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What people ask for

How many people ask Front Door for each kind of help, where, and when. We keep only counts. We never keep what anyone wrote or who they are.

Staff time and money savedOpen dataFor agencies

Demo dataDemo data, modeled from public data on when people look for help. Our own counts replace it as they grow.

Nothing here is a real count of people. The patterns through the year come from published government and 211 data. The size is made up.

How the demo is madeShow our own counts

Demo data. In the last 12 months, people in every state asked most about Health (100%). Rising fastest from the week before: Health, up 2%.

Choose what to show

Health in every state, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data
115,361

▲ +2% vs the week before

Needed help this weekDemo data
17,442
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit
9,249

Over time. Questions each week, by kind of help.

Demo data

On a phone, the chart shows the last 13. The table has every one.

See the numbers
HealthTotal
Week of Oct 132,2762,276
Week of Oct 202,2532,253
Week of Oct 272,2312,231
Week of Nov 32,1802,180
Week of Nov 102,1232,123
Week of Nov 172,1362,136
Week of Nov 242,1672,167
Week of Dec 12,2092,209
Week of Dec 82,2532,253
Week of Dec 152,2702,270
Week of Dec 222,3542,354
Week of Dec 292,4272,427
Week of Jan 52,5132,513
Week of Jan 122,5612,561
Week of Jan 192,4602,460
Week of Jan 262,3462,346
Week of Feb 22,3092,309
Week of Feb 92,1872,187
Week of Feb 162,1462,146
Week of Feb 232,1402,140
Week of Mar 22,1632,163
Week of Mar 92,1812,181
Week of Mar 162,2022,202
Week of Mar 232,2142,214
Week of Mar 302,1942,194
Week of Apr 62,1842,184
Week of Apr 132,2232,223
Week of Apr 202,1962,196
Week of Apr 272,1742,174
Week of May 42,1282,128
Week of May 112,1292,129
Week of May 182,1112,111
Week of May 252,1102,110
Week of Jun 12,1092,109
Week of Jun 82,0902,090
Week of Jun 152,1192,119
Week of Jun 222,1392,139
Week of Jun 292,1912,191
Week of Jul 62,2692,269
Week of Jul 132,3082,308
Week of Jul 202,2692,269
Week of Jul 272,2752,275
Week of Aug 32,2802,280
Week of Aug 102,2812,281
Week of Aug 172,2452,245
Week of Aug 242,2672,267
Week of Aug 312,2082,208
Week of Sep 72,1432,143
Week of Sep 142,1182,118
Week of Sep 212,1482,148
Week of Sep 282,1892,189
Week of Oct 51,9631,963

Where. Questions by state.

Demo data

On a phone, pick a state in the box above.

Shading

  • Most questions
  • More
  • Some
  • Fewer
  • Fewer than 10, or none

Most questions

  1. 01California13,371▲ +1%
  2. 02Texas10,532▲ +2%
  3. 03Florida7,862▲ +2%
  4. 04New York6,738▲ +3%
  5. 05Pennsylvania4,448▲ +1%
  6. 06Illinois4,300▲ +3%
  7. 07Ohio3,992▲ +3%
  8. 08Georgia3,827▲ +3%
  9. 09North Carolina3,745▲ +1%
  10. 10Michigan3,469▲ +2%
  11. 11New Jersey3,207▲ +2%
  12. 12Virginia3,020▲ +3%
  13. 13Washington2,718▲ +2%
  14. 14Arizona2,607▲ +2%
  15. 15Tennessee2,4640%
See the numbers: State
StateQuestionsThis weekUnmet
California13,3712,0411,067
Texas10,5321,558855
Florida7,8621,188632
New York6,7381,009546
Pennsylvania4,448654347
Illinois4,300661325
Ohio3,992602317
Georgia3,827581300
North Carolina3,745566304
Michigan3,469522281
New Jersey3,207487256
Virginia3,020465246
Washington2,718409221
Arizona2,607398220
Tennessee2,464378196
Massachusetts2,453371202
Indiana2,327348193
Missouri2,135319175
Maryland2,127317173
Colorado2,016312162
Wisconsin2,000294168
Minnesota1,962292158
South Carolina1,861286146
Alabama1,747263130
Louisiana1,571232127
Kentucky1,567243132
Oregon1,464218114
Oklahoma1,386209110
Connecticut1,236189104
Utah1,202178101
Nevada1,12116497
Iowa1,09416593
Arkansas1,05915891
Kansas1,00615377
Mississippi99814779
New Mexico71910652
Nebraska67910452
Idaho67010452
West Virginia60710052
Hawaii4866052
Maine4816352
New Hampshire4786152
Montana3835344
Rhode Island3725238
Delaware3585237
South Dakota3125218
North Dakota26952Under 10
Alaska25352Under 10
District of Columbia23652Under 10
Vermont21952Under 10
Wyoming20750Under 10

Rows that say fewer than 10 are hidden on purpose. When only one row would be hidden, a second one is hidden too, so it cannot be worked out from the total.

