Across the United States, people with low incomes, meaning those who earn less than 150 percent of the federal poverty threshold ($41,207 for a family of four in 2021), may be eligible to receive public benefits. In Philadelphia, about one-third of residents have low incomes, including more than 40 percent of the city’s Chinese and Hispanic residents and about 40 percent of its Black residents. Meanwhile, just 18 percent of white non-Hispanic Philadelphia residents have low incomes.

The public benefit system, however, doesn’t reach every eligible group equally. To better understand which Philadelphia residents receive the public benefits they are eligible for, we used data from the American Community Survey 2017–21 five-year sample to compare the demographic makeup of Philadelphians with low incomes who reported receiving benefits with that of those who did not report receiving benefits. People are counted as receiving benefits if they are in a household where at least one person reported receiving either SNAP, SSI, TANF, or general assistance.

In general, Southwest and Northwest Philadelphia residents were underrepresented among people who reported receiving benefits. And citywide, fewer white non-Hispanic people and Chinese people, adults ages 18–34 and over age 65, and people born outside the US reported receiving benefits than expected.