Red Pride, Blue Money
Bootstrap Country
The counties most dedicated to "bootstraps" are the ones living on the federal dime.
The red counties—where 25% or more of personal income comes from government transfers—paint a vivid picture of self-reliance: Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, rural Missouri. New Mexico is practically aglow with federal dollars, joined by eastern Oklahoma and the Texas border.
The pale pink urban cores—where less than 15% comes from transfers—are the usual suspects: the coasts, the metros, the cities that accidentally fund the federal treasury.
This is the central joke of American politics. The counties most fiercely dedicated to "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" are the ones who'd collapse without the checks. The "takers" they rail against? Mirrors.
Meanwhile, those "coastal elites"? They're busy funding the bootstraps.
This isn't the "welfare queen" of political nightmares. This is rugged individualism funded by Social Security. This is sturdy self-reliance: black lung benefits, farm subsidies, SNAP checks supplementing those famously generous Walmart wages.
Take Owsley County, Kentucky. Population 4,000. Median household income around $31,000. Over 63% of all personal income comes from government transfers—the highest rate in the state. In 2024, Trump won 88% of the vote. The county has no hospital, no significant employer, no economic engine beyond the checks that arrive each month from Washington. These aren't lazy people. They're people whose jobs disappeared decades ago—coal, tobacco, manufacturing—and who now survive on the programs their representatives keep voting to cut.
Share on BlueskyOr consider McDowell County, West Virginia. Once the heart of coal country, it produced more coal than anywhere in the nation. Now it produces poverty statistics. Life expectancy for men is 64 years—lower than Bangladesh, lower than Iraq, the shortest in the United States. Over 50% of income comes from transfers. The county went overwhelmingly for Trump. The same Trump who promised to bring back coal while stacking his cabinet with people who think black lung benefits are government overreach.
This is the pattern. The places most dependent on federal help are the places most hostile to federal help. The people cashing the checks are the people voting for the politicians who call the checks socialism.
How did we get here?
Partly it's geography. Rural counties have older populations, and older populations draw Social Security and Medicare. Partly it's economics. When the factory closes or the mine shuts down, disability and food assistance become the local economy. Partly it's the long con of American politics: convince people that the problem is someone else—the immigrant, the city dweller, the Black mother with too many kids—and they won't notice that the call is coming from inside the house.
The real redistribution in this country runs from the blue cities to the red counties. From the coasts to the heartland. From the young professional to the retiree. In 2024, California sent $275 billion more to Washington than it got back. New York sent $76 billion more. Kentucky? For every dollar its residents pay in federal taxes, they get $2.89 back. West Virginia gets $2.72. The math hasn't changed in decades. It won't change in decades more.
And the politicians who build careers screaming about "socialism" and "handouts"? They represent the very places that would financially collapse without them. Mitch McConnell built a 40-year career in the Senate representing the second-most federally dependent state in the nation. He did it by pointing at Chicago and San Francisco and saying those people are the problem.
Tell people their poverty is someone else's fault. Tell them government is the enemy. Then quietly cash the government checks that keep the lights on.
Share on FacebookThat's what the map shows.
