TANF Cash Assistance by State: Who Qualifies, How Much It Pays and How Work Changes It

TANF, short for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, is monthly cash for families with children and very little income, and each state runs it under its own name and decides who qualifies and how much it pays. In most states a job lowers the check a little at a time, but in some it can end all at once, so put your household in below to see what your state would likely pay and the pay where the check would stop.

What is TANF?

TANF is a federal program that pays for cash help to families with children, and each state runs its own version of it. The federal government gives each state a block grant, a set amount of money that the state spends within the federal rules (Congressional Research Service, TANF Block Grant: A Primer). The state decides how much to pay, who qualifies and how much of a parent’s pay it counts.

That is why TANF goes by many names. It is CalWORKs in California, the Family Investment Program (FIP) in Iowa, Temporary Cash Assistance in Florida, Wisconsin Works (W-2) in Wisconsin and Ohio Works First in Ohio. The Office of Family Assistance, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, lists every state’s TANF program and the agency that runs it. The calculator’s TANF card uses your state’s own name.

TANF is paid as cash each month. It is not the same as SNAP, which helps pay for food, though many families get both. This site is independent: it is not part of any state’s program, and it cannot approve anyone.

Who can get TANF?

Families with children can get TANF when their income and savings are under their state’s limits and the adults meet the state’s work rules. Each state writes its own tests, so the same family can qualify in one state and not in the next. These are the main ones:

• A child at home. TANF is for families with children. The calculator counts a child under 18, or 18 and still in school, together with the child’s parents.
• Low income. Each state sets its own income tests by family size, and it leaves part of what you earn out of them. In some states the test is stricter when you apply than once you are on the program, as the examples below show.
• Low savings. Most states limit the money and things of value a family can have. Iowa’s limit is $2,000 when you apply and $5,000 once you are on FIP (Iowa Administrative Code 441-41.26, from July 1, 2025). Washington’s is $12,000 (WAC 388-470-0005, from January 10, 2025). California’s is $12,552, or $18,829 when someone in the family is 60 or older or has a disability, from January 1, 2026 (All County Letter 25-65; 26-56 sets the next limits). DC’s is $3,000, or $4,500 with someone 60 or older or with a disability (DC TANF State Plan 2026–2028). Most of the states whose rules we have checked leave out some or all of the value of a car, and DC leaves out every vehicle a family owns.
• Work. Most adults on TANF must take part in the state’s work program, and a state can cut the check of an adult who does not. In DC the cut is 6% today and becomes 25% on October 1, 2027 (DC Department of Human Services).
• Time. An adult can get TANF only for a set number of months in a lifetime (the next question).

The calculator checks your savings against the limit where we have the state’s current one, which is not every state, so compare yours with your state’s limit. States also have rules the calculator cannot see. When a child is born more than ten months after the family applied, Florida adds only half the usual amount for that child, and nothing for any later child (Florida TANF State Plan 2026–2028). Georgia ended a rule like that on July 1, 2023, and it also pays TANF to a pregnant woman with no other children (Georgia’s TANF State Plan for 2026). Ask your state’s TANF office about rules like these.

How long can you get TANF?

An adult can get TANF for at most 60 months, or five years, in a lifetime under the federal limit, and many states set a shorter limit of their own. The months count for the adults: in California, when an adult reaches the limit, the children keep getting aid (CDSS Eligibility and Assistance Standards). Among the states whose current rules we have checked:

• California: 60 months for adults;
• Connecticut: 36 months, for families who are not exempt;
• Florida: 48 months, counting months used in other states;
• Idaho: 24 months;
• Iowa: 60 months;
• Mississippi: 60 months;
• Montana: 60 months;
• South Dakota: 60 months, counting months on TANF in any state.

DC has no lifetime limit today, and it pays families past the federal limit with its own money. Its TANF page says that from October 1, 2027, TANF will end for families that have had it for longer than the federal limit, with a hardship policy for some. Many states give some families more time through hardship extensions or exemptions. The calculator does not ask how many months you have had TANF, so it cannot check this limit for you.

How much does TANF pay?

TANF pays the most your state allows for your family’s size, minus the part of your income the state counts. A family with no other income gets the whole amount. A family with earnings gets less, and the check shrinks as its pay goes up.