Urgent and unmet. The share of questions each week that needed help this week, and the share nothing fit.

Demo data

See the numbers
Needed help this weekUnmet need
Week of Oct 1315%8%
Week of Oct 2015%8%
Week of Oct 2715%8%
Week of Nov 315%8%
Week of Nov 1015%8%
Week of Nov 1715%8%
Week of Nov 2415%8%
Week of Dec 115%8%
Week of Dec 815%8%
Week of Dec 1515%8%
Week of Dec 2215%8%
Week of Dec 2915%8%
Week of Jan 515%8%
Week of Jan 1215%8%
Week of Jan 1915%8%
Week of Jan 2615%8%
Week of Feb 215%8%
Week of Feb 915%8%
Week of Feb 1615%8%
Week of Feb 2315%8%
Week of Mar 215%8%
Week of Mar 915%8%
Week of Mar 1615%8%
Week of Mar 2315%8%
Week of Mar 3015%8%
Week of Apr 615%8%
Week of Apr 1315%8%
Week of Apr 2015%8%
Week of Apr 2715%8%
Week of May 415%8%
Week of May 1115%8%
Week of May 1815%8%
Week of May 2515%8%
Week of Jun 115%8%
Week of Jun 815%8%
Week of Jun 1515%8%
Week of Jun 2215%8%
Week of Jun 2915%8%
Week of Jul 615%8%
Week of Jul 1315%8%
Week of Jul 2015%8%
Week of Jul 2715%8%
Week of Aug 315%8%
Week of Aug 1016%8%
Week of Aug 1716%8%
Week of Aug 2415%8%
Week of Aug 3115%8%
Week of Sep 715%8%
Week of Sep 1415%8%
Week of Sep 2115%8%
Week of Sep 2815%8%
Week of Oct 515%8%

How we count. What each number means and what we keep.

A question
When someone asks Front Door their first question, our matching service sorts it: the kind of help, and whether they need it this week. We add one to the count for that kind of help, place and week.
The place
The ZIP code or county the person gave us, if they gave one. We never use an address, a city block or a phone location.
What we keep
The count, and nothing else: not the words, not a name, not an account, not a browser or network address.
Unmet need
No state or federal program fit the question well, and we list no office, nonprofit or food site for that kind of help in the person's county.
Small counts
Any count under 10 shows as fewer than 10, in the charts too. When only one count in a list would be hidden, we hide a second one too.
Not counted
The demo site, questions about Front Door itself, crisis questions and letters.
Weeks
Weeks start on Monday, in UTC. The page reads the counts again at most every 15 minutes.

Read our privacy page

How the demo is made

The demo is a model, not a count. It shows what this page will look like and the kinds of patterns to expect, until our own counts are large enough to replace it.

  • Size: the model assumes 40,000 questions a week across the country. That number is made up so the charts have something to show.
  • Kinds of help: each kind gets a share of all questions and a month by month pattern, read from the published sources below.
  • Places: each state gets its share by population (Census county estimates for 2024), and each county its share of its state.
  • Housing mixes rent help, which is steady through the year, with help paying utility bills, which rises in winter in colder states and in summer in hotter ones.
  • Urgent and unmet shares in the demo are made up, to show how those charts read.
  • A small fixed wobble keeps each week from looking drawn with a ruler. The same choice always draws the same numbers.

Search trends

We looked for Google Trends numbers for searches like food stamps, SNAP, rent help, Medicaid, child care help, utility help, unemployment, food bank and WIC, in English and Spanish. Google does not allow automated reading of its Trends pages, and Google has not published a dataset for these searches, so we did not use Trends. The demo is modeled from published government and 211 data instead, listed below.

