Financial Security
Household Receiving Temporary Assistance

Maintaining


Households Receiving Temporary Assistance

What does this measure?

The number of households that received any public assistance or welfare payments in the past 12 months, expressed as a percentage of total households.

Why is this important?

This measure represents the number of households which rely upon government support to meet their basic needs.

How does our county compare?

In 2018-22, 3% of Lancaster County households received public assistance income. This rate is slightly below the state rate (3.3%), and slightly above the national rate (2.7%), and is 0.1 percentage points lower than the rate in 2008-12.

During the same period, 8.4% of residents in the City of Lancaster received temporary assistance. This level was down slightly from 10.4% in 2008-12.

Lancaster County's rate in 2018-22 was similar to Dauphin, Lebanon and York, higher than Chester and Cumberland (1.9% and 1.8%, respectively), and lower than Berks, at 3.6%.

Notes about the data

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federally funded program administered at the state level, meaning that eligibility requirements vary from state to state. ACS does not ask specifically which program provides the income, although TANF is the primary source of public assistance funds. Families are eligible for TANF benefits for up to 60 months, although most receive assistance for shorter periods of time.

Studies have found that national survey estimates (including the ACS) of enrollment in public benefit programs tend to underestimate the true rate due to underreporting by participants, when compared with state-level administrative data. Underreporting can occur for a variety of reasons, including the social stigma of program participation and participants' confusion about the source of the services they receive. For these reasons, the estimates reported above should be considered a lower bound of the true estimate.

Households Receiving Temporary Assistance
2008-122013-172018-22
Pennsylvania3.5%3.2%3.3%
Lancaster County2.8%3.1%3.0%
Lancaster City10.4%8.0%8.4%
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster8.7%7.1%6.8%
Cocalico School District2.7%**1.7%***2.9%***
Columbia Borough School District3.4%***6.1%**4.5%**
Conestoga Valley School District3.0%**2.1%**3.2%**
Donegal School District1.9%***1.9%***2.4%***
Eastern Lancaster County School District1.4%**3.0%***2.6%**
Elizabethtown Area School District1.5%**1.9%**1.3%***
Ephrata Area School District2.1%**2.7%*1.8%**
Hempfield School District2.3%**2.6%**2.7%*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District0.8%***1.9%***1.3%***
Manheim Central School District0.6%***2.6%**2.0%***
Manheim Township School District1.3%***1.5%**2.3%***
Penn Manor School District1.5%**2.4%*3.7%**
Pequea Valley School District1.8%***2.1%***1.6%***
Solanco School District1.8%**3.0%**2.3%**
Warwick School District1.9%***2.4%**1.4%**
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough3.2%***0.5%***2.3%***
Akron borough2.7%***1.0%***2.7%***
Christiana borough2.5%***1.9%***6.2%***
Columbia borough3.4%***6.1%**4.5%**
Denver township5.0%***1.1%***3.7%***
East Petersburg borough3.3%***2.9%***2.6%***
Elizabethtown borough2.2%**3.5%***2.0%***
Ephrata borough2.0%***4.1%**2.8%***
Lititz borough3.3%***2.7%***2.5%***
Manheim borough2.3%***6.3%***5.2%***
Marietta borough0.4%***5.4%***3.0%***
Millersville borough2.7%***1.9%***8.3%***
Mount Joy borough3.6%***1.4%***1.3%***
Mountville borough0.7%***0.0%***7.5%***
New Holland borough1.8%***5.8%***3.1%***
Quarryville borough3.0%***1.6%***1.4%***
Strasburg borough0.9%***0.5%***4.8%***
Terre Hill borough0.0%***0.0%***3.4%***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township1.1%***0.0%***0.0%***
Brecknock township3.3%***2.9%***0.4%***
Caernarvon township1.1%***0.6%***0.7%***
Clay township2.0%***2.8%***0.4%***
Colerain township0.0%***0.0%***2.6%***
Conestoga township1.1%***5.2%***5.4%***
Conoy township1.8%***4.3%***4.7%***
Drumore township1.8%***2.2%***4.3%***
Earl township0.4%***0.6%***1.4%***
East Cocalico township2.5%***3.3%***1.6%***
East Donegal township1.4%***1.9%***2.0%***
East Drumore township1.6%***1.3%***2.0%***
East Earl township0.7%***5.2%***6.6%***
East Hempfield township2.0%***1.6%***1.7%***
East Lampeter township3.9%**2.7%***2.9%***
Eden township0.7%***1.0%***0.5%***
Elizabeth township1.7%***0.0%***0.7%***
Ephrata township2.1%***1.1%***1.0%***
Fulton township1.9%***3.7%***8.6%***
Lancaster township2.9%***4.3%**2.2%***
Leacock township0.8%***3.8%***0.0%***
Little Britain township4.9%***2.7%***0.6%***
Manheim township1.3%***1.5%**2.3%***
Manor township1.3%***2.1%**3.2%***
Martic township1.2%***2.1%***1.6%***
Mount Joy township0.9%***0.0%***1.7%***
Paradise township1.3%***3.1%***3.8%***
Penn township0.0%***0.7%***0.0%***
Pequea township1.3%***2.3%***0.8%***
Providence township1.0%***7.1%***1.9%***
Rapho township0.4%***2.5%***2.5%***
Sadsbury township1.0%***2.2%***5.6%***
Salisbury township2.4%***0.7%***1.0%***
Strasburg township0.0%***2.0%***0.0%***
Upper Leacock township2.1%***1.6%***4.3%**
Warwick township1.1%***2.7%***1.0%***
West Cocalico township1.5%***0.0%***4.5%***
West Donegal township0.8%***0.4%***0.3%***
West Earl township1.7%***1.2%***2.9%***
West Hempfield township2.8%***4.6%***3.6%***
West Lampeter township1.0%***1.9%***1.0%***
Berks County3.7%2.5%3.6%
Chester County1.6%1.4%1.9%
Cumberland County1.8%1.8%1.8%
Dauphin County3.1%3.2%3.1%
Lebanon County3.1%2.7%*3.1%*
York County2.4%2.5%3.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