The most a state pays is called its payment standard; California calls it the Maximum Aid Payment. It differs a lot from state to state, and it grows with each person in the family. Countable income is the income left after the state leaves out part of your earnings, which is called the earned income disregard.

The table shows the most TANF pays each month for a family of three with no other income. A figure appears only where the calculator works TANF out from the state’s current rules, as the state’s own pages give them. A dash means we have not checked that state’s current TANF rules yet, or that the calculator does not work its program out yet. Where there is a dash, the calculator says “Not checked yet” for TANF.

Each state's page names the official source of each figure and the period it is for.

Download every state's limits (CSV, opens in Excel) Every state and DC, households of 1 to 8 people: each program's monthly income limit and the most TANF pays, as the state pages show them, with the period each figure is for.

Two of the states with a dash pay a flat amount whatever the size of the family. Idaho’s program, TAFI, pays up to $309 a month (Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, as of October 31, 2026), and Wisconsin Works pays up to $653 a month to a parent in one of its work placements (Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, as of October 31, 2026).

How does a state work out the check?

Most states take three steps: they leave part of your pay out, add up the income they count, and take that off the payment standard for your family’s size. What is left is your check. Mississippi pays a share of the gap instead (below), and a few states pay a flat amount.

The earned income disregard is the main reason a working family can still get TANF, and each state sets its own. In the states whose current rules we have checked:

• Washington leaves out the first $500 of the family’s earnings, then half of the rest (WAC 388-450-0170).
• California leaves out the first $600 of the family’s earnings, then half of the rest, as the worked examples in its Eligibility and Assistance Standards show.
• Iowa takes 20% off earnings for work costs, then leaves out 58% of what is left (Iowa Administrative Code 441-41.27).
• Florida leaves out $200, then half of the rest, for a family on the program (Florida TANF State Plan 2026–2028).
• Montana leaves out $200 of each worker’s earnings, then 25% of the rest (Montana TANF State Plan).
• DC leaves out $160 when you apply, and $160 then two-thirds of the rest once you are on TANF. It also takes off child care costs of up to $200 a month for a child under 2 and $175 for an older child (DC TANF State Plan 2026–2028).
• Mississippi takes $90 off earnings for work costs, and what you pay for child care (Mississippi’s TANF policy manual).
• Connecticut takes $90 off each person’s earnings for its test when you apply. Once you qualify, it leaves out all earnings up to the poverty line (Connecticut TANF State Plan 2024–2026).

Where we have checked your state’s rules, the calculator does these steps for your family with your state’s figures. It counts other income, such as unemployment benefits, in full; your state may leave out some of it.

How much would TANF pay a working parent in Washington?

Take a single parent in Washington with two children (ages 4 and 8), applying for TANF while earning $1,000 a month. Washington’s TANF would pay $456 a month. Its payment standard for three people is $706 a month (WAC 388-478-0020, from January 1, 2024). The state leaves out the first $500 of the family’s pay and half of the rest, counts the other half, and takes that off the $706. With two parents working, the $500 comes off their pay together, once.

Each extra dollar of pay above $500 lowers the check by 50 cents, so a raise still leaves the family with more money from work and TANF together. The check reaches nothing at the same pay as Washington’s earnings limit: a family of three must earn less than $1,912 a month (WAC 388-478-0035). So in Washington, TANF fades out instead of stopping all at once.

How much does CalWORKs pay in California?

From October 1, 2026, CalWORKs pays a family of three up to $1,196 a month in Region 1, the 17 counties where costs are highest, such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Santa Clara and Alameda. In Region 2, the other 41 counties, it pays a little less (CDSS All County Letter 26-66). A family whose adults do not have to take part in the work program, for example because of a disability, can get more.

Take a single parent in Los Angeles County with two children (ages 5 and 9), applying for CalWORKs while earning $1,400 a month. California leaves out the first $600 of the family’s pay and half of the rest. The other half comes off the $1,196, which leaves $796 a month. CalWORKs pays no check under $10. The calculator uses Region 1’s amounts for every county, so in a Region 2 county the check would be a little smaller.

When you apply, California uses one more test. Your family’s income, after $90 off the earnings of each person who works, must be under a second line called the Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care: $1,960 a month for three people in Region 1 (All County Letter 26-39). The calculator uses this test for a family that is applying. Your county’s CalWORKs office makes the decision.

Why does it matter whether you are applying or already on TANF?

