Newsletters
Economy
Allie Kelly and Andy Kiersz
Updated
- Guaranteed basic income programs can help low-income participants afford necessities like rent.
- Over 100 US cities and counties have tried GBI, offering cash for housing and groceries.
- Despite legislative opposition, basic income programs remain active across the country.
Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview
Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences
Thanks for signing up!
Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go.
Advertisem*nt
Ingrid Sullivan, 48, used her cash from the San Antonio guaranteed basic income program to rent a home where her grandchildren can play in the yard. And Atlanta resident Shamarra Woods, 31, used her basic income to pay bills and afford day care for her toddler.
For 46-year-old Jennette Fisher, $500 a month allowed her to sign an apartment lease in a quiet Chicago suburb with her daughter.
"It took such a weight off," Fisher previously told Business Insider. "If I wouldn't have had that money, I don't know what would have happened."
Guaranteed basic income has become an increasingly popular poverty-solution strategy in US cities. Over 100 municipalities have tried the GBI model since 2019, offering low-income participants between $50 and $2,000 a month, no strings attached, for a set time period.
Advertisem*nt
What makes basic income different from traditional social services is the element of choice. Participants told BI they spent the money where they needed it most: on housing, groceries, transportation, and debt repayment.
Typically, participants fall below the federal poverty line. However, some programs have also focused on specific populations such as new and expecting mothers, households with children, or people experiencing homelessness.
Basic income pilots have been completed in cities and counties in Alabama, Virginia, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Oklahoma, and more.
GBI continues to face legislative opposition from Republican lawmakers who have called the programs "socialist" and say they discourage low-income people from entering the workforce.
Advertisem*nt
For example, Iowa passed a ban on GBI in April, and the Arizona House of Representatives voted to ban basic income in February. On April 23, the Texas Supreme Court placed a temporary block on a Houston-area program that the attorney general called "unconstitutional."
Despite these political challenges, basic-income programs continue to be active across the country. Here's a breakdown of states, listed in alphabetical order, where cash payments being offered to low-income residents.
Advertisem*nt
California
Location: Los Angeles
Program name: Breathe
Duration: June 2022 - August 2025
Income amount: $1,000 every month for three years
Number of participants: 1,000 low-income households
Location: Long Beach
Program name: Long Beach Pledge
Duration: Spring 2024 - spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 12 months
Number of participants: 200 low-income households with children
Location: Mountain View
Program name: Elevate MV
Duration: December 2022 - December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 166 low-income parents
Location: Sonoma County
Program name: Pathway to Income Equity
Duration: January 2023 - January 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 305 low-income families
Location: Pomona
Program name: Pomona Household Universal Grants Pilot
Duration: Summer 2024 - spring 2026
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 250 low-income families with children under 4 years old
Location: Humboldt County
Program name: Humboldt Income Program
Duration: On a rolling basis, beginning December 2023
Income amount: $920 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 150 low-income pregnant people
Previous basic income pilots have been run in Stockton, San Francisco, Marin County, Sacramento, Compton, Oakland, Santa Clara, San Diego, and more. In 2021, the state pledged $35 million for more GBI pilots over five years, and a bill being heard in the California Senate could provide GBI starting in August 2025 for students experiencing homelessness.
Advertisem*nt
Colorado
Location: Denver
Program name: The Denver Basic Income Project
Duration: November 2022 - summer 2024
Income amount: Participants were divided into three groups: One receives $1,000 a month for a year; another receives $6,500 up front and then $500 a month from there; and another gets $50 a month.
Number of participants: 800 unhoused individuals
Location: Boulder
Program name: Elevate Boulder
Duration: January 2024 - January 2026
Income amount: $500 a month for two years
Number of participants: 200 low-income households
Advertisem*nt
Georgia
Location: Atlanta, southwest Georgia, and the City of College Park
Program name: In Her Hands
Duration: First pilot was 2022 - 2024, second pilot began spring 2024
Income amount: Average payments of $850 a month over 24 months for the first round
Number of participants: 650 low-income Black women
Advertisem*nt
Illinois
Location: Cook County
Program name: The Cook County Promise
Duration: December 2022 - December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 3,250 low- to moderate-income families
Location: Evanston
Program name: Guaranteed Income Program
Duration: First round ran December 2022 - December 2023, second round begins summer 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for one year
Number of participants: 150 low-income families
Location: Statewide
Program name: Empower Parenting with Resources
Duration: fall 2024 - fall 2026
Income amount: Monthly payments for a year dependent on each participant's income and local cost of living
Number of participants: 400 families involved in the child welfare system
Chicago previously ran the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, providing basic income for 5,000 residents, and has set aside $32 million to relaunch the program. Open AI CEO Sam Altman also sponsored a GBI program beginning in 2019 that gave 3,000 Texas and Illinois residents $1,000 a month for three years.
Advertisem*nt
Indiana
Location: Indianapolis
Program name: Rooted School: $50 Study
Duration: Two phases, running fall 2022 - summer 2024
Income amount: $50 a week for the 40-week academic year
Number of participants: Over 450 high school students between New Orleans and Indianapolis pilots
An earlier GBI program in Indianapolis gave 15 participants $500 monthly for 18 months ending in spring 2022.
