Government Shutdown 2013: Red States Are Most Affected

US Gov Shutdown Tea Party 4Oct2013 4 — A citizen from Virginia carries signs in support of the Obama administration in front of the White House in Washington on day 4 of the government shutdown. His GOP-leaning state is among those that stand to lose the most from a prolonged shutdown. Reuters

The government shutdown, now entering its second week, may have been blamed on Republican intransigence, but it will disproportionately affect Republican-leaning states, a new report shows.

The dispute over Obamacare and the funding of the government has left 800,000 federal workers on furlough and countless government agencies and programs on hold or limited. With no end in sight to the stalemate, researchers at WalletHub, a personal finance resource, found that red states could be affected more than blue states.

WalletHub researchers considered these factors:

-- States with the highest concentration of federal employees and the most significant federal contracts; and

-- Places where there are large numbers of people in groups that have either lost or stand to lose key federal funding. For example: students, small business owners, senior citizens and veterans.

WalletHub found that the states that voted Republican in the 2012 presidential election could take a harder hit than Democrat-voting states if the shutdown, which has halted "nonessential" services provided by the federal government, continues.

Here’s the top 25 of WalletHub’s breakdown of most and least affected states. Read the full report.

1. Virginia

2. Alaska

3. Alabama

4. District of Columbia

5. Maine

6. Maryland

7. New Mexico

8. Colorado

9. Idaho

10. Hawaii

11. Washinton

12. South Dakota

13. Missouri

14. Utah

15. Arizona

16. Montana

17. North Dakota

18. Pennsylvania

19. South Carolina

20. Oklahoma

21. Vermont

22. Georgia

23. Wyoming

24. Tennessee

25. Kentucky

Besides Washington, D.C., Alaska, Hawaii and Virginia have the most federal workers per capita, and WalletHub found that the immediate shutdown disproportionately affects them. Similarly, D.C., Virginia, Alaska, New Mexico and Maryland also get the most federal money, said researchers, and could lose a lot, also affecting people who don’t work for the federal government. And Hawaii, Florida, Arizona, Maryland and Louisiana would suffer the most from delayed mortgage closings.

Arizona