Where each pattern comes from

Food
Food help rises in September and again in November and December, and is lowest in February. From the share of 211 requests that were about food, month by month, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania's open 211 data, the only month-by-month 211 data we found). In November 2025 many states paid partial SNAP benefits during the federal shutdown; the model does not add that event.
Housing
Rent help peaks in January and again from August to October, with a dip in November, following eviction filings in 43 cities and counties tracked by the Eviction Lab, Tacoma among them. About a third of housing questions are about utility bills (211's national split of housing and utility requests in 2025). In colder states that part follows heating help, highest in January and February; in hotter states it follows help with electric bills, higher from spring to fall; states in between get half of each. The shapes come from 211 requests in Western Pennsylvania, where a winter shutoff ban moves electric requests to spring, so the cooling shape is rough.
Health
Medicaid and CHIP applications are steady through the year, highest in January, from CMS application data for 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025 (the pandemic years are left out). Marketplace open enrollment, November 1 to January 15, adds to it in Washington.
Money
Money mixes steady cash help with the tax season: a quarter of it follows when people file federal returns (IRS 2025 filing season counts, most from February to April), when Washington's Working Families Tax Credit also opens. The other three quarters are kept flat, because we found no monthly pattern for cash help.
Care
Child care help climbs from May and peaks in August, before school starts, from the share of 211 requests about child care, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania; a small sample).
Education
Education help, mostly school supplies, is about three times as high in July and August, from the share of 211 requests about education, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania).
Work
Unemployment help peaks in January, rises again in early July and in December, and is lowest in September, from new unemployment claims (not seasonally adjusted) in every state, 2012 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025, Department of Labor.
Legal help
Legal help is close to flat through the year, from the share of 211 requests about legal help, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania).
Safety
Safety is close to flat through the year, from 211 requests about domestic violence, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania). National hotline research finds calls do not rise over the holidays, so the model adds no holiday spike.

How questions split between kinds of help: housing (with utilities) 48% and food 13%, from United Way's national 211 numbers for 2025 (19 million referrals). The rest is split the way 211 requests split in Western Pennsylvania in 2024, the only full breakdown we found. 211 is a phone line for local help, so Front Door's own mix will differ; our counts will show how.

