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 North Dakota asked most about Housing (57%), then Money (17%) and Food (13%). Rising fastest from the week before: Housing, up 5%.

Choose what to show

North Dakota, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data
3,675

▲ +1% vs the week before

Needed help this weekDemo data
936
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit
403

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 131041Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1069
Week of Oct 201143Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1071
Week of Oct 271143Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1071
Week of Nov 31140Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1070
Week of Nov 101140Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1071
Week of Nov 171141Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1072
Week of Nov 241241Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1073
Week of Dec 11241Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1075
Week of Dec 81241Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1075
Week of Dec 151143Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1075
Week of Dec 221144Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1077
Week of Dec 291048Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1080
Week of Jan 51051Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1085
Week of Jan 12Under 1055Under 1011Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1089
Week of Jan 19Under 1055Under 1012Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1088
Week of Jan 26Under 1054Under 1014Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1084
Week of Feb 2Under 1051Under 1015Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1083
Week of Feb 9Under 1049Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1081
Week of Feb 16Under 1049Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1081
Week of Feb 23Under 1045Under 1016Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1076
Week of Mar 2Under 1044Under 1016Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1077
Week of Mar 9Under 1041Under 1016Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1074
Week of Mar 16Under 1040Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1075
Week of Mar 23Under 1038Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1072
Week of Mar 30Under 1038Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1072
Week of Apr 6Under 1037Under 1018Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1072
Week of Apr 13Under 1033Under 1018Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1068
Week of Apr 20Under 1034Under 1017Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1070
Week of Apr 27Under 1034Under 1016Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1069
Week of May 4Under 1033Under 1012Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1062
Week of May 11Under 1034Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1062
Week of May 181034Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1062
Week of May 251032Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1060
Week of Jun 11035Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1065
Week of Jun 81036Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1066
Week of Jun 151035Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1064
Week of Jun 221033Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1060
Week of Jun 291033Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1061
Week of Jul 6Under 1034Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1064
Week of Jul 13Under 1034Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1064
Week of Jul 20Under 1037Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1066
Week of Jul 27Under 1037Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1066
Week of Aug 3Under 1038Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1065
Week of Aug 101039Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1070
Week of Aug 171039Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1068
Week of Aug 241037Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1065
Week of Aug 311037Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1064
Week of Sep 71038Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1066
Week of Sep 141137Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1066
Week of Sep 211138Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1068
Week of Sep 281040Under 1010Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1069
Week of Oct 5Under 1035Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 1057

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

  1. 01Housing2,07957% of all▲ +5%
  2. 02Money59917% of all0%
  3. 03Food47213% of all▼ -9%
  1. 04Legal help3419% of allNot enough
  2. 05Health1263% of allNot enough

Education, Work: fewer than 10

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
Housing2,079+5%329
Money5990%25
Food472-9%Under 10
Legal help34149
Health126Under 10
EducationUnder 10Under 10
WorkUnder 10Under 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 202516%57%Under 1014%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
December 202515%57%Under 1013%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
January 20269%62%Under 1014%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
February 2026Under 1060%Under 1020%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
March 20269%54%Under 1022%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
April 202612%49%Under 1025%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
May 202615%54%Under 1016%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
June 202616%54%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
July 202614%55%5%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
August 202614%57%4%14%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
September 202616%57%Under 1015%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
October 2026Under 1061%Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 10
  1. 01Housing2,07957.5%
  2. 02Money59916.6%
  3. 03Food47213%
  4. 04Other (legal help, safety)3419.4%
  5. 05Health1263.5%
  6. CareFewer than 10
  7. WorkFewer than 10
  8. EducationFewer than 10

Where. Questions by county in North Dakota.

