Skip to main content
Front Door
For officials

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 Kansas asked most about Housing (54%), then Money (17%) and Food (13%). Rising fastest from the week before: Housing, up 1%.

Choose what to show

Kansas, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data
15,067

0% vs the week before

Needed help this weekDemo data
4,412
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit
1,965

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
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)Total
Week of Oct 13401701239Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10293
Week of Oct 20421631140Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10289
Week of Oct 27451571139Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10286
Week of Nov 3461541138Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10285
Week of Nov 10491481137Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10284
Week of Nov 17501451137Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10283
Week of Nov 24501521138Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10296
Week of Dec 1511461337Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10290
Week of Dec 8511461236Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10290
Week of Dec 15481511139Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10294
Week of Dec 22461581340Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10301
Week of Dec 29411641542Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10306
Week of Jan 5351691545Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10305
Week of Jan 12261761548Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10306
Week of Jan 19261731455Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10310
Week of Jan 26251751461Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10316
Week of Feb 2251651265Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10307
Week of Feb 9241621269Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10305
Week of Feb 16241561171Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10299
Week of Feb 23241551172Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10301
Week of Mar 2231551173Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10304
Week of Mar 9241501172Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10299
Week of Mar 16261491272Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10299
Week of Mar 23281481180Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10303
Week of Mar 30281531281Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10310
Week of Apr 6321511182Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10310
Week of Apr 13331491187Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10315
Week of Apr 20321511178Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10305
Week of Apr 27341501165Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10294
Week of May 4381561251Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10292
Week of May 11361571139Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10278
Week of May 18381521038Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10273
Week of May 25401531037Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10276
Week of Jun 1391511036Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10270
Week of Jun 8401511036Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10271
Week of Jun 15391501036Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10267
Week of Jun 22401571138Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10282
Week of Jun 29381581239Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10284
Week of Jul 6351561237Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10275
Week of Jul 13341561237Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10277
Week of Jul 20331541237Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10274
Week of Jul 27341541238Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10276
Week of Aug 3351571239Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10281
Week of Aug 10391541239Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10283
Week of Aug 17411531239Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10282
Week of Aug 24421601138Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10287
Week of Aug 31441601138Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10287
Week of Sep 7461561137Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10281
Week of Sep 14471541137Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10280
Week of Sep 21441621236Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10285
Week of Sep 28441631236Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10286
Week of Oct 5291401028Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10235

Ranked. Kinds of help, most asked first, with the change from the week before.

  1. 01Housing8,10554% of allâ–² +1%
  2. 02Money2,50417% of all0%
  3. 03Food1,92313% of all0%
  1. 04Legal help1,44710% of all0%
  2. 05Health6054% of all0%
  3. 06Work3522% of allNot enough
  4. 07Safety1041% of allNot enough
  5. 08Education27<1% of allNot enough

Change compares the week of Sep 28 with the week of Sep 21. It shows only when both weeks have 10 or more.

See the numbers
Kind of helpQuestionsChange from the week beforeUnmet
Housing8,105+1%1,415
Money2,5040%220
Food1,9230%55
Legal help1,4470%275
Health6050%Under 10
Work352Under 10
Safety104Under 10
Education27Under 10

By month. Each kind of help's share of all questions, month by month.

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)
November 202517%52%4%13%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
December 202516%52%4%13%Under 103%Under 1012%
January 20269%56%5%17%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
February 20268%53%4%23%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
March 20269%50%4%25%Under 102%Under 1011%
April 202611%49%4%25%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
May 202614%55%4%15%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
June 202614%56%4%13%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
July 202612%56%4%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
August 202614%55%4%14%Under 102%1%10%
September 202616%56%4%13%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
October 202612%60%4%12%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
  1. 01Housing8,10553.8%
  2. 02Money2,50416.6%
  3. 03Food1,92312.8%
  4. 04Other (legal help, safety)1,55110.3%
  5. 05Health6054%
  6. 06Work3522.3%
  7. 07Education270.2%
  8. CareFewer than 10

Where. Questions by county in Kansas.

