Work Opportunity Tax Credit Statistics 2019

The latest statistics for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit are from 2019. 2,066,616 total Work Opportunity Tax Credits were issued in the United States in 2019. Over 65% of that was for individuals who had been on SNAP (Food Stamps), the next highest categories were TANF (long and short term) at 8.03%, and the Qualified Veteran categories adding up to 7.29%. 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 2019’s tax credits at a staggering $4,959,878,400.

Any surprises from the statistics?
California leads the pack in most categories.  The number of credits issued in 2019 is down 6.3% from 2018. There were 2,204,142 credits issued in 2018 (see 2018 WOTC Statistics).

WOTC Target Group State Issuing Most Credits Number of Credits
IV-A (TANF) California 12,210
Veteran Receiving SNAP Florida 1,733
Disabled Veteran Colorado 242
Disabled Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. Florida 1,450
Veteran unemp. 4 Wk Georgia 8,101
Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. California 8,514
Ex-felon Kentucky 8,922
Summer Youth Mississippi 81
Designated Community Resident Texas 10,150
Vocational Rehabilitation Michigan 31,799
Ticket Holder Massachusetts 762
SNAP (FS) Texas 125,103
SSI Recipient California 7,782
Long term IV-A (TANF) California 18,136
Long Term Unemployment California 20,952

Which states issued the most WOTC tax credits?
Texas issued 166,768 certifications in 2019 making it the largest issuer of Work Opportunity Tax Credits. California came in second with 158,793, Illinois 144,590 and Michigan 113,807 all issued over 100,000 in tax credits throughout 2019.

States with the most WOTC tax credits 2019

States that issued the most WOTC tax credits 2019

  1. Texas 166,768 (8.06% of total)
  2. California 158,793 (7.68% of total)
  3. Illinois 144,590 (6.99% of total)
  4. Michigan 113,807 (5.50% of total)
  5. Ohio 97,918 (4.73% of total)
  6. Florida 97,430 (4.71% of total)
  7. Pennsylvania 93,042 (4.50% of total)
  8. Georgia 92,679 (4.48% of total)
  9. North Carolina 80,055 (5.91% of total)
  10. Tennessee 72,107 (5.32% of total)

Which states received the most and least requests for WOTC?
Not surprising here, the two states with the highest estimated populations Texas came in at 621,265 and California came in at 596,922. Illinois received the third highest requests with 540,458.

States with Most and Least WOTC Requests 2019

States with Most and Least WOTC Requests 2019

States issuing most and least requests for WOTC Certification in 2019.

Most Requests

  1. Texas 621,265
  2. California 596,922
  3. Illinois 540,458
  4. Ohio 380,119
  5. New York 320,070
  6. Kentucky 296,146
  7. Florida 295.767
  8. Georgia 273,931
  9. Tennessee 250,807
  10. North Carolina 240,843

Least Requests

  1. Virgin Islands 997
  2. Puerto Rico 5,473
  3. DC 8,557
  4. South Dakota 9,068
  5. Montana 11,472
  6. Hawaii 14,629
  7. North Dakota 15,201
  8. New Hampshire 20,235
  9. Vermont 21,864
  10. Rhode Island 23,235

Which states issued most denials?
Illinois has issued the most denials at 395,009, Ohio coming in second with 282,177 denials. California and Texas also list over 200,000 denials.

  1. Illinois 395,009
  2. Ohio 282,177
  3. California 263,235
  4. Texas 247,034
  5. Florida 190,090
  6. Georgia 158,733
  7. Pennsylvania 112,961
  8. New York 108,327
  9. North Carolina 104,751
  10. Tennessee 92,180

Which states are the most caught up and most still pending with WOTC requests?

Texas currently has the most pending requests at 207,463, and California is a close second with 174,894. Kentucky, New York, Iowa, Connecticut, Kansas and Virginia still have over 100,000 requests pending for 2019.

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

What are the most popular WOTC Target Groups / Categories?

WOTC Target Groups Total Credits Percentage
SNAP (FS) 1,343,584 65.01%
Long term IV-A (TANF) 97,316 4.71%
Long Term Unemployment 96,506 4.67%
Ex-Felon 88,388 4.28%
Designated Community Resident 85,710 4.15%
SSI Recipient 73,174 3.54%
IV-A (TANF) 68,627 3.32%
Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. 68,288 3.30%
Veteran unemp. 4 Wk 61,511 2.98%
Vocational Rehabilitation 57,126 2.76%
Veteran Receiving SNAP 15,051 0.73%
Ticket Holder 5,233 0.25%
Disabled Veteran unemp. 6 Mo. 4,123 0.20%
Disabled Veteran 1,609 0.08%
Summer Youth 370 0.02%

You can see from the table above that SNAP (FS) dominated all categories in 2019 with  1,343,584 qualified certifications, or a total of 65.01% of all qualified employees. This was the most popular category, by a wide margin.