Demo data

Shading

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

Most questions

  1. 01Cass County1,1880%
  2. 02Burleigh County6120%
  3. 03Grand Forks County409
  4. 04Ward County372
  5. 05Williams County256
  6. 06Morton County192
  7. 07Stark County180
  8. 08Stutsman County72
  9. 09Richland County54
  10. 10McKenzie County52
  11. 11Ramsey County52
  12. 12Rolette County52
  13. 13Barnes County50
  14. 14Walsh County46
  15. 15McLean County33
See the numbers: County
CountyQuestionsThis weekUnmet
Cass County1,188385190
Burleigh County61219371
Grand Forks County40910352
Ward County3729352
Williams County2565221
Morton County19252Under 10
Stark County1805210
Stutsman County72Under 10Under 10
Richland County54Under 10Under 10
McKenzie County52Under 10Under 10
Ramsey County52Under 10Under 10
Rolette County52Under 10Under 10
Barnes County50Under 10Under 10
Walsh County46Under 10Under 10
McLean County33Under 10Under 10
Mountrail County28Under 10Under 10
Mercer County13Under 10Under 10
Pembina CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10
Traill 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 1329%Under 10
Week of Oct 2025%Under 10
Week of Oct 2725%Under 10
Week of Nov 324%Under 10
Week of Nov 1025%Under 10
Week of Nov 1725%Under 10
Week of Nov 2426%Under 10
Week of Dec 127%Under 10
Week of Dec 827%Under 10
Week of Dec 1527%13%
Week of Dec 2225%Under 10
Week of Dec 2926%Under 10
Week of Jan 525%12%
Week of Jan 1224%15%
Week of Jan 1922%14%
Week of Jan 2626%12%
Week of Feb 227%12%
Week of Feb 927%14%
Week of Feb 1627%14%
Week of Feb 2328%15%
Week of Mar 223%Under 10
Week of Mar 924%Under 10
Week of Mar 1625%Under 10
Week of Mar 2325%Under 10
Week of Mar 3026%Under 10
Week of Apr 624%Under 10
Week of Apr 1325%Under 10
Week of Apr 2023%Under 10
Week of Apr 2722%Under 10
Week of May 424%Under 10
Week of May 1124%Under 10
Week of May 1826%Under 10
Week of May 2523%Under 10
Week of Jun 126%Under 10
Week of Jun 826%Under 10
Week of Jun 1527%Under 10
Week of Jun 2223%Under 10
Week of Jun 2923%Under 10
Week of Jul 627%Under 10
Week of Jul 1323%Under 10
Week of Jul 2027%Under 10
Week of Jul 2727%Under 10
Week of Aug 326%Under 10
Week of Aug 1026%Under 10
Week of Aug 1727%Under 10
Week of Aug 2426%Under 10
Week of Aug 3127%Under 10
Week of Sep 726%Under 10
Week of Sep 1429%Under 10
Week of Sep 2127%Under 10
Week of Sep 2828%Under 10
Week of Oct 525%Under 10

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

Demo data

  • Food

  • Housing

  • Money

See the numbers for every kind of help
FoodHousingMoney
Week of Oct 13104110
Week of Oct 201143Under 10
Week of Oct 271143Under 10
Week of Nov 3114010
Week of Nov 10114010
Week of Nov 17114110
Week of Nov 24124110
Week of Dec 1124110
Week of Dec 8124110
Week of Dec 15114310
Week of Dec 22114410
Week of Dec 29104810
Week of Jan 5105110
Week of Jan 12Under 105511
Week of Jan 19Under 105512
Week of Jan 26Under 105414
Week of Feb 2Under 105115
Week of Feb 9Under 104917
Week of Feb 16Under 104917
Week of Feb 23Under 104516
Week of Mar 2Under 104416
Week of Mar 9Under 104116
Week of Mar 16Under 104017
Week of Mar 23Under 103817
Week of Mar 30Under 103817
Week of Apr 6Under 103718
Week of Apr 13Under 103318
Week of Apr 20Under 103417
Week of Apr 27Under 103416
Week of May 4Under 103312
Week of May 11Under 103410
Week of May 181034Under 10
Week of May 251032Under 10
Week of Jun 1103510
Week of Jun 8103610
Week of Jun 15103510
Week of Jun 221033Under 10
Week of Jun 291033Under 10
Week of Jul 6Under 103410
Week of Jul 13Under 1034Under 10
Week of Jul 20Under 103710
Week of Jul 27Under 103710
Week of Aug 3Under 1038Under 10
Week of Aug 101039Under 10
Week of Aug 171039Under 10
Week of Aug 241037Under 10
Week of Aug 311037Under 10
Week of Sep 7103810
Week of Sep 14113710
Week of Sep 21113810
Week of Sep 28104010
Week of Oct 5Under 1035Under 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. 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