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 Montana asked most about Housing (57%), then Money (15%) and Food (12%). Rising fastest from the week before: Housing, up 2%.

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

Demo data

Food
Housing
Health
Money
Care
Work
Education
Other (legal help, safety)

See the numbers

	Food	Housing	Health	Money	Care	Work	Education	Other (legal help, safety)	Total
Week of Oct 13	14	65	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	92
Week of Oct 20	14	66	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	94
Week of Oct 27	15	63	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	92
Week of Nov 3	15	64	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	93
Week of Nov 10	15	65	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	93
Week of Nov 17	16	65	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	94
Week of Nov 24	17	62	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	92
Week of Dec 1	17	65	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	95
Week of Dec 8	16	65	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	94
Week of Dec 15	16	64	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	94
Week of Dec 22	14	74	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	102
Week of Dec 29	14	76	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	104
Week of Jan 5	12	80	Under 10	15	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	107
Week of Jan 12	11	84	Under 10	15	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	110
Week of Jan 19	11	83	Under 10	18	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	112
Week of Jan 26	10	78	Under 10	21	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	109
Week of Feb 2	Under 10	77	Under 10	21	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	98
Week of Feb 9	Under 10	76	Under 10	22	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	98
Week of Feb 16	Under 10	75	Under 10	23	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	98
Week of Feb 23	Under 10	73	Under 10	22	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	95
Week of Mar 2	Under 10	67	Under 10	21	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	88
Week of Mar 9	Under 10	65	Under 10	21	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	86
Week of Mar 16	11	63	Under 10	23	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	97
Week of Mar 23	11	61	Under 10	25	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	97
Week of Mar 30	11	56	Under 10	27	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	94
Week of Apr 6	12	54	Under 10	29	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	95
Week of Apr 13	12	52	Under 10	31	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	95
Week of Apr 20	13	52	Under 10	24	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	89
Week of Apr 27	13	52	Under 10	21	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	86
Week of May 4	13	51	Under 10	18	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	82
Week of May 11	13	52	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	79
Week of May 18	14	52	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	79
Week of May 25	14	53	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	81
Week of Jun 1	14	51	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	79
Week of Jun 8	14	51	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	78
Week of Jun 15	14	52	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	80
Week of Jun 22	14	54	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	82
Week of Jun 29	14	53	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	81
Week of Jul 6	13	55	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	82
Week of Jul 13	13	55	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	82
Week of Jul 20	12	54	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	80
Week of Jul 27	13	53	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	80
Week of Aug 3	14	54	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	82
Week of Aug 10	13	59	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	86
Week of Aug 17	14	60	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	88
Week of Aug 24	14	58	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	85
Week of Aug 31	14	55	Under 10	14	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	83
Week of Sep 7	14	54	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	81
Week of Sep 14	15	55	Under 10	13	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	83
Week of Sep 21	14	60	Under 10	12	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	86
Week of Sep 28	14	61	Under 10	12	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	87
Week of Oct 5	11	50	Under 10	10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	71

Montana, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data: 5,627
Needed help this weekDemo data: 1,506
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit: 636

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

Demo data

01
Housing
3,19457% of all
▲ +2% vs the week before
02
Money
85415% of all
0% vs the week before
03
Food
67212% of all
0% vs the week before

04
Legal help
53610% of all
Not enough vs the week before
05
Health
2795% of all
Not enough vs the week before
06
Work
922% of all
Not enough vs 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	3,194	+2%	512
Money	854	0%	42
Food	672	0%	Under 10
Legal help	536		82
Health	279		Under 10
Work	92		Under 10

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

Demo data

Food
Housing
Health
Money
Care
Work
Education
Other (legal help, safety)

See the numbers

	Food	Housing	Health	Money	Care	Work	Education	Other (legal help, safety)	Total
November 2025	63	256	Under 10	53	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	372
December 2025	77	344	30	68	Under 10	20	Under 10	Under 10	539
January 2026	44	325	24	69	Under 10	16	Under 10	Under 10	478
February 2026	32	301	22	88	Under 10	11	Under 10	Under 10	454
March 2026	51	312	Under 10	117	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	480
April 2026	50	210	Under 10	105	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	365
May 2026	54	208	Under 10	59	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	321
June 2026	70	261	Under 10	69	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	400
July 2026	51	217	Under 10	56	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	324
August 2026	69	286	Under 10	69	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	424
September 2026	57	230	Under 10	50	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	337
October 2026	11	50	Under 10	10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10	71

Where. Questions by county in Montana.

