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 saved Open data For 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 made Show our own counts

Demo data. In the last 12 months, people in Massachusetts asked most about Housing (48%), then Money (16%) and Food (13%). Rising fastest from the week before: Work, up 14%.

Time

Massachusetts, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data: 43,104
▲ +2% vs the week before
Needed help this weekDemo data: 14,353
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit: 7,273

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

	Food	Housing	Health	Money	Care	Work	Education	Other (legal help, safety)	Total
Week of Oct 13	114	429	47	110	Under 10	26	Under 10	95	825
Week of Oct 20	116	432	47	108	Under 10	26	Under 10	101	832
Week of Oct 27	123	425	46	108	Under 10	27	Under 10	104	835
Week of Nov 3	129	402	43	111	Under 10	27	Under 10	108	822
Week of Nov 10	136	399	44	109	Under 10	27	Under 10	105	822
Week of Nov 17	142	401	44	109	Under 10	30	Under 10	108	836
Week of Nov 24	140	410	44	108	Under 10	30	Under 10	113	847
Week of Dec 1	141	423	46	112	Under 10	31	Under 10	118	873
Week of Dec 8	141	428	46	110	Under 10	33	Under 10	119	879
Week of Dec 15	138	440	47	112	Under 10	36	Under 10	117	892
Week of Dec 22	123	452	50	119	Under 10	35	Under 10	112	893
Week of Dec 29	112	478	52	123	Under 10	36	Under 10	110	913
Week of Jan 5	104	503	51	128	Under 10	37	Under 10	113	938
Week of Jan 12	91	536	57	135	Under 10	38	Under 10	112	972
Week of Jan 19	89	526	50	148	Under 10	36	Under 10	109	960
Week of Jan 26	87	513	50	159	Under 10	33	Under 10	110	954
Week of Feb 2	83	515	49	172	Under 10	32	Under 10	108	961
Week of Feb 9	80	505	45	186	Under 10	29	Under 10	Under 10	952
Week of Feb 16	83	490	45	195	Under 10	28	Under 10	106	949
Week of Feb 23	87	463	43	189	Under 10	28	Under 10	112	924
Week of Mar 2	88	440	46	200	Under 10	26	Under 10	112	914
Week of Mar 9	91	422	48	198	Under 10	26	Under 10	115	902
Week of Mar 16	94	411	46	198	Under 10	26	Under 10	110	887
Week of Mar 23	95	381	47	209	Under 10	26	Under 10	107	867
Week of Mar 30	98	371	48	218	Under 10	26	Under 10	106	869
Week of Apr 6	99	360	46	220	Under 10	26	Under 10	102	855
Week of Apr 13	98	351	46	226	Under 10	26	Under 10	101	850
Week of Apr 20	102	335	45	208	Under 10	26	Under 10	99	817
Week of Apr 27	102	348	44	179	Under 10	26	Under 10	100	801
Week of May 4	108	346	44	137	Under 10	26	Under 10	105	768
Week of May 11	103	337	43	111	Under 10	26	Under 10	106	730
Week of May 18	105	337	43	107	Under 10	26	Under 10	105	727
Week of May 25	113	347	42	112	Under 10	26	Under 10	103	745
Week of Jun 1	113	348	45	109	Under 10	27	Under 10	104	748
Week of Jun 8	115	349	45	111	Under 10	27	Under 10	101	750
Week of Jun 15	114	348	45	111	Under 10	28	Under 10	99	751
Week of Jun 22	115	347	45	111	Under 10	26	Under 10	99	755
Week of Jun 29	112	346	46	112	Under 10	28	12	Under 10	759
Week of Jul 6	106	368	46	109	Under 10	29	15	Under 10	774
Week of Jul 13	103	360	46	111	Under 10	29	17	Under 10	769
Week of Jul 20	99	360	49	112	Under 10	27	16	Under 10	772
Week of Jul 27	101	363	49	111	Under 10	26	17	Under 10	776
Week of Aug 3	108	355	49	109	Under 10	26	17	Under 10	774
Week of Aug 10	106	373	49	110	Under 10	24	16	Under 10	788
Week of Aug 17	114	373	48	109	Under 10	24	16	Under 10	792
Week of Aug 24	115	368	46	109	Under 10	22	Under 10	98	772
Week of Aug 31	118	370	47	106	Under 10	23	Under 10	95	772
Week of Sep 7	122	367	46	109	Under 10	25	Under 10	89	766
Week of Sep 14	128	358	44	111	Under 10	23	Under 10	90	759
Week of Sep 21	121	375	45	110	Under 10	22	Under 10	91	769
Week of Sep 28	117	391	46	110	Under 10	25	Under 10	92	785
Week of Oct 5	97	336	38	90	Under 10	20	Under 10	Under 10	662

