Work Opportunity Tax Credit Statistics 2018

The latest statistics for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit are from 2018. 2,204,142 total Work Opportunity Tax Credits were issued in the United States in 2018. Over 66% of that was for individuals who had been on SNAP (Food Stamps). Although the value of the issued tax credits would actually vary based on hours worked, and category the employee came in under, we are using the average tax credit value of $2,400. This would give us a potential total value of 2018’s tax credits at a staggering $5,289,940,800.

Any surprises from the statistics?
Texas leads the pack in most categories. This surprised us as Texas is the second largest state by population, estimated at 28.3 million, compared to California’s 39.75 million residents (source).

Which states issued the most WOTC tax credits?
Texas issued 207,513 in 2018 making it the largest issuer of Work Opportunity Tax Credits. California came in second with 158,209, Florida 111,268, Illinois 109,054 and Ohio 102,105 all issued over 100,000 credits throughout 2018.

States with the most WOTC tax credits 2018

States that issued the most WOTC tax credits 2018

  1. Texas 207,513
  2. California 158,209
  3. Florida 111,268
  4. Illinois 109,054
  5. Ohio 102,105
  6. Pennsylvania 95,085
  7. Georgia 87,516
  8. Michigan 85,062
  9. Wisconsin 79,533
  10. Missouri 77,310

Which states issued most denials?
Texas has issued the most denials at 345,390, California coming in second with 259,810 denials. Pennsylvania , Illinois, and Ohio also list over 200,000 denials.

  1. Texas 345,390
  2. California 259,810
  3. Pennsylvania 218,982
  4. Illinois 208,919
  5. Ohio 201,122
  6. Florida 183,117
  7. Iowa 119,914
  8. Georgia 117,333
  9. Missouri 109,495
  10. Arizona 95,375

Which states are the most caught up and most still pending with WOTC requests?
Ohio currently has the most pending requests at 219,647, and California is a close second with 199,179. Tennessee, Kentucky, Nevada, Connecticut, and New York still have over 100,000 requests pending.

Congratulations to Montana, New Mexico and Rhode Island who do not have any pending requests!

Which states received the most and least requests for WOTC?
Not surprising here, the two states with the highest estimated populations California received the most requests for WOTC at 617,198, and Texas came in at 573,089. Ohio received the third highest requests with 522,874.

States issuing most and least requests for WOTC Certification in 2018.

States issuing most and least requests for WOTC Certification in 2018.

Most Requests

  1. California 617,198
  2. Texas 573,089
  3. Ohio 522,874
  4. Illinois 332,838
  5. Pennsylvania 325,786
  6. Tennessee 322,759
  7. Florida 295,442
  8. Iowa 295,058
  9. Georgia 288,119
  10. Kentucky 265,889

Least Requests

  1. Virgin Islands 383
  2. Rhode Island 7,750
  3. DC 8,472
  4. South Dakota 9,173
  5. Puerto Rico 10,961
  6. North Dakota 12,138
  7. Vermont 15,148
  8. Montana 16,554
  9. Hawaii 18,145
  10. New Hampshire 20,841

What are the most popular WOTC Target Groups / Categories?

WOTC Target Groups Total Credits Percentage
Summer Youth 630 0.03%
Disabled Veteran 4,791 0.22%
Ticket Holder 4,832 0.22%
Disabled Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. 12,917 0.59%
Veteran Receiving SNAP 23,349 1.06%
Vocational Rehabilitation 48,300 2.19%
SSI Recipient 54,856 2.49%
Long Term Unemployment 62,459 2.84%
Veteran unemp. 4 Wk 70,450 3.20%
IV-A (TANF) 77,818 3.53%
Ex-Felon 85,796 3.90%
Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. 86,638 3.93%
Designated Community Resident 87,230 3.96%
Long term IV-A (TANF) 123,535 5.61%
SNAP (FS) 1,458,420 66.23%

You can see from the table above that SNAP (FS) dominated all categories with 1,458,420 qualified certifications in 2018, or a total of 66.23% of all qualified employees. This was the most popular category, by a wide margin.

The Qualifying Veteran categories total 9.00% of the total qualifying categories, coming in second. The most popular Veteran category was the Veteran unemployed 6 Months 3.93%. Veteran unemployed 4 Weeks 3.20%, Veteran Receiving SNAP 1.06%, Disabled Veteran unemployed 6 Months 0.59% and Disabled Veteran 0.22%.

The third most popular category was the Long term IV-A (TANF) which had 123,535 total certifications issued, and only 5.61% of the total. This is a tax credit that is taken over two years.

