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 2019-23, 3.1% of Lancaster County households received public assistance income. This rate is similar to the state rate of 3.3% and the national rate of 2.7%. The County's 2019-23 rate is 0.1 percentage points lower than the rate in 2009-13.

During the same period, 8.6% of residents in the City of Lancaster received temporary assistance. This level was down from 11.3% in 2009-13.

Lancaster County's rate in 2019-23 was similar to Berks (3.3%) and York (2.9%), higher than Chester and Cumberland (1.9% and 2.0%, respectively), and lower than Lebanon and Dauphin, both at 3.8%.

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
2009-132014-182019-23
Pennsylvania3.5%3.2%3.3%
Lancaster County3.2%2.9%3.1%
Lancaster City11.3%6.4%8.6%
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster9.5%5.6%7.2%
Cocalico School District2.9%**1.9%***2.9%***
Columbia Borough School District3.3%**8.8%*3.1%**
Conestoga Valley School District3.2%*2.1%**3.3%**
Donegal School District2.3%***1.6%**3.0%**
Eastern Lancaster County School District1.6%**3.0%**2.8%***
Elizabethtown Area School District1.9%*1.6%***1.3%***
Ephrata Area School District2.4%**2.4%*1.7%**
Hempfield School District3.0%**2.8%*2.4%**
Lampeter-Strasburg School District1.4%***1.9%**1.5%***
Manheim Central School District0.6%***2.7%**2.0%***
Manheim Township School District1.4%***1.7%**2.3%***
Penn Manor School District1.6%**2.4%**3.4%**
Pequea Valley School District2.0%***2.0%***1.9%***
Solanco School District1.8%**2.5%**3.2%**
Warwick School District2.6%**2.1%**1.3%***
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough3.5%***0.0%***2.7%***
Akron borough2.2%***1.5%***2.5%***
Christiana borough4.0%***0.9%***6.6%***
Columbia borough3.3%**8.8%*3.1%**
Denver township5.1%***1.2%***5.9%***
East Petersburg borough2.5%***2.3%***6.5%***
Elizabethtown borough2.8%***2.9%***2.2%***
Ephrata borough1.9%***4.5%**2.7%***
Lititz borough4.9%***2.2%***1.9%***
Manheim borough2.1%***6.5%***4.8%***
Marietta borough0.7%***5.2%***5.5%***
Millersville borough2.2%***2.3%***5.8%***
Mount Joy borough4.4%***1.1%***1.8%***
Mountville borough0.7%***2.2%***5.3%***
New Holland borough0.6%***6.1%***4.4%***
Quarryville borough2.7%***1.5%***4.4%***
Strasburg borough0.8%***2.0%***2.9%***
Terre Hill borough0.0%***0.0%***5.9%***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township0.4%***0.0%***0.6%***
Brecknock township2.7%***2.6%***1.8%***
Caernarvon township0.6%***0.7%***0.7%***
Clay township3.1%***0.9%***0.5%***
Colerain township0.0%***0.0%***3.7%***
Conestoga township1.1%***4.2%***5.3%***
Conoy township2.9%***4.2%***3.9%***
Drumore township2.7%***1.2%***4.4%***
Earl township1.0%***0.7%***1.0%***
East Cocalico township2.8%**3.1%***1.4%***
East Donegal township1.4%***1.6%***2.1%***
East Drumore township1.4%***1.4%***4.1%***
East Earl township3.7%***5.0%***4.8%***
East Hempfield township2.1%***2.0%***1.4%***
East Lampeter township4.3%**2.1%***3.3%***
Eden township0.5%***1.0%***0.9%***
Elizabeth township1.5%***0.4%***0.0%***
Ephrata township2.7%***0.7%***0.7%***
Fulton township1.5%***3.5%***9.8%***
Lancaster township3.3%***3.0%***3.0%**
Leacock township1.8%***3.3%***0.0%***
Little Britain township4.5%***2.3%***1.2%***
Manheim township1.4%***1.7%**2.3%***
Manor township1.7%***1.9%**3.3%***
Martic township1.2%***2.3%***1.7%***
Mount Joy township0.9%***0.0%***1.7%***
Paradise township1.3%***3.0%***4.6%***
Penn township0.0%***0.8%***0.0%***
Pequea township1.1%***3.0%***1.3%***
Providence township1.8%***5.5%***2.0%***
Rapho township0.4%***2.5%***2.6%***
Sadsbury township1.2%***2.6%***5.6%***
Salisbury township2.4%***0.8%***1.4%***
Strasburg township0.0%***2.9%***1.1%***
Upper Leacock township2.0%***2.6%***3.6%***
Warwick township1.6%***2.3%***1.3%***
West Cocalico township1.6%***1.0%***3.6%***
West Donegal township1.0%***0.5%***0.2%***
West Earl township1.8%***1.4%***2.8%***
West Hempfield township5.0%***4.4%***2.2%***
West Lampeter township1.8%***1.5%***1.3%***
Berks County3.5%2.7%3.3%
Chester County1.5%1.5%1.9%
Cumberland County1.9%1.6%2.0%
Dauphin County2.9%3.4%3.8%
Lebanon County3.4%2.2%*3.8%
York County2.6%2.6%2.9%