Number of Households Receiving Temporary Assistance
2008-122013-172018-22
Pennsylvania174,274161,003172,930
Lancaster County5,4906,0976,284
Lancaster City2,2991,7501,776
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster2,4962,0291,937
Cocalico School District222**145***252***
Columbia Borough School District139***263**201**
Conestoga Valley School District353**254**396**
Donegal School District154***160***217***
Eastern Lancaster County School District156**336***294**
Elizabethtown Area School District173**209**164***
Ephrata Area School District275**359*257**
Hempfield School District421**503**572*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District71***166***129***
Manheim Central School District60***256**223***
Manheim Township School District196***236**411***
Penn Manor School District234**387*632**
Pequea Valley School District109***139***103***
Solanco School District191**337**243**
Warwick School District220***293**176**
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough21***4***19***
Akron borough44***16***46***
Christiana borough9***6***20***
Columbia borough139***263**201**
Denver township73***16***55***
East Petersburg borough54***54***50***
Elizabethtown borough88**142***93***
Ephrata borough116***237**160***
Lititz borough125***106***96***
Manheim borough44***119***99***
Marietta borough4***58***39***
Millersville borough66***52***207***
Mount Joy borough111***48***46***
Mountville borough9***0***100***
New Holland borough41***129***66***
Quarryville borough34***15***14***
Strasburg borough10***5***60***
Terre Hill borough0***0***14***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township9***0***0***
Brecknock township76***77***10***
Caernarvon township16***9***10***
Clay township45***66***10***
Colerain township0***0***30***
Conestoga township15***81***87***
Conoy township24***54***62***
Drumore township14***19***36***
Earl township10***15***35***
East Cocalico township91***125***65***
East Donegal township39***54***64***
East Drumore township21***17***28***
East Earl township13***106***159***
East Hempfield township187***159***193***
East Lampeter township251**174***186***
Eden township5***6***3***
Elizabeth township25***0***10***
Ephrata township70***40***41***
Fulton township20***36***76***
Lancaster township197***292**161***
Leacock township11***66***0***
Little Britain township61***39***9***
Manheim township196***236**411***
Manor township107***172**290***
Martic township22***40***29***
Mount Joy township35***0***68***
Paradise township21***51***70***
Penn township0***23***0***
Pequea township24***42***19***
Providence township27***205***47***
Rapho township16***114***124***
Sadsbury township11***19***57***
Salisbury township77***22***33***
Strasburg township0***25***0***
Upper Leacock township58***48***127**
Warwick township70***187***70***
West Cocalico township37***0***113***
West Donegal township26***13***9***
West Earl township44***32***83***
West Hempfield township171***290***229***
West Lampeter township61***123***69***
Berks County5,6403,8995,759
Chester County3,0042,6643,732
Cumberland County1,6741,7171,903
Dauphin County3,3953,5743,625
Lebanon County1,6211,434*1,696*
York County4,0754,2035,415

