Here Are the States Getting the Most (and Least) Stimulus Check Money
The IRS is making (relatively) fast work of sending out stimulus payments to Americans during the coronavirus crisis. As of Friday, the government says it's distributed more than 130 million of the 150 million economic impact payments outlined in the CARES Act.
But as you might expect, certain states are faring better than others.
Newly released numbers show that California has received the most stimulus payments, with 13.6 million checks adding up to over $22 billion in total. Statistically, this makes sense — the Golden State has the biggest population in the nation, so it follows that it would see the most disbursements.
On the other end of the spectrum is Wyoming, the state with the smallest population and fewest number of checks to date. Roughly 226,000 payments have been made there, totaling just under $408 million.
The CARES Act provided for one-time economic impact payments of $1,200 per person making under $75,000 a year, with diminishing amounts for earners above that threshold. Taxpayers were also supposed to receive $500 for each of their dependents, though there have been widespread reports of deposits missing that bonus.
If you add up the IRS's state-by-state totals and divide by the number of payments, the average stimulus check comes out to $1,699. Back-of-the-envelope math indicates that Washington, D.C., has the lowest average payment at $1,386. Utah, which has the largest average household size, has the highest average stimulus check at $1,944.
Couples who file taxes as married couples receive their stimulus payments together, and payments allotted for eligible children are lumped into the same household check as well. So it makes sense that states where bigger families are common will have a higher average payment compared to spots with more singles and smaller families.
Scroll over the map below to see how much money people in your state have received so far. Then read on to see the top five states with the most stimulus payments:
States With Highest Stimulus Check Payment Totals
Naturally, the states with the biggest populations also tend to have received the most stimulus checks. Here are the top 5:
California
Number of stimulus payments: 13,564,730
Total amount of stimulus payments: $22,465,995,771
Texas
Number of stimulus payments: 10,728,541
Total amount of stimulus payments: $18,796,209,760
Florida
Number of stimulus payments: 9,169,713
Total amount of stimulus payments: $15,173,922,832
New York
Number of stimulus payments: 7,737,476
Total amount of stimulus payments: $12,523,017,409
Pennsylvania
Number of stimulus payments: 5,215,824
Total amount of stimulus payments: $8,821,284,132
Remember: The IRS sent out stimulus payments first to people for whom it had direct deposit information on file. So if you haven't gotten your payment yet, you may want to use the Get My Payment tool to update your data or track your check. And you might want to do so sooner rather than later. The IRS just set a Wednesday deadline for Americans to sign up to get their stimulus money via direct deposit.
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