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for SNAP Recipients (food stamps):

  1. Texas 143,820
  2. Illinois 93,430
  3. Florida 89,236
  4. California 83,996
  5. Ohio 72,656
  6. Georgia 59,778
  7. Pennsylvania 57,646
  8. Tennessee 55,269
  9. North Carolina 54,273
  10. Michigan 54,119

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for qualified Veterans (over all five vet. categories):

  1. Texas 23,431
  2. Georgia 16,589
  3. California 14,104
  4. Pennsylvania 13,386
  5. Florida 10,915
  6. Ohio 9,230
  7. Arizona 6,807
  8. Missouri 6,783
  9. Kentucky 6,083
  10. North Carolina 5,964

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families):

The IV-A (TANF) category had 77,818 qualified certifications at 3.53% overall.

  1. California 15,092
  2. Wisconsin 9,565
  3. Pennsylvania 5,546
  4. Delaware 5,309
  5. Tennessee 4,248
  6. Minnesota 3,335
  7. Virginia 3,300
  8. Ohio 2,710
  9. Kentucky 2,238
  10. Massachusetts 2,224

The Long term IV-A (TANF) – Credit Taken Over Two Years –  had 123,535 qualified certifications at 5.61% overall.

  1. California 22,070
  2. Indiana 13,168
  3. Pennsylvania 9,262
  4. Virginia 7,623
  5. Wisconsin 6,740
  6. Ohio 6,666
  7. Iowa 5,897
  8. Illinois 4,812
  9. New York 4,209
  10. Missouri 4,190

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Ex-Felons

Most felon friendly states:
Ex-Felon was the sixth most popular qualifying category, at only 3.90% and 85,796 certifications issued. So which state had the most ex-felons qualifying? (Why you shouldn’t overlook hiring Ex-Offenders.)

  1. Texas 9,384
  2. Georgia 7,126
  3. Wisconsin 6,151
  4. Missouri 5,222
  5. Kentucky 4,876
  6. Indiana 4,409
  7. Arkansas 3,678
  8. California 3,455
  9. Tennessee 3,187
  10. Iowa 3,166

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Designated Community Residents

The Designated Community Resident category had 87,230 qualified certifications at 3.96% overall.

  1. Texas 11,876
  2. Arkansas 7,654
  3. Kentucky 6,642
  4. Ohio 6,154
  5. New York 5,401
  6. Iowa 5,211
  7. Michigan 4,463
  8. Missouri 4,373
  9. Mississippi 3,488
  10. West Virginia 3,209

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for SSI Recipients

The SSI Recipient category had 54,853 qualified certifications at 2.49% overall.

  1. California 8,658
  2. Michigan 4,099
  3. Indiana 3,410
  4. Pennsylvania 3,137
  5. Texas 2,841
  6. New Jersey 2,390
  7. Alabama 1,979
  8. Kentucky 1,837
  9. Missouri 1,819
  10. Massachusetts 1,645

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Long Term Unemployment Recipients

The Long Term Unemployment category received 2.84% of all certifications for a total of 62,459 certifications. To be expected with unemployment at a record low currently.

  1. California 8,896
  2. New Jersey 7,357
  3. Texas 6,391
  4. New York 4,615
  5. Illinois 4,002
  6. Washington 3,448
  7. Kentucky 2,143
  8. Indiana 1,910
  9. Massachusetts 1,888
  10. Minnesota 1,792

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Vocational Rehabilitation:

The Vocational Rehabilitation category had 48,300 qualified certifications at 2.19% overall.

  1. Michigan 15,917
  2. Texas 9,213
  3. North Carolina 2,432
  4. Missouri 2,056
  5. Florida 1,897
  6. Pennsylvania 1,366
  7. South Carolina 1,257
  8. California 1,129
  9. Washington 1,010
  10. Oregon 877

State with most WOTC Tax Credits for Ticket-to-Work Holders:

The Ticket Holder category had 4,832 qualified certifications at 0.22% overall.

  1. Ohio 791
  2. Massachusetts 550
  3. Alabama 334
  4. Iowa 315
  5. New York 295
  6. Missouri 273
  7. South Carolina 273
  8. Georgia 261
  9. Indiana 238
  10. Arizona 222

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Summer Youth:

The Summer Youth category was the smallest WOTC category with just 630 qualified certifications at 0.03% of the total overall.

  1. Texas 190
  2. Missouri 55
  3. North Dakota 44
  4. Arkansas 38
  5. Mississippi 36
  6. Ohio 35
  7. Tennessee 35
  8. New York 33
  9. Wyoming 29
  10. Maine 23

View WOTC Statistics from 2015-2018 by State:

Alabama Georgia Maryland New Jersey Rhode Island West Virginia
Alaska Hawaii Massachusetts New Mexico South Carolina Wisconsin
Arizona Idaho Michigan New York South Dakota Wyoming
Arkansas Illinois Minnesota North Carolina Tennessee
California Indiana Mississippi North Dakota Texas
Colorado Iowa Missouri Ohio Utah
Connecticut Kansas Montana Oklahoma Vermont
DC Kentucky Nebraska Oregon Virgin Islands
Delaware Louisiana Nevada Pennsylvania Virginia
Florida Maine New Hampshire Puerto Rico Washington

 

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