New study ranks all 50 states by federal dependency levels. Here’s where Washington ranked

As the Donald Trump administration makes massive changes to federal departments, programs and contracts, impacts are being reported across the country.

But residents in some states may be feeling the burn of these losses more than others. Based on a myriad of factors, some states can be considered more federally dependent than others.

The personal finance site WalletHub analyzed each state and its relationship with the federal government in order to rank the most and least federally-dependent states.

“For every dollar residents of the top states pay in taxes, they get several dollars back in federal funding, which often leads to higher-quality infrastructure, education, public health and more,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo stated in a press release.

Most, least federally dependent states

The ranking is based on three key metrics: return on taxes to the federal government, share of federal jobs, and the share of federal funding as state revenue.

Using these metrics, WalletHub reports the top 10 most federally-dependent states are:

1. Alaska

2. Kentucky

3. West Virginia

4. Mississippi

5. South Carolina

6. New Mexico

7. Louisiana

8. Arizona

9. Indiana

10. Alabama

And the 10 least federally-dependent states are:

1. New Jersey

2. California

3. Delaware

4. Massachusetts

5. Utah

6. Kansas

7. Washington

8. Illinois

9. Colorado

10. Iowa

Washington’s ranking comes from low placement in numerous categories, including 48th for return on taxes paid to the federal government, and 38th for federal funding as a share of state revenue.

Federal dependency ranking methodologyTo determine the ranking, the three primary metrics were given a weight, adding up to 100. All 50 states were analyzed using these metrics, and given a score out of 100. This was done in order to contextualize the federal money coming into each state.

The return on taxes paid to the federal government was calculated by dividing federal funding by IRS collections, according to WalletHub. Federal funding as a share of state revenue was calculated using the proportion of state revenue from intergovernmental aid in 2022. All other statistics used reflect 2024 or 2023.