In some states the test to get TANF is stricter than the test to keep it, so a family that applies can be turned down at a pay where a family already on the program still gets a check. Iowa and DC are two of them.

Iowa’s Family Investment Program pays a family of three up to $426 a month (Iowa Administrative Code 441-41.28, from July 1, 2025). To work out the check, Iowa takes 20% off your earnings and then leaves out 58% of what is left. But when you apply, it first takes off only the 20% and checks the rest against its standard of need, $849 a month for three people. You must be under it (441-41.27).

Take a single parent in Iowa with two children (ages 3 and 7), applying for FIP while earning $1,050 a month. It passes that test, and its check is $73 a month. If it applied with pay of $1,062 a month, it would fail the test, and the check of $69 it would get at one dollar less would be gone. The calculator shows that family’s month $67.92 lower than at one dollar less.

Now take the same family, once it is on FIP, after a raise to $1,100 a month. A family already on FIP does not face that test, so it still gets $56 a month, and its check keeps shrinking slowly as its pay rises.

In DC the gap is wider. Its TANF pays up to $803 a month for three people from October 1, 2026 (DC Department of Human Services). When you apply, DC leaves out $160 of your earnings. Once you are on TANF, its state plan says it leaves out $160 and then two-thirds of the rest (DC TANF State Plan 2026–2028). Take a single parent in DC with two children (ages 4 and 8), applying for TANF while earning $800 a month: the check would be $163 a month. For the same family, already on TANF, with the same pay, it is $589.

If you already get TANF, tick “TANF cash help” under “What you have now” in the calculator, so that it uses your state’s rules for families on the program.

How does Mississippi work out its check?

Mississippi pays 60% of the gap between its standard of need and your countable income, up to a set maximum. For three people the standard of need is $581 a month and the maximum is $260 (Mississippi’s TANF policy manual, tables revised December 1, 2024). Countable income is your pay minus $90 for work costs and what you pay for child care, plus any other income. The check is rounded down to a whole dollar, and Mississippi pays no check under $10.

Take a single parent in Mississippi with two children (ages 2 and 6), earning $200 a month. Sixty percent of its gap is more than the maximum, so it gets the whole $260: its first earnings do not lower the check at all. For the same family earning $400 a month, the gap is smaller, and 60% of it, rounded down, is $162 a month. Past the point where the maximum stops mattering, each extra dollar of pay lowers the check by 60 cents, until it would be under $10 and stops.

How do earnings lower the check in Florida and Montana?

In both states a working family keeps part of each extra dollar, and the check gets smaller as its pay rises. Florida’s Temporary Cash Assistance pays a family of three up to $303 a month, and less to a family with low or no housing costs. Those amounts are in a fact sheet dated December 2019 that the Florida Department of Children and Families still publishes. The calculator uses the amount for a family that pays for its housing.

For a family already on the program, Florida leaves out $200 of earnings and half of the rest. Take a single parent in Florida with two children (ages 4 and 8), already getting Temporary Cash Assistance, earning $500 a month and paying $1,000 rent: it gets $153 a month.

Montana pays a family of three up to $725 a month, under standards in force since July 1, 2023 (Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services). It leaves out $200 of each worker’s earnings and 25% of the rest. Take a single parent in Montana with two children (ages 4 and 8), earning $800 a month. Three-quarters of the pay above $200 is counted and comes off the $725, which leaves $275 a month.

Montana also has an income test, when you apply and while you are on TANF: the income it counts must be under its benefit standard, $622 a month for three people (Montana TANF State Plan). That test ends the check while it is still worth something. For the same family, the check stops at $1,030 a month of pay, where one dollar less would still bring $103. The calculator shows the family’s month $100 lower than at one dollar less.

Why does cash help stop all at once in Connecticut?

Because once a family is on Connecticut’s cash assistance, the state leaves out all of its earnings until they pass the poverty line, and then the cash stops (Connecticut TANF State Plan 2024–2026, revised April 15, 2024). The plan’s payment standard for three people is $833 a month, from October 1, 2023.

Take a single parent in Connecticut with two children (ages 4 and 8), already getting cash assistance and earning $2,000 a month. None of the pay is counted, so the family gets the whole $833. The poverty line for three people is $27,320 a year in 2026. At $2,277 a month of pay, just over that line, the whole check of $833 stops. The calculator shows the family’s month $582 lower than at one dollar less. SNAP counts TANF as income, so in a family that gets SNAP, SNAP can rise a little and make up part of the loss.