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

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 help	Questions	Change from the week before	Unmet
Housing	20,811	+4%	4,569
Money	7,044	0%	1,023
Food	5,679	-3%	348
Legal help	4,821	+1%	1,206
Health	2,408	+2%	77
Work	1,444	+14%	48
Safety	596	0%	Under 10
Education	204		Under 10
Care	97		Under 10

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

Demo data

See the numbers

	Food	Housing	Health	Money	Care	Work	Education	Other (legal help, safety)
November 2025	16%	48%	5%	13%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	13%
December 2025	15%	50%	5%	13%	Under 10	4%	Under 10	13%
January 2026	10%	54%	5%	15%	Under 10	4%	Under 10	12%
February 2026	9%	52%	5%	20%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	11%
March 2026	10%	46%	5%	23%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	12%
April 2026	12%	42%	5%	25%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	12%
May 2026	14%	46%	6%	16%	Under 10	4%	Under 10	14%
June 2026	15%	46%	6%	15%	Under 10	4%	Under 10	13%
July 2026	13%	47%	6%	14%	Under 10	4%	2%	Under 10
August 2026	14%	47%	6%	14%	1%	3%	2%	13%
September 2026	16%	48%	6%	14%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	12%
October 2026	15%	51%	6%	14%	Under 10	3%	Under 10	Under 10

01Housing20,81148.3%
02Money7,04416.3%
03Food5,67913.2%
04Other (legal help, safety)5,41712.6%
05Health2,4085.6%
06Work1,4443.4%
07Education2040.5%
08Care970.2%

Where. Questions by county in Massachusetts.

Demo data

Most questions
More
Some
Fewer
Fewer than 10, or none

Most questions

01Middlesex County10,157▲ +2%
02Worcester County5,369▲ +1%
03Essex County4,984▲ +1%
04Suffolk County4,813▲ +3%
05Norfolk County4,485▲ +4%
06Bristol County3,539▲ +2%
07Plymouth County3,279▲ +2%
08Hampden County2,822▲ +2%
09Barnstable County1,396▲ +8%
10Hampshire County9810%
11Berkshire County7750%
12Franklin County381
13Dukes County71
14Nantucket County52

See the numbers: County

County	Questions	This week	Unmet
Middlesex County	10,157	3,334	1,786
Worcester County	5,369	1,814	919
Essex County	4,984	1,678	848
Suffolk County	4,813	1,636	813
Norfolk County	4,485	1,494	777
Bristol County	3,539	1,204	609
Plymouth County	3,279	1,091	534
Hampden County	2,822	948	436
Barnstable County	1,396	441	240
Hampshire County	981	343	153
Berkshire County	775	277	105
Franklin County	381	87	52
Dukes County	71	Under 10	Under 10
Nantucket County	52	Under 10	Under 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 week	Unmet need
Week of Oct 13	34%	17%
Week of Oct 20	32%	17%
Week of Oct 27	32%	16%
Week of Nov 3	34%	17%
Week of Nov 10	34%	18%
Week of Nov 17	33%	18%
Week of Nov 24	35%	16%
Week of Dec 1	33%	17%
Week of Dec 8	33%	17%
Week of Dec 15	33%	17%
Week of Dec 22	33%	17%
Week of Dec 29	34%	17%
Week of Jan 5	34%	18%
Week of Jan 12	34%	17%
Week of Jan 19	34%	17%
Week of Jan 26	35%	18%
Week of Feb 2	33%	18%
Week of Feb 9	32%	18%
Week of Feb 16	33%	17%
Week of Feb 23	35%	17%
Week of Mar 2	33%	18%
Week of Mar 9	33%	18%
Week of Mar 16	33%	17%
Week of Mar 23	33%	17%
Week of Mar 30	33%	17%
Week of Apr 6	32%	17%
Week of Apr 13	32%	17%
Week of Apr 20	33%	16%
Week of Apr 27	33%	16%
Week of May 4	33%	17%
Week of May 11	34%	16%
Week of May 18	34%	16%
Week of May 25	33%	16%
Week of Jun 1	34%	16%
Week of Jun 8	34%	17%
Week of Jun 15	32%	16%
Week of Jun 22	33%	17%
Week of Jun 29	33%	17%
Week of Jul 6	34%	16%
Week of Jul 13	34%	16%
Week of Jul 20	33%	17%
Week of Jul 27	33%	17%
Week of Aug 3	32%	17%
Week of Aug 10	34%	17%
Week of Aug 17	34%	17%
Week of Aug 24	33%	16%
Week of Aug 31	33%	17%
Week of Sep 7	34%	16%
Week of Sep 14	34%	16%
Week of Sep 21	33%	16%
Week of Sep 28	34%	16%
Week of Oct 5	33%	17%

