New York, Washington, D.C., Got Some of Smallest Stimulus Checks

(Bloomberg) -- Residents of states in the Midwest and West received the largest of this year’s stimulus payments, on average, while those living in the Northeast received some of the smallest, according to new data from the Treasury Department.

Residents of Utah and Idaho -- where the number of children per family is consistently among the highest in the country -- got the biggest payments, with households in those states receiving about $2,784 and $2,628, respectively, from the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed into law in March, Treasury Department data showed on Tuesday. Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas were among those atop the list.

Residents of Washington, D.C., received the smallest payments -- $1,965 -- on average, according to the data. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York rounded out the bottom five. New England families have typically had the fewest children compared with other states.

The data show the geographic variation for the $1,400 stimulus payments, which lawmakers have touted as some of the most important anti-poverty relief distributed during the pandemic to help keep households afloat. Congress approved three rounds of stimulus checks in 2020 and early 2021. Household size was one of the largest contributing factors to the amounts of the payments, with each family member receiving up to $1,400 in the March round, subject to income thresholds.

Individuals earning up to $75,000 or couples making less than $150,000 qualified for $1,400 payments for themselves and each adult or child dependent, in the March 2021 legislation. The payments phased out as income rose, with singles making $80,000 or couples earning $160,000 not qualifying for any aid.

The data show that the Treasury Department had distributed about 95% of the payments as of early June, with only about $20 billion of the projected $410 billion in payments left to be sent out.

More than half of the relief was distributed to households making less than $50,000 a year, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Some 10% went to those receiving federal assistance including Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits, and to those who had incomes below the requirement to file a tax return.

With the number vaccinated individuals rising, employment levels increasing and the economy reopening, lawmakers are unlikely to approve a fourth stimulus round this year. However, Congress also in March approved an expanded child tax credit for up to $3,600 in benefits for children five and under or up to $3,000 for children six and older.

Those payments will be sent out in monthly installments, with the first advance payments scheduled to arrive in mid-July.

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