Connecticut softens this edge for a while. Since January 1, 2024, when a family’s earnings first pass the poverty line, it can keep its cash for up to six months in a row while its earnings stay at or under 230% of the poverty line. Between 171% and 230%, the check is cut by 20% in those months. The calculator shows where the full check stops and mentions the extension, but it does not work the extension out. The plan does not say which year’s poverty guidelines the state uses, and the calculator uses the 2026 guidelines.

When you apply, the test is different: your income, after $90 off each person’s earnings, must be under 55% of the poverty line, $1,252.17 a month for three people. A family that passes has its earnings left out of the check from the start. Take a single parent in Connecticut with two children (ages 4 and 8), applying while earning $1,300 a month: it gets the whole $833. Applying with pay of $1,343 a month, it would get nothing, so there is a cliff at application too. Families on cash assistance also face the state’s 36-month limit.

Is TANF a cliff or a phase-out?

It depends on your state’s rules. In most of the states whose rules we have checked, TANF is a phase-out: each extra dollar of pay lowers the check by part of a dollar, so the check fades to nothing and a raise still leaves you with more. TANF becomes a cliff where a test ends the check while it is still worth something.

A cliff is a point where a little more pay leaves you with less money in total, because a benefit worth more than the extra pay ends. The examples above show where it happens with TANF: in Connecticut at the poverty line, for a family on cash assistance, and at its application test; in Iowa at the standard of need, for a family that is applying; in California at its second test, for a family that is applying; and in Montana at its benefit standard. In Washington, the check reaches nothing at the earnings limit itself, so there is no cliff. The guide to the benefits cliff explains how cliffs in different programs add up.

1. Your pay goes upA raise, more hours, a second job
2. Taxes take a littleAbout 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, then income tax
3. Help shrinksSNAP, tax credits and marketplace help fall a little with each dollar
4. A limit is crossedSome help stops all at once at a set income: Medicaid, child care help, CHIP
5. The cliffOne dollar more in pay, hundreds less in help
6. The climb backThe pay where you are ahead again: the calculator finds it

TANF also changes your other help. SNAP counts TANF as income, so a smaller TANF check can mean a little more SNAP. Getting TANF also meets WIC’s income rule, and children in a family on TANF get free school meals without an income test.

The calculator works your household out at every level of pay, with TANF, SNAP, health coverage, tax credits and the rest together, and marks each point where your total falls. That shows what a raise or more hours would really leave you with. Ask your state’s TANF office how and when it looks at a change in your pay.

Can a grandparent or other relative get TANF for a child they are raising?

Yes, often for the child alone. In most states, a relative who looks after a child but is not put in the TANF family has their own income and savings left out, so a grant for the child alone counts only the child’s own income, such as child support or the child’s Social Security. This is called a child-only grant. A relative outside the TANF family is generally not required to work for it, as ACF’s survey of state rules found (Welfare Rules Databook, state rules as of July 2023). Arizona, Nevada and Texas counted at least part of the relative’s income then, so the calculator says “Not checked yet” there.

The federal five-year limit is about families with an adult head of household: months paid for a child alone do not count toward it (45 CFR 264.1; 42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)). A state may still set its own limit.

The amount is the state’s own. We have read it for three places:

• Washington lets a relative who is not the child’s parent, and does not live with the parents, choose a grant for the child only (WAC 388-408-0025). It is the payment standard for the children alone, $450 a month for one child (WAC 388-478-0020), less the child’s own income.
• The District of Columbia pays up to $504 a month for a household of one from October 1, 2026 (DC Department of Human Services). A DC booklet says the relative’s income is not used for the children’s cash help, but the booklet carries no date (DC DHS booklet), so the calculator says “Maybe”.
• Wyoming‘s Caretaker Relative Program pays $259 a month for one child with no income or savings of their own (Wyoming Department of Family Services).