Demo data

Most questions
More
Some
Fewer
Fewer than 10, or none

Most questions

01Yellowstone County1,0230%
02Gallatin County7610%
03Missoula County7380%
04Flathead County6860%
05Cascade County483
06Lewis and Clark County420
07Ravalli County294
08Silver Bow County212
09Lake County176
10Lincoln County70

See the numbers: County

County	Questions	This week	Unmet
Yellowstone County	1,023	356	161
Gallatin County	761	272	118
Missoula County	738	263	93
Flathead County	686	226	93
Cascade County	483	125	56
Lewis and Clark County	420	102	52
Ravalli County	294	55	35
Silver Bow County	212	52	13
Lake County	176	51	14
Lincoln County	70	Under 10	Under 10
Park County	58	Under 10	Under 10
Hill County	53	Under 10	Under 10
Big Horn County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Carbon County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Custer County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Fergus County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Glacier County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Jefferson County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Richland County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Sanders County	52	Under 10	Under 10
Roosevelt County	41	Under 10	Under 10
Deer Lodge County	38	Under 10	Under 10
Beaverhead County	35	Under 10	Under 10
Madison County	31	Under 10	Under 10
Stillwater County	29	Under 10	Under 10
Dawson County	22	Under 10	Under 10
Broadwater County	11	Under 10	Under 10
Rosebud County	11	Under 10	Under 10
Valley County	10	Under 10	Under 10
Blaine County	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10
Powell County	Under 10	Under 10	Under 10
Teton County	Under 10	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

Needed help this week
Unmet need

See the numbers

	Needed help this week	Unmet need
Week of Oct 13	24%	9%
Week of Oct 20	27%	11%
Week of Oct 27	28%	11%
Week of Nov 3	27%	12%
Week of Nov 10	28%	12%
Week of Nov 17	27%	12%
Week of Nov 24	27%	12%
Week of Dec 1	27%	9%
Week of Dec 8	27%	9%
Week of Dec 15	28%	10%
Week of Dec 22	25%	11%
Week of Dec 29	25%	12%
Week of Jan 5	28%	12%
Week of Jan 12	29%	13%
Week of Jan 19	29%	11%
Week of Jan 26	27%	14%
Week of Feb 2	26%	14%
Week of Feb 9	27%	15%
Week of Feb 16	27%	15%
Week of Feb 23	25%	12%
Week of Mar 2	27%	10%
Week of Mar 9	27%	12%
Week of Mar 16	28%	12%
Week of Mar 23	25%	11%
Week of Mar 30	26%	13%
Week of Apr 6	26%	11%
Week of Apr 13	27%	10%
Week of Apr 20	25%	13%
Week of Apr 27	27%	13%
Week of May 4	27%	11%
Week of May 11	28%	11%
Week of May 18	27%	12%
Week of May 25	28%	Under 10
Week of Jun 1	26%	11%
Week of Jun 8	27%	Under 10
Week of Jun 15	28%	12%
Week of Jun 22	28%	11%
Week of Jun 29	27%	11%
Week of Jul 6	26%	Under 10
Week of Jul 13	28%	11%
Week of Jul 20	26%	12%
Week of Jul 27	27%	12%
Week of Aug 3	29%	12%
Week of Aug 10	27%	13%
Week of Aug 17	26%	13%
Week of Aug 24	26%	10%
Week of Aug 31	27%	10%
Week of Sep 7	25%	Under 10
Week of Sep 14	25%	Under 10
Week of Sep 21	28%	Under 10
Week of Sep 28	25%	Under 10
Week of Oct 5	28%	Under 10

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

Demo data

Food

See the numbers

	Food
Week of Oct 13	14
Week of Oct 20	14
Week of Oct 27	15
Week of Nov 3	15
Week of Nov 10	15
Week of Nov 17	16
Week of Nov 24	17
Week of Dec 1	17
Week of Dec 8	16
Week of Dec 15	16
Week of Dec 22	14
Week of Dec 29	14
Week of Jan 5	12
Week of Jan 12	11
Week of Jan 19	11
Week of Jan 26	10
Week of Feb 2	Under 10
Week of Feb 9	Under 10
Week of Feb 16	Under 10
Week of Feb 23	Under 10
Week of Mar 2	Under 10
Week of Mar 9	Under 10
Week of Mar 16	11
Week of Mar 23	11
Week of Mar 30	11
Week of Apr 6	12
Week of Apr 13	12
Week of Apr 20	13
Week of Apr 27	13
Week of May 4	13
Week of May 11	13
Week of May 18	14
Week of May 25	14
Week of Jun 1	14
Week of Jun 8	14
Week of Jun 15	14
Week of Jun 22	14
Week of Jun 29	14
Week of Jul 6	13
Week of Jul 13	13
Week of Jul 20	12
Week of Jul 27	13
Week of Aug 3	14
Week of Aug 10	13
Week of Aug 17	14
Week of Aug 24	14
Week of Aug 31	14
Week of Sep 7	14
Week of Sep 14	15
Week of Sep 21	14
Week of Sep 28	14
Week of Oct 5	11

