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 weeks, people in Maine asked most about Housing (50%), then Food (16%) and Money (16%). Rising fastest from the week before: Housing, up 5%.

Choose what to show

Time

Maine, Jul 20, 2026 to Oct 11, 2026

Questions
About 1,800Demo data

▲ +1% vs the week before

Needed help this week
About 520Demo data
Unmet needNo program and no listed place nearby fit
About 240Demo data

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

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationLegal help, safety and otherTotal
Week of Jul 202172Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10146
Week of Jul 272173Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10148
Week of Aug 32271Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10147
Week of Aug 102372Under 1022Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10148
Week of Aug 172472Under 1024Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10151
Week of Aug 242673Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10150
Week of Aug 312672Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10147
Week of Sep 72673Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10146
Week of Sep 142772Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10145
Week of Sep 212774Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10147
Week of Sep 282578Under 1023Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10149
Week of Oct 52275Under 1021Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10141

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

  1. 01Housing87750% of all▲ +5%
  2. 02Food29016% of all▼ -7%
  3. 03Money27416% of all0%
  1. 04Legal help19711% of all0%
  2. 05Health724% of allNot enough
  3. 06Work322% of allNot enough
  4. 07Safety121% of allNot enough
  5. 08Education111% 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
Housing877+5%186
Food290-7%Under 10
Money2740%19
Legal help1970%34
Health72Under 10
Work32Under 10
Safety12Under 10
Education11Under 10

Share by week. Each kind of help's share of all questions, week by week.

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationLegal help, safety and other
Week of Jul 2014%49%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Jul 2714%49%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 315%48%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 1016%49%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 1716%48%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 2417%49%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 3118%49%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 718%50%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 1419%50%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 2118%50%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 2817%52%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
Week of Oct 516%53%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
  1. 01Housing87749.7%
  2. 02Food29016.4%
  3. 03Money27415.5%
  4. 04Legal help, safety and other20911.8%
  5. 05Health724.1%
  6. 06Work321.8%
  7. 07Education110.6%
  8. CareFewer than 10

Where. Questions by county in Maine.

Demo data

Shading

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

Most questions

  1. 01Cumberland County410▼ -3%
  2. 02York County276▲ +4%
  3. 03Penobscot County1970%
  4. 04Kennebec County157▲ +8%
  5. 05Androscoggin County148▲ +8%
  6. 06Aroostook County74
  7. 07Oxford County73
  8. 08Hancock County72
  9. 09Somerset County72
  10. 10Knox County55
  11. 11Sagadahoc County51
  12. 12Waldo County51
  13. 13Lincoln County48
  14. 14Washington County38
  15. 15Franklin County31
See the numbers: County
CountyQuestionsThis weekUnmet
Cumberland County41013363
York County2768944
Penobscot County1977029
Kennebec County1575324
Androscoggin County1485415
Aroostook County741212
Oxford County731312
Hancock County721212
Somerset County721212
Knox County5512Under 10
Sagadahoc County5112Under 10
Waldo County5112Under 10
Lincoln County4812Under 10
Washington County3812Under 10
Franklin County3112Under 10
Piscataquis County12Under 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 Jul 2030%14%
Week of Jul 2730%14%
Week of Aug 330%15%
Week of Aug 1028%14%
Week of Aug 1728%13%
Week of Aug 2429%15%
Week of Aug 3127%14%
Week of Sep 731%12%
Week of Sep 1430%13%
Week of Sep 2130%13%
Week of Sep 2832%13%
Week of Oct 529%12%

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

Demo data

  • Food

  • Housing

  • Money

  • Legal help

See the numbers for every kind of help
FoodHousingMoneyLegal help
Week of Jul 2021722318
Week of Jul 2721732319
Week of Aug 322712319
Week of Aug 1023722219
Week of Aug 1724722419
Week of Aug 2426732317
Week of Aug 3126722316
Week of Sep 726732315
Week of Sep 1427722314
Week of Sep 2127742314
Week of Sep 2825782314
Week of Oct 522752113