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

Demo data

Food
Housing
Health
Money
Education
Work
Legal help
Safety

See the numbers for every kind of help

	Food	Housing	Health	Money	Education	Work	Legal help	Safety
Week of Oct 13	114	429	47	110	Under 10	26	84	11
Week of Oct 20	116	432	47	108	Under 10	26	90	11
Week of Oct 27	123	425	46	108	Under 10	27	93	11
Week of Nov 3	129	402	43	111	Under 10	27	96	12
Week of Nov 10	136	399	44	109	Under 10	27	93	12
Week of Nov 17	142	401	44	109	Under 10	30	96	12
Week of Nov 24	140	410	44	108	Under 10	30	100	13
Week of Dec 1	141	423	46	112	Under 10	31	104	14
Week of Dec 8	141	428	46	110	Under 10	33	105	14
Week of Dec 15	138	440	47	112	Under 10	36	103	14
Week of Dec 22	123	452	50	119	Under 10	35	99	13
Week of Dec 29	112	478	52	123	Under 10	36	98	12
Week of Jan 5	104	503	51	128	Under 10	37	101	12
Week of Jan 12	91	536	57	135	Under 10	38	101	11
Week of Jan 19	89	526	50	148	Under 10	36	98	11
Week of Jan 26	87	513	50	159	Under 10	33	100	10
Week of Feb 2	83	515	49	172	Under 10	32	97	11
Week of Feb 9	80	505	45	186	Under 10	29	95	Under 10
Week of Feb 16	83	490	45	195	Under 10	28	95	11
Week of Feb 23	87	463	43	189	Under 10	28	100	12
Week of Mar 2	88	440	46	200	Under 10	26	100	12
Week of Mar 9	91	422	48	198	Under 10	26	103	12
Week of Mar 16	94	411	46	198	Under 10	26	98	12
Week of Mar 23	95	381	47	209	Under 10	26	97	10
Week of Mar 30	98	371	48	218	Under 10	26	95	11
Week of Apr 6	99	360	46	220	Under 10	26	92	10
Week of Apr 13	98	351	46	226	Under 10	26	91	10
Week of Apr 20	102	335	45	208	Under 10	26	88	11
Week of Apr 27	102	348	44	179	Under 10	26	89	11
Week of May 4	108	346	44	137	Under 10	26	92	13
Week of May 11	103	337	43	111	Under 10	26	91	15
Week of May 18	105	337	43	107	Under 10	26	91	14
Week of May 25	113	347	42	112	Under 10	26	90	13
Week of Jun 1	113	348	45	109	Under 10	27	91	13
Week of Jun 8	115	349	45	111	Under 10	27	90	11
Week of Jun 15	114	348	45	111	Under 10	28	89	10
Week of Jun 22	115	347	45	111	Under 10	26	89	10
Week of Jun 29	112	346	46	112	12	28	91	Under 10
Week of Jul 6	106	368	46	109	15	29	89	Under 10
Week of Jul 13	103	360	46	111	17	29	89	Under 10
Week of Jul 20	99	360	49	112	16	27	95	Under 10
Week of Jul 27	101	363	49	111	17	26	95	Under 10
Week of Aug 3	108	355	49	109	17	26	94	Under 10
Week of Aug 10	106	373	49	110	16	24	94	Under 10
Week of Aug 17	114	373	48	109	16	24	92	Under 10
Week of Aug 24	115	368	46	109	Under 10	22	86	12
Week of Aug 31	118	370	47	106	Under 10	23	84	11
Week of Sep 7	122	367	46	109	Under 10	25	78	11
Week of Sep 14	128	358	44	111	Under 10	23	79	11
Week of Sep 21	121	375	45	110	Under 10	22	80	11
Week of Sep 28	117	391	46	110	Under 10	25	81	11
Week of Oct 5	97	336	38	90	Under 10	20	70	Under 10

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. #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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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

Choose what to show

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

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

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

Where. Questions by county in Massachusetts.

Shading

Most questions

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

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

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

How the demo is made

Search trends

Where each pattern comes from

Sources