Table 44
State and Local Welfare Spending Per Capita, 1997
Rank	State	Amt.		Rank	State	Amt.
1	NEW YORK	$1,429		27	Louisiana	$674
2	Maine	1,090		28	North Carolina	667
3	Alaska	1,073		29	Arkansas	664
4	Minnesota	1,005		30	Mississippi	651
5	Massachusetts	925		31	New Jersey	651
6	Connecticut	885		32	Nebraska	640
7	West Virginia	883		33	Iowa	632
8	Vermont	871		34	Maryland	605
9	Rhode Island	866		35	Alabama	596
10	Kentucky	831		36	Colorado	590
11	Pennsylvania	831		37	Montana	590
12	Hawaii	827		38	Missouri	581
13	New Hampshire	805		39	Indiana	579
14	California	779		40	Arizona	578
15	Wisconsin	773		41	Texas	575
16	North Dakota	757		42	South Dakota	552
17	Ohio	757		43	Wyoming	548
18	New Mexico	752		44	Florida	540
19	Oregon	738		45	Virginia	538
20	Michigan	727		46	Idaho	523
21	Georgia	724		47	Oklahoma	511
22	Washington	723		48	Utah	481
23	Illinois	712		49	Kansas	445
24	Tennessee	703		50	Nevada	422
25	South Carolina	696		U.S. average		$747
26	Delaware	682		N.Y.S. % above avg.		91.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau data; calculations by The Public Policy Institute http://www.census.gov/govs/www/cog.html
The Census Bureau includes cash benefits as well as Medicaid and some other payments in its definition of "welfare."