Somewhere in America, a fake identity is used to swipe an EBT card that was never meant to exist. Multiply that by 27,348, and you have the total number of welfare fraud incidents law enforcement agencies reported to the FBI between 2021 and 2025. The data tells a story of sharp contrasts: a few states carry an outsized share of the burden while others barely register a single case.
The study, conducted by personal injury lawyers Anidjar & Levine, analyzed data collected from the FBI Crime Data Explorer’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Offense Code 26D, covering calendar years 2021 through 2025. Per-capita rates were calculated using each state’s average population over the five years.
States With the Highest Average Annual Welfare Fraud Rate per 100,000 Residents (2021 to 2025)
| Rank | State | Avg. Population(2021 to 2025) | Avg. Annual Incidents | Rate per 100,000 Residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 6,216,528 | 1,004 | 16.15 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 5,757,778 | 376 | 6.53 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 1,103,761 | 64 | 5.82 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 13,023,260 | 593 | 4.55 |
| 5 | Michigan | 10,092,050 | 437 | 4.33 |
| 6 | Virginia | 8,748,097 | 291 | 3.32 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 7,062,007 | 217 | 3.07 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 4,056,511 | 113 | 2.79 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 10,868,510 | 258 | 2.37 |
| 10 | Iowa | 3,221,330 | 76 | 2.36 |
Maryland’s rate of 16.15 per 100,000 is 2.5 times higher than second-ranked Minnesota.
States With the Highest Total Welfare Fraud Incidents (2021 to 2025)
| Rank | State | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 5-Year Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 27 | 1,894 | 2,156 | 545 | 399 | 5,021 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | 1,491 | 494 | 227 | 206 | 545 | 2,963 |
| 3 | Michigan | 396 | 257 | 363 | 734 | 437 | 2,187 |
| 4 | Minnesota | 395 | 324 | 435 | 402 | 323 | 1,879 |
| 5 | Texas | 745 | 163 | 186 | 188 | 477 | 1,759 |
| 6 | Virginia | 168 | 289 | 219 | 288 | 489 | 1,453 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 159 | 173 | 495 | 275 | 188 | 1,290 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 441 | 86 | 283 | 163 | 112 | 1,085 |
| 9 | New York | 141 | 151 | 295 | 165 | 187 | 939 |
| 10 | Ohio | 58 | 80 | 127 | 347 | 166 | 778 |
Maryland and Pennsylvania alone account for 7,984 of the 27,348 welfare fraud incidents reported nationally from 2021 to 2025. No other state in the top 10 exceeded 2,200 total cases over the same period.
States With the Lowest Average Annual Welfare Fraud Rate per 100,000 Residents (2021 to 2025)
| Rank | State | Avg. Population(2021 to 2025) | Avg. Annual Incidents | Rate per 100,000 Residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Kentucky | 4,552,476 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 49 | Delaware | 1,034,599 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 48 | Louisiana | 4,598,637 | 1 | 0.03 |
| 47 | Nevada | 3,220,795 | 2 | 0.07 |
| 46 | Hawaii | 1,442,787 | 1 | 0.07 |
| 45 | California | 39,265,487 | 63 | 0.16 |
| 44 | South Dakota | 916,044 | 2 | 0.20 |
| 43 | West Virginia | 1,773,525 | 5 | 0.28 |
| 42 | Florida | 22,769,698 | 71 | 0.31 |
| 41 | Mississippi | 2,943,135 | 9 | 0.31 |
Delaware and Kentucky reported zero incidents across all five years, which may reflect very low fraud. California, the nation’s most populous state, ranks 45th at just 0.16 per 100K.
How America’s Five Most Populous States Compare on Welfare Fraud per Capita
| Rank(National) | State | Avg. Population | 5-Year Total Incidents | Rate per 100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 13,023,260 | 2,963 | 4.55 |
| 20 | Texas | 30,641,089 | 1,759 | 1.15 |
| 26 | New York | 19,789,726 | 939 | 0.95 |
| 42 | Florida | 22,769,698 | 355 | 0.31 |
| 45 | California | 39,265,487 | 316 | 0.16 |
Pennsylvania’s per-capita rate is 28 times higher than California’s. Also, its five-year total of 2,963 exceeds California’s 316 by a factor of more than 9.
Methodology
This report analyzes welfare fraud incident data from the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE), compiled through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) under Offense Code 26D, which the FBI defines as “the use of deceitful statements, practices, or devices to unlawfully obtain welfare benefits,” including the fraudulent use of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards for welfare purposes. The study covers calendar years 2021 through 2025, with per-capita rates calculated by dividing each state’s average annual incidents across the five-year period by its average population and multiplying by 100,000, and year-over-year changes calculated as ((2025 incidents minus 2024 incidents) divided by 2024 incidents) times 100.
Data Sources
FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) Welfare Fraud: https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend
Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_X_MVXtxPgh9sy1EA4BZd_VnMLlqr7dy7BGvDbg3qQo/edit?gid=0#gid=0
Study by: https://www.anidjarlevine.com/
About Anidjar & Levine
Anidjar & Levine is a Florida-based personal injury law firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, founded in 2006. The firm has offices across Florida, including Miami, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville, and represents clients in auto accidents, slip and fall injuries, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.
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