Housing

See the numbers

	Housing
Week of Oct 13	65
Week of Oct 20	66
Week of Oct 27	63
Week of Nov 3	64
Week of Nov 10	65
Week of Nov 17	65
Week of Nov 24	62
Week of Dec 1	65
Week of Dec 8	65
Week of Dec 15	64
Week of Dec 22	74
Week of Dec 29	76
Week of Jan 5	80
Week of Jan 12	84
Week of Jan 19	83
Week of Jan 26	78
Week of Feb 2	77
Week of Feb 9	76
Week of Feb 16	75
Week of Feb 23	73
Week of Mar 2	67
Week of Mar 9	65
Week of Mar 16	63
Week of Mar 23	61
Week of Mar 30	56
Week of Apr 6	54
Week of Apr 13	52
Week of Apr 20	52
Week of Apr 27	52
Week of May 4	51
Week of May 11	52
Week of May 18	52
Week of May 25	53
Week of Jun 1	51
Week of Jun 8	51
Week of Jun 15	52
Week of Jun 22	54
Week of Jun 29	53
Week of Jul 6	55
Week of Jul 13	55
Week of Jul 20	54
Week of Jul 27	53
Week of Aug 3	54
Week of Aug 10	59
Week of Aug 17	60
Week of Aug 24	58
Week of Aug 31	55
Week of Sep 7	54
Week of Sep 14	55
Week of Sep 21	60
Week of Sep 28	61
Week of Oct 5	50

Money

See the numbers

	Money
Week of Oct 13	13
Week of Oct 20	14
Week of Oct 27	14
Week of Nov 3	14
Week of Nov 10	13
Week of Nov 17	13
Week of Nov 24	13
Week of Dec 1	13
Week of Dec 8	13
Week of Dec 15	14
Week of Dec 22	14
Week of Dec 29	14
Week of Jan 5	15
Week of Jan 12	15
Week of Jan 19	18
Week of Jan 26	21
Week of Feb 2	21
Week of Feb 9	22
Week of Feb 16	23
Week of Feb 23	22
Week of Mar 2	21
Week of Mar 9	21
Week of Mar 16	23
Week of Mar 23	25
Week of Mar 30	27
Week of Apr 6	29
Week of Apr 13	31
Week of Apr 20	24
Week of Apr 27	21
Week of May 4	18
Week of May 11	14
Week of May 18	13
Week of May 25	14
Week of Jun 1	14
Week of Jun 8	13
Week of Jun 15	14
Week of Jun 22	14
Week of Jun 29	14
Week of Jul 6	14
Week of Jul 13	14
Week of Jul 20	14
Week of Jul 27	14
Week of Aug 3	14
Week of Aug 10	14
Week of Aug 17	14
Week of Aug 24	13
Week of Aug 31	14
Week of Sep 7	13
Week of Sep 14	13
Week of Sep 21	12
Week of Sep 28	12
Week of Oct 5	10

Legal help

See the numbers

	Legal help
Week of Oct 13	Under 10
Week of Oct 20	Under 10
Week of Oct 27	Under 10
Week of Nov 3	11
Week of Nov 10	12
Week of Nov 17	12
Week of Nov 24	12
Week of Dec 1	12
Week of Dec 8	12
Week of Dec 15	12
Week of Dec 22	12
Week of Dec 29	12
Week of Jan 5	12
Week of Jan 12	12
Week of Jan 19	12
Week of Jan 26	11
Week of Feb 2	11
Week of Feb 9	11
Week of Feb 16	11
Week of Feb 23	11
Week of Mar 2	11
Week of Mar 9	12
Week of Mar 16	12
Week of Mar 23	10
Week of Mar 30	10
Week of Apr 6	11
Week of Apr 13	Under 10
Week of Apr 20	Under 10
Week of Apr 27	10
Week of May 4	10
Week of May 11	10
Week of May 18	10
Week of May 25	10
Week of Jun 1	10
Week of Jun 8	10
Week of Jun 15	10
Week of Jun 22	10
Week of Jun 29	10
Week of Jul 6	Under 10
Week of Jul 13	11
Week of Jul 20	Under 10
Week of Jul 27	10
Week of Aug 3	10
Week of Aug 10	10
Week of Aug 17	10
Week of Aug 24	10
Week of Aug 31	Under 10
Week of Sep 7	Under 10
Week of Sep 14	Under 10
Week of Sep 21	Under 10
Week of Sep 28	Under 10
Week of Oct 5	Under 10

How we count

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 is 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.
We keep the count, and nothing else: not the words, not a name, not an account, not a browser or network address.
Unmet need means 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.
Any count under 10 shows as fewer than 10. When only one count in a list would be hidden, we hide a second one too.
The demo site is not counted, and questions about Front Door itself, crisis questions and letters are not counted.
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

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

Choose what to show

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 Montana.

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

How the demo is made

Search trends

Where each pattern comes from

Sources