Demo data

Shading

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

Most questions

  1. 01Johnson County3,8150%
  2. 02Sedgwick County3,245â–¼ -2%
  3. 03Shawnee County1,0570%
  4. 04Wyandotte County1,0140%
  5. 05Douglas County7340%
  6. 06Leavenworth County483
  7. 07Riley County389
  8. 08Butler County381
  9. 09Reno County341
  10. 10Saline County320
  11. 11Crawford County230
  12. 12Finney County222
  13. 13Miami County205
  14. 14Geary County203
  15. 15Cowley County189
See the numbers: County
CountyQuestionsThis weekUnmet
Johnson County3,8151,328646
Sedgwick County3,2451,051518
Shawnee County1,057368171
Wyandotte County1,014343163
Douglas County734268110
Leavenworth County48312353
Riley County3899252
Butler County3819552
Reno County3417252
Saline County3205652
Crawford County2305215
Finney County22252Under 10
Miami County20552Under 10
Geary County20352Under 10
Cowley County18952Under 10
Ford County18552Under 10
Harvey County17552Under 10
Lyon County16452Under 10
McPherson County14051Under 10
Montgomery County13951Under 10
Ellis County1324913
Pottawatomie County10124Under 10
Franklin County9220Under 10
Barton County71Under 10Under 10
Sumner County66Under 10Under 10
Seward County65Under 10Under 10
Cherokee County63Under 10Under 10
Labette County62Under 10Under 10
Dickinson County60Under 10Under 10
Jefferson County58Under 10Under 10
Atchison County55Under 10Under 10
Neosho County53Under 10Under 10
Allen County52Under 10Under 10
Bourbon County52Under 10Under 10
Jackson County52Under 10Under 10
Marion County52Under 10Under 10
Marshall County52Under 10Under 10
Nemaha County52Under 10Under 10
Osage County52Under 10Under 10
Linn County51Under 10Under 10
Rice County39Under 10Under 10
Pratt County38Under 10Under 10
Brown County33Under 10Under 10
Cloud County16Under 10Under 10
Anderson CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10
Coffey CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10
Thomas CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10
Wilson CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 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 1331%12%
Week of Oct 2030%13%
Week of Oct 2730%13%
Week of Nov 330%14%
Week of Nov 1030%13%
Week of Nov 1729%12%
Week of Nov 2429%12%
Week of Dec 128%12%
Week of Dec 828%12%
Week of Dec 1530%12%
Week of Dec 2229%15%
Week of Dec 2928%15%
Week of Jan 531%13%
Week of Jan 1230%12%
Week of Jan 1930%13%
Week of Jan 2630%13%
Week of Feb 231%14%
Week of Feb 931%15%
Week of Feb 1628%15%
Week of Feb 2328%12%
Week of Mar 229%14%
Week of Mar 928%14%
Week of Mar 1629%13%
Week of Mar 2328%13%
Week of Mar 3027%13%
Week of Apr 627%13%
Week of Apr 1328%12%
Week of Apr 2028%12%
Week of Apr 2728%13%
Week of May 430%13%
Week of May 1130%14%
Week of May 1829%14%
Week of May 2530%13%
Week of Jun 130%13%
Week of Jun 830%13%
Week of Jun 1530%13%
Week of Jun 2229%14%
Week of Jun 2930%13%
Week of Jul 630%13%
Week of Jul 1329%13%
Week of Jul 2029%13%
Week of Jul 2729%13%
Week of Aug 331%13%
Week of Aug 1029%13%
Week of Aug 1730%12%
Week of Aug 2431%14%
Week of Aug 3130%14%
Week of Sep 728%12%
Week of Sep 1428%13%
Week of Sep 2130%13%
Week of Sep 2829%13%
Week of Oct 532%13%

Each kind of help. Questions each week for each kind of help, on its own scale.

Demo data

  • Food

  • Housing

  • Health

  • Money

  • Legal help

See the numbers for every kind of help
FoodHousingHealthMoneyLegal help
Week of Oct 1340170123924
Week of Oct 2042163114025
Week of Oct 2745157113926
Week of Nov 346154113827
Week of Nov 1049148113730
Week of Nov 1750145113730
Week of Nov 2450152113835
Week of Dec 151146133732
Week of Dec 851146123634
Week of Dec 1548151113934
Week of Dec 2246158134033
Week of Dec 2941164154233
Week of Jan 535169154530
Week of Jan 1226176154830
Week of Jan 1926173145531
Week of Jan 2625175146131
Week of Feb 225165126530
Week of Feb 924162126928
Week of Feb 1624156117128
Week of Feb 2324155117231
Week of Mar 223155117333
Week of Mar 924150117234
Week of Mar 1626149127232
Week of Mar 2328148118028
Week of Mar 3028153128128
Week of Apr 632151118226
Week of Apr 1333149118726
Week of Apr 2032151117825
Week of Apr 2734150116526
Week of May 438156125127
Week of May 1136157113927
Week of May 1838152103827
Week of May 2540153103728
Week of Jun 139151103626
Week of Jun 840151103626
Week of Jun 1539150103624
Week of Jun 2240157113826
Week of Jun 2938158123926
Week of Jul 635156123725
Week of Jul 1334156123726
Week of Jul 2033154123727
Week of Jul 2734154123827
Week of Aug 335157123927
Week of Aug 1039154123928
Week of Aug 1741153123927
Week of Aug 2442160113826
Week of Aug 3144160113824
Week of Sep 746156113723
Week of Sep 1447154113723
Week of Sep 2144162123623
Week of Sep 2844163123623
Week of Oct 529140102821

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