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
2009-132014-182019-23
Pennsylvania174,576161,721174,916
Lancaster County6,2085,7116,450
Lancaster City2,4971,4211,834
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster2,7121,6082,051
Cocalico School District243**159***256***
Columbia Borough School District133**385*147**
Conestoga Valley School District380*251**410**
Donegal School District188***140**270**
Eastern Lancaster County School District177**333**319***
Elizabethtown Area School District215*190***163***
Ephrata Area School District311**326*246**
Hempfield School District554**545*514**
Lampeter-Strasburg School District120***170**141***
Manheim Central School District57***271**227***
Manheim Township School District208***263**402***
Penn Manor School District249**387**576**
Pequea Valley School District122***135***129***
Solanco School District201**268**352**
Warwick School District312**254**168***
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough24***0***21***
Akron borough37***25***42***
Christiana borough14***3***21***
Columbia borough133**385*147**
Denver township75***18***87***
East Petersburg borough40***43***135***
Elizabethtown borough111***119***103***
Ephrata borough113***257**160***
Lititz borough185***85***76***
Manheim borough41***125***93***
Marietta borough8***56***75***
Millersville borough57***63***136***
Mount Joy borough139***40***61***
Mountville borough10***25***70***
New Holland borough13***137***96***
Quarryville borough31***14***49***
Strasburg borough8***23***35***
Terre Hill borough0***0***23***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township3***0***5***
Brecknock township61***68***45***
Caernarvon township9***10***10***
Clay township71***20***13***
Colerain township0***0***44***
Conestoga township15***67***85***
Conoy township39***54***53***
Drumore township20***10***39***
Earl township23***16***24***
East Cocalico township106**117***57***
East Donegal township41***44***65***
East Drumore township19***19***56***
East Earl township71***102***121***
East Hempfield township202***202***163***
East Lampeter township275**133***215***
Eden township4***6***6***
Elizabeth township24***6***0***
Ephrata township90***24***31***
Fulton township15***33***87***
Lancaster township215***203***217**
Leacock township26***56***0***
Little Britain township61***33***17***
Manheim township208***263**402***
Manor township135***157**293***
Martic township21***43***32***
Mount Joy township35***0***69***
Paradise township20***52***82***
Penn township0***27***0***
Pequea township21***57***30***
Providence township48***153***49***
Rapho township16***119***134***
Sadsbury township12***23***58***
Salisbury township76***27***47***
Strasburg township0***37***15***
Upper Leacock township56***79***115***
Warwick township103***163***92***
West Cocalico township38***24***91***
West Donegal township30***17***7***
West Earl township49***39***80***
West Hempfield township302***275***146***
West Lampeter township112***94***91***
Berks County5,3204,1785,339
Chester County2,7812,7803,841
Cumberland County1,7731,6212,102
Dauphin County3,1793,8274,512
Lebanon County1,7701,152*2,136
York County4,3754,4395,289

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 Increasing
Foreign-Born Population Increasing
Language Diversity Maintaining
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 Increasing
Working Poor Maintaining
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 Increasing
Homeownership Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Cost of Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Median Rent Maintaining
Cost of Renting Decreasing
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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