Per a report released by WalletHub, Connecticut is ranked the 26th most impacted state by the federal shutdown. The list included all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C.
The federal shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, has impacted state access to federal contract funding, led to furloughs or layoffs of federal employees, and federal taxpayer funds to benefits programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are set to expire at the end of this month. To determine rankings, the report evaluated several of these categories to see which states would be most impacted.
The categories analyzed were the percentage share of federal jobs, federal contract dollars per capita, percentage of families receiving SNAP benefits, percentage of GDP resulting from real estate, and access to national parks.
“States with real-estate dependent economies are suffering from federal delays in mortgage processing, and states with a lot of national parks may hurt their tourism and revenue by not being able to offer certain park services,” said Chris Lupo, a WalletHub analyst.
Connecticut owes its middle-ranking to outsized impacts in some categories, and significantly lower impact in others. To Connecticut’s benefit, it has only 1,300 in-state federal workers, making it second only to the state of Wisconsin in terms of share of employees impacted by the shutdown.
Connecticut was also ranked 48th in terms of its access to national parks. Per the National Parks Service, Connecticut only has two national parks, and derives just $2.5 million in economic output from them. Alaska is the number-one-ranked state in this category, and it generates $2.5 billion in economic output from its 23 national parks, making the shutdown of park services of significantly greater impact.
Where Connecticut is disproportionately impacted by the shutdown is its high number of federal contracting dollars. Per the report, Connecticut is tied with Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland and New Mexico when evaluating federal contract dollars per capita. Per usaspending.gov, Connecticut is set to receive $144.9 billion in federal contracts, grants, loans and other payments for 2025.
The state is middle of the pack when considering its percentage of SNAP recipients. Per USDA statistics, in 2024, Connecticut ranked 24th in terms of SNAP participation, with 10.6% of the state receiving benefits.
While the report measured where states fell in several statistical categories, it has not accounted for any level of state action in response to the shutdown. On Oct. 8, the Governor’s Office announced it would be releasing enough money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to cover the state’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program through the end of the month, which provides support to more than 52,000 Connecticut residents.
When the shutdown began, Governor Ned Lamont shared his belief that Connecticut is “in better shape than any other state in the country,” due to the state’s ability to use the Rainy Day Fund to cover federal shortfalls.
“I like where we are,” said Lamont. “I’ve talked to other governors; they don’t have a Rainy Day Fund. They don’t have any reserves like we have here.”
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