC
EITC Amount
Claimed
Alabama 1,301,507 359,950 28% $954,058,806
Alaska 321,938 48,016 15% $96,907,470
Arizona 946,551 239,297 25% $594,279,327
Arkansas 956,813 258,043 27% $644,154,620
California 4,137,200 983,100 24% $2,450,592,828
Colorado 926,695 162,238 18% $349,282,828
Connecticut 138,495 17,031 12% $32,195,066
Delaware 160,365 32,160 20% $74,634,721
D.C.**
Florida 1,740,368 392,445 23% $951,166,742
Georgia 1,280,644 401,586 31% $1,073,570,378
Hawaii 169,909 35,135 21% $74,613,654
Idaho 384,619 83,368 22% $186,261,625
Illinois 1,495,828 260,703 17% $582,746,168
Indiana 1,309,776 241,517 18% $529,496,735
Iowa 1,081,078 164,260 15% $343,942,507
Kansas 623,364 112,745 18% $249,193,414
Kentucky 1,108,278 274,784 25% $644,886,278
Louisiana 1,165,030 336,629 29% $906,807,352
Maine 453,432 82,450 18% $166,112,006
Maryland 276,688 48,817 18% $107,863,546
Massachusetts 175,453 22,958 13% $40,658,588
Michigan 1,522,703 280,616 18% $609,828,342
Minnesota 1,141,342 166,535 15% $336,872,421
Mississippi 996,445 349,861 35% $966,808,703
Missouri 1,166,322 257,380 22% $592,891,177
Montana 439,935 79,291 18% $162,305,575
Nebraska 379,402 63,831 17% $140,303,727
Nevada 1,120,434 223,171 20% $519,604,699
New Hampshire 231,894 32,947 14% $62,138,398
New Jersey 203,313 18,005 9% $34,406,996
New Mexico 547,768 151,762 28% $364,412,403
New York 1,517,009 264,410 17% $554,815,722
North Carolina 1,957,285 500,040 26% $1,220,937,433
North Dakota 332,497 41,848 13% $84,064,181
Ohio 1,666,962 302,839 18% $671,386,326
Oklahoma 804,647 194,007 24% $465,033,191
Oregon 1,026,608 186,908 18% $392,845,552
Pennsylvania 1,532,546 236,031 15% $472,783,277
Rhode Island**
South Carolina 1,067,777 300,205 28% $751,221,390
South Dakota 384,695 62,703 16% $131,466,922
Tennessee 1,381,854 331,047 24% $778,939,034
Texas 3,212,006 807,270 25% $2,064,313,154
Utah 427,275 80,563 19% $187,158,568
Vermont 299,850 44,938 15% $82,817,634
Virginia 1,080,591 207,843 19% $457,642,439
Washington 930,818 173,662 19% $384,128,161
West Virginia 630,266 131,317 21% $284,352,338
Wisconsin 1,386,446 195,928 14% $387,124,388
Wyoming 266,122 36,491 14% $73,007,682
TOTAL 47,808,843 10,278,681 21% $24,287,034,492

Data notes

Jason Gray and Travis Green contributed to this data report for the RuFES Action Network.

* Figures calculated by compiling 2012 EITC tax data from Brookings, the 2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Population Estimates and place designations developed by A. Isserman.  Margins of error were excluded so figures should be taken as rough approximations.

** Rhode Island and D.C. have no counties that are classified as “rural” or “mixed-rural” according to the measures of Andrew Isserman.

 

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