Iowa
Location: Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties
Program name: UpLift – The Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot
Duration: May 2023 - spring 2026
Income amount: $500 a month
Number of participants: 110 low-income households
Advertisem*nt
Louisiana
Location: New Orleans
Program name: Rooted School: $50 Study
Duration: Two phases, running fall 2022 - summer 2024. The city has set aside funding to expand program over the next three years.
Income amount: $50 a week for the 40 week academic year
Number of participants: Over 450 high school students between New Orleans and Indianapolis pilots
A previous program in Shreveport gave 110 single parents $660 monthly for a year ending in February 2023. The New Orleans Guaranteed Income Program also gave 125 young people disconnected from work or school $350 monthly between spring 2022 and spring 2023.
Advertisem*nt
Massachusetts
Location: Somerville
Program name: The Somerville Guaranteed Basic Income Program
Duration: July 2024 - July 2025
Income amount: $750 a month for 12 months
Number of participants: 200 low-income families
Basic income programs were previously run in Boston, Chelsea, and Cambridge.
Advertisem*nt
Michigan
Location: Ann Arbor
Program name: Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor
Duration: January 2024 - December 2025
Income amount: $528 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 100 low-income entrepreneurs
Location: Flint
Program name: Rx Kids
Duration: January 2024 - spring 2025
Income amount: $1,500 lump sum, then $500 monthly payments during the first year of a baby's life
Number of participants: 1,200 new and expectant mothers
Mississippi
Location: Jackson
Program name: Magnolia Mother's Trust
Duration: 12 months per pilot, ongoing
Income amount: $1,000 a month
Number of participants: Over 400 low-income Black mothers since fall 2018
Advertisem*nt
Missouri
Location: St. Louis
Program name: STL Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot
Duration: Fall 2023 - spring 2025, but a lawsuit temporarily blocked payments in July
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months.
Number of participants: 540 low-income families with children
Advertisem*nt
New York
Location: New York City, Rochester, and Buffalo
Program name: The Bridge Project
Duration: June 2021 - ongoing
Income amount: Up to $1,000 a month for three years
Number of participants: 1,200 low-income mothers
Location: Hudson
Program name: HudsonUP
Duration: Five years, with staggered cohorts launched in fall 2020, 2021, and 2023
Income amount: $500 a month for 5 years
Number of participants: 128 households
A 17-month program in Ulster County that provided basic income to 100 households ended in September 2022, and another program in Ithaca gave a full year of cash payments to unpaid caregivers through May 2023. The nonprofit Creative Rebuild New York also ran an 18-month GBI pilot for artists impacted by the pandemic, which ended in early 2024.
Advertisem*nt
Oregon
Location: Portland
Program name: Black Resilience Fund
Duration: January 2023 - spring 2026
Income amount: Up to $2,000 a month for three years
Number of participants: 25 Black households in Multnomah county
This November, Oregonians will also vote on a universal basic income proposal to give all state residents $750 a year through taxing corporations.
Advertisem*nt
Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia
Program name: PHILHousing+
Duration: Fall 2022 - spring 2025
Income amount: $89 to $2,079 a month for 30 months, depending on household income
Number of participants: 300 renter households from the Philadelphia Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher or public housing waitlist
Location: Philadelphia
Program name: Philly Joy Bank
Duration: Launched summer 2024
Income amount: $1,000 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 250 low-income pregnant people
Advertisem*nt
Texas
Location: San Antonio
Program name: UpTogether San Antonio
Duration: Summer 2023 - December 2024
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 25 low-income families
Location: Harris County
Program name: Uplift Harris
Duration: Initially scheduled to begin in April 2024, but delayed because of the Texas Supreme Court ruling
Income amount: $500 a month for 18 months
Number of participants: 1,928 low-income households
An earlier San Antonio program offered $5,108 to 1,000 families over a 25-month period that began in December 2020. The Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot also gave participants $1,000 a month ending in May 2023. Additionally, Altman's GBI program that began in 2019 gave 3,000 Texas and Illinois residents $1,000 a month for three years.
Advertisem*nt
Virginia
Location: Richmond
Program name: Richmond Resilience Initiative
Duration: Several cohorts, beginning October 2020 - spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 94 low-income families with children
Location: Alexandria
Program name: Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity
Duration: Spring 2023 - spring 2025
Income amount: $500 a month for 24 months
Number of participants: 170 low-income individuals
Advertisem*nt
Washington DC
Location: Washington DC
Program name: CashRx
Duration: November 2023 - fall 2024
Income amount: Participant's choice, an average of $1,400 a month
Number of participants: 10 low-income individuals participating in the nonprofit Bread for the City's healthcare program.
A previous pilot in DC — THRIVE East of the River — provided basic income to 500 low-income households between 2020 and 2021.
Is there an active basic income program that isn't on this list? Have you benefited from a basic income program? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].
Correction: April 29, 2024 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the end date of the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor program.
Read next
Advertisem*nt