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, through the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center. Checked October 10, 2026. License: CC BY. Read it: 2-1-1 Requests/Referrals (2023-2025) and 2-1-1 Requests (2020-2023)
  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, November 13, 2025. Read it: States scramble to send full SNAP food benefits to millions of people after government shutdown ends
  3. 3. Using 211 Data to Gauge Eighth District Economic Conditions. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, On the Economy (Summers-Gabr, Rodgers), February 9, 2026. Read it: Using 211 Data to Gauge Eighth District Economic Conditions
  4. 4. Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, all sites monthly data. The Eviction Lab, Princeton University (Hepburn, Haas, et al.), 2026. Read it: Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, all sites monthly data
  5. 5. A New Baseline: Changes to Our Eviction Metrics. The Eviction Lab, May 8, 2025. Read it: A New Baseline: Changes to Our Eviction Metrics
  6. 6. Preliminary Analysis: Eviction Filing Patterns in 2022. The Eviction Lab (Vallejo, Haas, Hepburn), March 9, 2023. Read it: Preliminary Analysis: Eviction Filing Patterns in 2022
  7. 7. State Medicaid and CHIP Applications, Eligibility Determinations, and Enrollment Data, September 2026 release. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), September 25, 2026. License: U.S. Government Works. Read it: State Medicaid and CHIP Applications, Eligibility Determinations, and Enrollment Data, September 2026 release
  8. 8. Dates and deadlines for 2027 health insurance. HealthCare.gov (CMS). Checked October 10, 2026. Read it: Dates and deadlines for 2027 health insurance
  9. 9. Washington health insurance marketplace. healthinsurance.org, October 5, 2026. Read it: Washington health insurance marketplace
  10. 10. 2025 filing season statistics. IRS Newsroom, 2025. Read it: 2025 filing season statistics
  11. 11. Working Families Tax Credit application window opens Feb. 1. Washington State Department of Revenue, January 29, 2026. Read it: Working Families Tax Credit application window opens Feb. 1
  12. 12. Working Families Tax Credit Program, 2025 Report to the Legislature. Washington State Department of Revenue, December 29, 2025. Read it: Working Families Tax Credit Program, 2025 Report to the Legislature
  13. 13. IR-2016-143: Refunds claiming EITC or ACTC held until at least Feb. 15. IRS, October 28, 2016. Read it: IR-2016-143: Refunds claiming EITC or ACTC held until at least Feb. 15
  14. 14. You can begin filing your taxes on Jan. 26 this year. PBS NewsHour, January 8, 2026. Read it: You can begin filing your taxes on Jan. 26 this year
  15. 15. ETA 539 weekly claims data, by state. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Checked October 10, 2026. Read it: ETA 539 weekly claims data, by state
  16. 16. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims news release. U.S. Department of Labor, October 8, 2026. Read it: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims news release
  17. 17. Education Department opens 2027-28 FAFSA early, marking program's earliest launch. The National News Desk (Emma Koppelman), via KATU, September 24, 2026. Read it: Education Department opens 2027-28 FAFSA early, marking program's earliest launch
  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), November 20, 2020. Read it: The Effect of Holidays on Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline: Comparing Average Call Volume
  19. 19. #CallUtilitiesNow: PUC urges consumers to contact utilities as winter termination moratorium ends March 31, 2023. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, March 28, 2023. Read it: #CallUtilitiesNow: PUC urges consumers to contact utilities as winter termination moratorium ends March 31, 2023
  20. 20. WAC 480-100-143 Winter low-income payment program. Washington State Legislature. Checked October 10, 2026. Read it: WAC 480-100-143 Winter low-income payment program
  21. 21. LIHEAP. Washington State Department of Commerce. Checked October 10, 2026. Read it: LIHEAP
  22. 22. Nearly 1 million assistance calls made to 211 in August. The Source, Washington University in St. Louis (Neil Schoenherr), September 20, 2023. Read it: Nearly 1 million assistance calls made to 211 in August
  23. 23. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2025 data). United Way Worldwide, March 31, 2026. Read it: 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2025 data)
  24. 24. The Facts About 211: 2025 Impact Snapshot. United Way Worldwide, 2026. Read it: The Facts About 211: 2025 Impact Snapshot
  25. 25. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2024 data). United Way Worldwide, March 26, 2025. Read it: 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2024 data)
  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), September 9, 2023. Read it: Calls to 211 helpline rise in August to the highest level of 2023