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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 weeks, people in North Carolina asked most about Housing (52%), then Food (15%) and Money (14%). Rising fastest from the week before: Health, up 7%.

Choose what to show

North Carolina, Jul 20, 2026 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data
14,407

▲ +1% vs the week before

Needed help this weekDemo data
4,365
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit
2,113

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

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)Total
Week of Jul 2015862365167Under 103218Under 101,209
Week of Jul 2716162567167Under 103118Under 101,218
Week of Aug 316362864168Under 103018Under 101,223
Week of Aug 1016163566165Under 102818Under 101,224
Week of Aug 1716963766166Under 102716Under 101,229
Week of Aug 2418163362170Under 1027Under 10Under 101,225
Week of Aug 3118661961167Under 1026Under 10Under 101,203
Week of Sep 719561757168Under 1026Under 10Under 101,199
Week of Sep 1419762258170Under 1026Under 10Under 101,205
Week of Sep 2119363261168Under 1027Under 10Under 101,214
Week of Sep 2818664765170Under 1027Under 10Under 101,228
Week of Oct 514855450141Under 1023Under 10Under 101,030

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

  1. 01Housing7,47252% of all▲ +2%
  2. 02Food2,09815% of all▼ -4%
  3. 03Money1,98714% of all▲ +1%
  1. 04Legal help1,54511% of all▲ +1%
  2. 05Health7425% of all▲ +7%
  3. 06Work3302% of all0%
  4. 07Education1061% of allNot enough
  5. 08Safety1031% of allNot enough
  6. 09Care24<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
Housing7,472+2%1,571
Food2,098-4%31
Money1,987+1%192
Legal help1,545+1%295
Health742+7%24
Work3300%Under 10
Education106Under 10
Safety103Under 10
Care24Under 10

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

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)
Week of Jul 2013%52%5%14%Under 103%1%Under 10
Week of Jul 2713%51%6%14%Under 103%1%Under 10
Week of Aug 313%51%5%14%Under 102%1%Under 10
Week of Aug 1013%52%5%13%Under 102%1%Under 10
Week of Aug 1714%52%5%14%Under 102%1%Under 10
Week of Aug 2415%52%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Aug 3115%51%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 716%51%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 1416%52%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 2116%52%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Sep 2815%53%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
Week of Oct 514%54%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
  1. 01Housing7,47251.9%
  2. 02Food2,09814.6%
  3. 03Money1,98713.8%
  4. 04Other (legal help, safety)1,64811.4%
  5. 05Health7425.2%
  6. 06Work3302.3%
  7. 07Education1060.7%
  8. 08Care240.2%

Where. Questions by county in North Carolina.

Demo data

Shading

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

Most questions

  1. 01Wake County1,665▲ +1%
  2. 02Mecklenburg County1,614▲ +2%
  3. 03Guilford County757▲ +2%
  4. 04Forsyth County533▲ +4%
  5. 05Durham County4670%
  6. 06Cumberland County456▲ +5%
  7. 07Buncombe County3770%
  8. 08Union County348▲ +4%
  9. 09Cabarrus County3390%
  10. 10Johnston County3330%
  11. 11Gaston County3320%
  12. 12New Hanover County330▲ +4%
  13. 13Onslow County285▲ +4%
  14. 14Iredell County272▲ +5%
  15. 15Alamance County242▲ +5%
See the numbers: County
CountyQuestionsThis weekUnmet
Wake County1,665545270
Mecklenburg County1,614534270
Guilford County757255125
Forsyth County53317784
Durham County46715676
Cumberland County45615074
Buncombe County37712364
Union County34810763
Cabarrus County33910558
Johnston County33310257
Gaston County33210458
New Hanover County33010161
Onslow County2859543
Iredell County2728739
Alamance County2428437
Pitt County2418329
Davidson County2378239
Catawba County2267839
Brunswick County2258437
Orange County2017927
Rowan County2007131
Randolph County1936929
Harnett County1857426
Wayne County1595519
Henderson County1565420
Robeson County1545320
Moore County1414314
Cleveland County1363813
Craven County1354212
Lincoln County1333714
Rockingham County1273712
Nash County1263513
Burke County1112812
Chatham County1062412
Franklin County1062612
Caldwell County1032312
Wilson County992312
Surry County872312
Carteret County842312
Lee County841812
Pender County832112
Rutherford County832312
Stanly County831712
Wilkes County831612
Granville County812112
Haywood County761612
Sampson County731212
Columbus County721212
Hoke County721212
Lenoir County721212
Watauga County721212
Edgecombe County711212
Duplin County701211
Halifax County691211
Davie County671211
Jackson County6712Under 10
McDowell County6712Under 10
Beaufort County661210
Stokes County6612Under 10
Richmond County5812Under 10
Vance County5712Under 10
Pasquotank County5512Under 10
Dare County5112Under 10
Macon County5112Under 10
Person County5012Under 10
Alexander County4912Under 10
Yadkin County4912Under 10
Scotland County4412Under 10
Transylvania County4312Under 10
Currituck County3512Under 10
Cherokee County2912Under 10
Bladen County2712Under 10
Ashe County21Under 10Under 10
Montgomery County16Under 10Under 10
Alleghany County12Under 10Under 10
Anson County12Under 10Under 10
Avery County12Under 10Under 10
Bertie County12Under 10Under 10
Camden County12Under 10Under 10
Caswell County12Under 10Under 10
Chowan County12Under 10Under 10
Clay County12Under 10Under 10
Gates County12Under 10Under 10
Greene County12Under 10Under 10
Hertford County12Under 10Under 10
Madison County12Under 10Under 10
Martin County12Under 10Under 10
Mitchell County12Under 10Under 10
Northampton County12Under 10Under 10
Pamlico County12Under 10Under 10
Perquimans County12Under 10Under 10
Polk County12Under 10Under 10
Swain County12Under 10Under 10
Warren County12Under 10Under 10
Washington County12Under 10Under 10
Yancey County12Under 10Under 10
Jones County10Under 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%15%
Week of Jul 2731%14%
Week of Aug 330%14%
Week of Aug 1030%15%
Week of Aug 1731%15%
Week of Aug 2430%15%
Week of Aug 3130%15%
Week of Sep 730%14%
Week of Sep 1430%15%
Week of Sep 2131%15%
Week of Sep 2831%15%
Week of Oct 530%15%

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

See the numbers for every kind of help
FoodHousingHealthMoneyEducationWorkLegal help
Week of Jul 20158623651671832136
Week of Jul 27161625671671831139
Week of Aug 3163628641681830141
Week of Aug 10161635661651828139
Week of Aug 17169637661661627136
Week of Aug 2418163362170Under 1027133
Week of Aug 3118661961167Under 1026128
Week of Sep 719561757168Under 1026124
Week of Sep 1419762258170Under 1026120
Week of Sep 2119363261168Under 1027122
Week of Sep 2818664765170Under 1027123
Week of Oct 514855450141Under 1023104

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