WORK • WAGES • WEALTH

The economy, explained state by state.

Straight facts on groceries, housing, health care, jobs, and small-business conditions, with a closer look at how policy choices reach Black families and communities.

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WHAT POLICY CHANGES ARE AT ISSUE

Confirmed actions. Clear limits.

These are national policy changes with a documented mechanism or measured effect. Projections are labeled. None of these national findings proves a state-specific effect.

01GROCERIES & PRICES

ENACTED JULY 2025 · CBO PROJECTION, FEBRUARY 2026

SNAP rules reduce projected benefits and participation.

Public Law 119-21 expanded work requirements, restricted some state waivers, limited eligibility, capped increases in maximum benefits, and changed income deductions. The Congressional Budget Office projects these changes will reduce SNAP spending by $187 billion from 2025 through 2034 and reduce the number of people receiving benefits.

What this means: The law changes food-assistance rules nationwide. The projection is not a count of people affected in any one state.

CBO budget outlook, February 2026 USDA work-requirement guide

MEASURED 2025 PRICE EFFECT · FEDERAL RESERVE ANALYSIS, MARCH 2026

Tariffs passed through to consumer prices.

Federal Reserve researchers found that prices for goods imported from China were 8.5% higher in December 2025 than a year earlier. They estimated that at least 30% of the 2025 tariff increase on those imports had passed through to retail prices.

Small-business lens: Tariffs can also raise the cost of imported supplies. Actual exposure varies by product and business. This guide does not estimate exposure for Black-owned firms in a particular state.

Federal Reserve analysis, March 5, 2026 CBPP Black households and small-business analysis, June 2026

02HEALTH CARE

ENACTED JULY 2025 · CBO PROJECTION, FEBRUARY 2026

Medicaid financing, eligibility, and enrollment rules changed.

Public Law 119-21 changed Medicaid eligibility and enrollment processes, added a community-engagement requirement for certain adults, and changed how states can finance their programs. CBO projects the health provisions will reduce Medicaid enrollment by 12.9 million and increase the number of people without health insurance by 7.5 million in 2034.

Why BEA tracks it: Medicaid and marketplace coverage protect household finances as well as access to care. CBO’s figures are national projections against its January 2025 baseline, not current state enrollment losses.

CBO budget outlook, February 2026 CBO Medicaid cost estimate, October 2025

03JOBS & WAGES

MEASURED 2025 EMPLOYMENT CHANGE · BLS AND OPM

Federal employment fell sharply in 2025.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that federal government employment fell by 274,000 in 2025, the largest calendar-year decline since 1946. An Office of Personnel Management report shows that Black employees made up 18.3% of the permanent, non-postal federal executive workforce as of September 30, 2025.

Important limit: The workforce composition figure does not show that 18.3% of the jobs lost were held by Black workers. Public data cited here do not establish the race of the people who left.

BLS employment summary, January 30, 2026 OPM workforce report, fiscal 2025

04HOUSING & FAIR ACCESS

FEDERAL POLICY CHANGES · JANUARY AND SEPTEMBER 2025

HUD withdrew a fair-housing planning rule and multiple guidance documents.

On January 16, 2025, HUD withdrew a proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule that would have restored a formal planning process and an enforcement mechanism for certain HUD program participants. In September 2025, HUD’s fair-housing office withdrew multiple guidance documents and said they should not be enforced or relied on while under review.

What did not change: The Fair Housing Act still prohibits housing discrimination, and HUD still accepts and investigates complaints. These federal policy changes do not establish an effect on rent or housing costs in any state.

Federal Register withdrawal, January 16, 2025 HUD guidance notice, September 2025 HUD fair-housing rights and complaints

THE CONNECTIVE THREAD

Work. Wages. Wealth.

What families spend on food, housing, and health care affects what remains to save or invest. Jobs and small-business conditions affect income and ownership. This guide uses generational wealth as a lens, not as a claim that one policy determines any family’s outcome.

ALL 50 STATES

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SOURCE & FRESHNESS

Built to show its work.

State figures use the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates. Each figure links to its underlying table. Five-year estimates combine data collected across 60 months and are not a live reading of 2026 conditions.

All race-specific figures use “Black or African American alone,” the Census Bureau category available in these tables. Estimates can be less precise in states with smaller Black populations. Open the source table to review margins of error.

Policy claims were last reviewed August 3, 2026. Sources include the Congressional Budget Office, U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Reserve staff research, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Personnel Management, Department of Agriculture, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a public June 2026 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis.

About American Community Survey data