West Virginia receives the fourth most federal funding of any state in the country, according to a new analysis.
The financial news website “24/7 Wall Street” announced in a press release that West Virginia netted more than $7,000 per resident from the federal government in fiscal year 2017. In total, West Virginia saw nearly $25 billion.
The report says, however, that states receiving the most federal funding on a per capita basis tend to have relatively large populations of low-income residents who depend on federal assistance programs, such as SNAP and Medicaid.
On the flip side, states that give more to the federal government than they receive, tend to have residents with higher incomes. Exceptions to this include Maryland and Virginia, which are states that receive high federal funding due to their large defense contracting sectors.
Virginia receives the most federal funding in the country, while Connecticut receives the least.
Money from the federal government is redistributed to states in the form of grants, aid programs for the needy, and payments to major government contracting firms, such as defense companies.