Other programs treat the same family differently. For Medicaid, a grandchild, niece, nephew or other relative’s child is not the grandparent’s “child” (Medicaid’s rule means a natural, adopted or step child), so even when the grandparent claims them as a tax dependent, the child’s household is the child and their brothers and sisters, with the child’s own income and not the grandparent’s (42 CFR 435.603(b), (f)(2)(i) and (f)(3)). So a child with little income of their own is under Medicaid’s limit for children whatever the grandparent earns. SNAP is different again: a child living with a relative who acts as their parent is in that relative’s SNAP household, and the relative’s income counts (7 CFR 273.1(b)(1)(iii)), and so does a child-only TANF grant (7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)(i)).

A child-only grant is TANF for other programs too. Every child in the household gets free school meals without a form and is enrolled in Summer EBT without applying (7 CFR 245.2; 7 CFR 292.2), and a child under 5 who gets the grant meets WIC’s income rule (7 CFR 246.7(d)(2)(vi)).

If the child was removed from their home and, while in foster care, lived with you for at least 6 months in a row, your state may also pay guardianship assistance when you become the child’s legal guardian. It can be no more than the state’s foster care payment, the state pays up to $2,000 of the one-time legal costs, and the agreement goes on if you move to another state (42 U.S.C. 673(d)). That is a child welfare program, not TANF; ask your state’s child welfare agency.

In the calculator, tick “A grandchild or other relative you are raising” for each such child. A card for child-only TANF then shows what the rules say for your state. Where both the family’s grant and the child-only grant are worked out, the month counts the larger one, because the same children are not paid twice. A child-only grant the month counts is also counted as income for SNAP and housing help, and as TANF for school meals, Summer EBT, WIC and energy help, and the Medicaid answer works the children out on their own household.

What does the calculator say for a state whose rules we have not checked?

It says “Not checked yet” for TANF, and its TANF card links to your state’s own TANF page, under “Ask your state”. We work TANF out only from a state’s current rules, as the state’s own pages give them, and many states publish those only in long manuals or regulations that we go over one state at a time. Until we have checked a state’s current rules, the calculator does not guess, because an older amount could be out of date.

The calculator also says “Not checked yet” for Idaho and Wisconsin, which pay a flat amount, and for South Dakota and Virginia, where we have the most each pays but not yet every rule its check depends on. It still gives its other answers, such as the federal tax credits.

How do you apply for TANF?

You apply with your state’s TANF office, online or at a local office. The TANF card in the calculator links to your state’s page, under “Where to apply”, or “Ask your state” where we have not checked its rules yet. The Office of Family Assistance keeps a list of every state’s TANF program, with links to each. In California, for example, you can apply online at BenefitsCal or at your county’s office (California Department of Social Services).

Applying is free. This site takes no applications and sends nothing to any office. Only your state’s TANF office can decide whether you qualify and how much you get.

Figures checked October 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

How much is TANF a month?

It depends on your state and the size of your family. Each state pays up to its own payment standard, minus the part of your income it counts. The table above shows the most for a family of three with no other income in each state whose current rules we have checked, and the calculator works out your own amount.

What is the income limit for TANF?

There is no single limit. Each state sets its own tests by family size, and the most you can earn depends on how much of your pay the state leaves out, and in some states on whether you are applying or already on TANF. In Washington, for example, a family of three must earn less than $1,912 a month (WAC 388-478-0035). The calculator shows the pay where your check would stop.

Can I get TANF if I work?

Yes. States leave part of your pay out, so a parent with a low-paying job can still get a check, only a smaller one. In Washington, a parent of two earning $1,000 a month could get $456.

Can I get TANF if I do not have children?

Not usually: TANF is for families with children. Some states also pay a pregnant woman with no other children, and Georgia’s state plan says it does. The calculator answers TANF only for families with a child.

How long can I get TANF?

Up to 60 months in an adult’s lifetime under the federal limit, and less in a state with a shorter limit, such as 48 months in Florida, 36 in Connecticut and 24 in Idaho. Some families can get more time through a hardship extension.

Does getting TANF help with SNAP, WIC or school meals?

Yes. When everyone in your household gets TANF or SSI, SNAP’s income and savings tests do not apply (the SNAP page explains). Getting TANF meets WIC’s income rule, and children in a family on TANF get free school meals. SNAP still counts your TANF check as income, so a TANF check means somewhat less SNAP.

Does the calculator tell me for sure whether I get TANF?

No. It gives an estimate from your state’s published rules and what you type, and says “Not checked yet” where we have not checked your state’s current rules. Only your state’s TANF office decides whether you qualify and how much you get.

Updated November 1, 2026