The Qualifying Veteran categories total 7.29% of the total qualifying categories, coming in second. The most popular Veteran category was the Veteran unemployed 6 Months 3.30%. Veteran unemployed 4 Weeks 2.98%, Veteran Receiving SNAP 0.73%, Disabled Veteran unemployed 6 Months 0.20% and Disabled Veteran 0.08%.

The third most popular category was the Long term IV-A (TANF) which had 97,316 total certifications issued, and only 4.71% 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 125,103
  2. Illinois 117,755
  3. California 76,317
  4. Florida 74,146
  5. Ohio 67,207
  6. North Carolina 66,052
  7. Georgia 62,397
  8. Pennsylvania 57,755
  9. Michigan 56,537
  10. Tennessee 54,047

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

  1. Georgia 15,110
  2. California 13,171
  3. Florida 10,236
  4. Texas 9,333
  5. Michigan 8.116
  6. Pennsylvania 6,628
  7. Arizona 5,587
  8. Washington 4,888
  9. New York 4,743
  10. Ohio 4,570

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

The IV-A (TANF) category had 68,627 qualified certifications at 3.32% overall.

  1. California 12,210
  2. Wisconsin 8,997
  3. Pennsylvania 5,704
  4. Tennessee 5,368
  5. Ohio 2,910
  6. Minnesota 2,710
  7. New York 2,413
  8. Massachusetts 2,161
  9. Oregon 1,978
  10. Kentucky 1,933

The Long term IV-A (TANF) – Credit Taken Over Two Years –  had 97,316 qualified certifications at 4.71% overall.

  1. California 18,136
  2. Indiana 8,443
  3. Pennsylvania 7,446
  4. Illinois 6,066
  5. Ohio 5,400
  6. New York 5,294
  7. Nevada 3,459
  8. Minnesota 3,437
  9. Tennessee 3,429
  10. Massachusetts 3,263

Most felon friendly states:States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Ex-Felons

Ex-Felon was the fourth most popular qualifying category, at only 4.28% and 88,388 certifications issued. So which state had the most ex-felons qualifying? (Why you shouldn’t overlook hiring Ex-Offenders.)

  1. Kentucky 8,922
  2. Texas 6,725
  3. Ohio 6,531
  4. Georgia 5,257
  5. Wisconsin 5,057
  6. California 4,921
  7. Indiana 3,610
  8. North Carolina 3,118
  9. Washington 2,998
  10. Iowa 2,498

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Designated Community Residents

The Designated Community Resident category had 87,230 qualified certifications at 3.96% overall. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Washington DC, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had no qualifying tax credits for this category.

  1. Texas 10,150
  2. Iowa 5,814
  3. Maryland 5,565
  4. North Dakota 5,328
  5. West Virginia 5,150
  6. California 4,542
  7. Mississippi 4,523
  8. Kentucky 4,352
  9. Michigan 4,154
  10. Minnesota 3,979

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for SSI Recipients

The SSI Recipient category had 73,174 qualified certifications at 3.54% overall.

  1. California 7,782
  2. Ohio 5,701
  3. Michigan 4,728
  4. Georgia 4,052
  5. North Carolina 3,874
  6. Pennsylvania 3,827
  7. Texas 3,720
  8. Indiana 3,241
  9. Minnesota 3,214
  10. Maryland 2,827

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Long Term Unemployment Recipients

The Long Term Unemployment category received 4.67% of all certifications for a total of 96,506 certifications. Vermont, Connecticut and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report any Long-Term Unemployment certifications.

  1. California 20,952
  2. Illinois 10,595
  3. New Jersey 10,028
  4. Pennsylvania 6,194
  5. Texas 5,320
  6. Mississippi 4,565
  7. Maryland 3,877
  8. New York 3,042
  9. Georgia 2,995
  10. Washington 2,284

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Vocational Rehabilitation:

The Vocational Rehabilitation category had 57,126 qualified certifications at 2.76% overall. Washington DC, Alaska and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report any Vocational Rehabilitation certifications.

  1. Michigan 31,799
  2. Texas 6,056
  3. Florida 1,869
  4. North Carolina 1,833
  5. Pennsylvania 1,539
  6. Ohio 1,144
  7. South Carolina 1,078
  8. Wisconsin 932
  9. New York 911
  10. Missouri 2844

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

The Ticket Holder category had 5,233 qualified certifications at 0.25% overall. Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, California, Louisiana, Washington, New Jersey, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Alaska and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report any Ticket-to-Work certifications.

  1. Massachusetts 762
  2. Georgia 734
  3. Pennsylvania 645
  4. Minnesota 382
  5. New York 276
  6. Oregon 242
  7. Ohio 236
  8. South Carolina 210
  9. North Carolina 191
  10. Iowa 179

States with most WOTC Tax Credits for Summer Youth:

The Summer Youth category was the smallest WOTC category with just 370 qualified certifications at 0.02% of the total overall.

  1. Mississippi 72
  2. Missouri 40
  3. Oklahoma 29
  4. Maine 28
  5. Kentucky 26
  6. Maryland 21
  7. California 19
  8. California 18
  9. New York 17
  10. Minnesota 15

View WOTC Statistics from 2014-2019 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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