Sources

  1. 1. 2-1-1 Requests/Referrals (2023-2025) and 2-1-1 Requests (2020-2023). United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, hosted by Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC); license CC BY, historical, coverage 2020-01-01 to 2025-08-27. calendar 2024 rows, level_1/level_2 classification counts Read it
  2. 2. States scramble to send full SNAP food benefits to millions of people after government shutdown ends. Associated Press (Geoff Mulvihill, David A. Lieb), via WHYY, 2025-11-13. 42 million people on SNAP; 'about two-thirds of states had issued only partial benefits or none at all'; USDA guidance Thursday Nov 13 to issue full November allotments Read it
  3. 3. Using 211 Data to Gauge Eighth District Economic Conditions. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, On the Economy (Summers-Gabr, Rodgers), 2026-02-09. Figure 3 text: food assistance requests rose in October 2025, more-substantial increases in November; data from 211 Counts dashboards for AR, IL, KY, MO, TN Read it
  4. 4. Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, all sites monthly data. The Eviction Lab, Princeton University (Hepburn, Haas, et al.), 2026 (file downloaded 2026-10-10). columns city, month, filings_2020, filings_avg, filings_avg_prepandemic_baseline. Download page: https://dev.evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/get-the-data/ (no license stated; footer 'All rights reserved'; cite as Hepburn, Haas, et al., Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, Princeton University, 2026). Read it
  5. 5. A New Baseline: Changes to Our Eviction Metrics. The Eviction Lab, 2025-05-08. baseline moved to average of same months across 2023 and 2024 Read it
  6. 6. Preliminary Analysis: Eviction Filing Patterns in 2022. The Eviction Lab (Vallejo, Haas, Hepburn), 2023-03-09. text: Q4 decline 'follows a predictable seasonal pattern'; Jan 2022 ~78,000 filings, Aug 2022 >114,000 Read it
  7. 7. State Medicaid and CHIP Applications, Eligibility Determinations, and Enrollment Data (Performance Indicator dataset), September 2026 release. CMS (data.medicaid.gov), catalog record on data.gov, modified 2026-09-25. columns 'New Applications Submitted to Medicaid and CHIP Agencies' and 'Applications for Financial Assistance Submitted to the State Based Marketplace'; license U.S. Government Works (https://www.usa.gov/government-works); dataset id 6165f45b-ca93-5bb5-9d06-db29c692a360 Read it
  8. 8. Dates and deadlines for 2027 health insurance. HealthCare.gov (CMS), accessed 2026-10-10. 'Starting November 1, you can apply for 2027 coverage'; January 15 last day; enroll by December 15 for January 1 start Read it
  9. 9. Washington health insurance marketplace. healthinsurance.org, 2026-10-05. 'open enrollment period for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027 in Washington' Read it
  10. 10. 2025 Filing season statistics, weeks ending Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 28, May 2, Oct 17 2025. IRS Newsroom, 2025. 'Total returns received' row. Other pages: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-jan-31-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-feb-28-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-march-28-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-may-2-2025 Read it
  11. 11. Working Families Tax Credit application window opens Feb. 1. Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026-01-29. window begins Feb 1, 2026 for tax year 2025; accepted through Dec 31, 2029; up to $1,330; over 675,000 refunds totaling more than $491.4 million since 2023 Read it
  12. 12. Working Families Tax Credit Program, 2025 Report to the Legislature. Washington State Department of Revenue, 2025-12-29. page 2: program begins accepting applications each year on February 1; page 3 Table 2: TY2024 approvals 284,416 (MeF 253,210, MyDOR 28,949, paper 2,257) Read it
  13. 13. IR-2016-143 (archival): refunds claiming EITC or ACTC held until at least Feb. 15. IRS, 2016-10-28. PATH Act refund hold statement Read it
  14. 14. You can begin filing your taxes on Jan. 26 this year. PBS NewsHour, 2026-01-08. 2026 filing season start Jan 26; deadline April 15 Read it
  15. 15. ETA 539 weekly claims data, ar539.csv (state-level, NSA, 1971 to present). U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Unemployment Insurance, downloaded 2026-10-10, latest week ending 2026-10-03. columns st, rptdate, c3 (initial claims). Example values: US sum week ending 2025-01-11 = 351,735 (2025 high), 2025-09-27 = 178,555 (2025 low); 2025-12-06 = 313,815; 2025-07-12 = 260,103. WA c3 week ending 2026-09-26 = 4,365. Read it
  16. 16. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims news release. U.S. Department of Labor, 2026-10-08. page 2 Unadjusted Data: 170,333 NSA initial claims week ending Oct 3; seasonal factors expected +8.7% from prior week. State table: Washington advance 4,814, prior week 4,534. Used to validate the CSV. Read it
  17. 17. Education Department opens 2027-28 FAFSA early, marking program's earliest launch. The National News Desk (Emma Koppelman), via KATU, 2026-09-24. form already open at StudentAid.gov; traditional opening Oct 1; previous earliest Sept 24, 2025; FAFSA Simplification Act requires availability by Oct 1 Read it
  18. 18. The Effect of Holidays on Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline: Comparing Average Call Volume. National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (VAWnet), 2020-11-20. description: 'the number of calls actually decreases during the holidays, including on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day' (2004-2019 data in linked PDFs, not opened) Read it
  19. 19. #CallUtilitiesNow: PUC urges consumers to contact utilities as winter termination moratorium ends March 31, 2023. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 2023-03-28. 'Between December 1st and March 31st' no shutoffs to income-eligible households; electric, gas, heat-related water Read it
  20. 20. WAC 480-100-143 Winter low-income payment program. Washington State Legislature, current code, accessed 2026-10-10. 'between November 15th and March 15th' utility may not disconnect residential space heating if customer meets conditions (notify, self-certify income, apply for energy assistance, pay plan) Read it
  21. 21. LIHEAP. Washington State Department of Commerce, accessed 2026-10-10. program year Oct 1 to Sep 30; apply once per program year through local agency; income up to 150% FPL Read it
  22. 22. Nearly 1 million assistance calls made to 211 in August. The Source, Washington University in St. Louis (Neil Schoenherr), 2023-09-20. ~150,000 utility payment requests Aug 2023 (+22% vs July); Kreuter: utility payments a particular challenge in late summer Read it
  23. 23. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2025 data). United Way Worldwide, 2026-03-31. 19 million referrals; housing 6 million, 31%; utilities 3.1 million; food 2.5 million; 27 states where housing+utilities > half Read it
  24. 24. The Facts About 211: 2025 Impact Snapshot. United Way Worldwide, 2026. housing 6M (30%), utilities 3.1M, food 2.5M; ranks #4-#7 without counts Read it
  25. 25. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2024 data). United Way Worldwide, 2025-03-26. 16.8M requests, >18M referrals; housing 5.6M, utilities 2.9M, food 2.5M; housing+utilities 47% Read it
  26. 26. Calls to 211 helpline rise in August to the highest level of 2023. Health Communication Research Lab, Washington University in St. Louis (Garg, Golla, Kreuter), 2023-09-09. 872,079 calls Aug vs 785,654 Jul; ~150,000 utility payment requests (+22%); >280,000 housing (+8%) Read it