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




INDICATORS TREND
Prekindergarten Participation Increasing
Student Performance on Grade 3 English Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate Increasing
Per-Student Spending Maintaining
Students Receiving Special Education Services Increasing
Rate of Foster Care Admissions Maintaining
Disengaged Youth Maintaining
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Plans of High School Graduates Not Applicable
Enrollment in Local Colleges Decreasing
College Graduation Rates Decreasing
Brain Drain/Gain Increasing
Education Levels of Adults by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Average Charitable Giving Maintaining
Voter Registration Rate Not Applicable
Voter Participation Rate Increasing
Age of Housing Stock Not Applicable
Violent Crime Rate Maintaining
Incarceration Rate Decreasing
Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Population Density Increasing
Air Quality Decreasing
Water Use Decreasing
Waterways Impaired by Pollution Not Applicable
Change in Population Increasing
Change in Population by Age and Gender Not Applicable
Population by Age Not Applicable
Population by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People with Disabilities Maintaining
Foreign-Born Population Increasing
Language Diversity Increasing
Change in Total Jobs Increasing
Change in Employment by Sector Not Applicable
Sector Share of Total Jobs Not Applicable
Workers by Occupation Not Applicable
Change in Labor Force Maintaining
People Entering/Leaving County/Region for Work Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary Since 2000 Increasing
Female to Male Earnings Ratio Maintaining
Employer Size Not Applicable
Change in Number of Businesses by Sector Increasing
Change in Total Agricultural Sales Increasing
Spending for Local Government Maintaining
Spending for School Districts Maintaining
Children Living in Poverty Decreasing
Children in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty Decreasing
People Living in Poverty, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Veterans Living in Poverty Maintaining
Working Poor Decreasing
Median Household Income by Household Type Not Applicable
Median Household Income Maintaining
Median Household Income, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Living Wage Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Households Receiving SNAP by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Household Receiving Temporary Assistance Maintaining
Students Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch Increasing
Median Home Value Maintaining
Occupied Housing Units Maintaining
Homeownership Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Cost of Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Median Rent Maintaining
Cost of Renting Increasing
Households Without Vehicles Maintaining
Means of Transportation to Work, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Without Health Insurance Decreasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Health Status Decreasing
Prevalence of Mental Illness Maintaining
Adults Who are Overweight or Obese Not Applicable
Mortality Rates Decreasing
Mortality Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Increasing
Fatal Drug Overdoses Increasing
Cancer Incidence Decreasing
Households With Internet Access Increasing
High-Tech Jobs Increasing
STEM Graduates Increasing
Science and Engineering Research and Development Maintaining
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Population by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Children in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Median Household Income, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Households Receiving SNAP by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Homeownership Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Cost of Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable


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