Least Affected State from the Government Shutdown is – Minnesota

If you live in Minnesota and couldn't really tell that there's a government shutdown in progress, there's a good reason. We're the least affected state from it, and here's why.

On Friday, a Senate vote to fund the government through February 16th failed and sent the government into a shutdown. This shutdown will stay in effect until a budget is approved.

For Minnesotans, you may not see the effect of this shutdown as much as other states though. Federal employees who's jobs are essential to our livelihood are still working through the shutdown. This includes postal workers, federal medical staff, national security workers, and air traffic controllers.

Wallethub just released their report on the U.S. states most, and least, affected by this government shutdown. The looked at six key metrics to figure out how each state is affected, ranging from each state’s share of federal jobs and contracts to the percentage of kids covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Minnesota came in as the least affected out of the 50 states (and District of Columbia). We have the lowest percentage of children in the CHIP program, and are near the bottom with the lowest number of federal jobs. These helped us be the least affected state in the country.

Here are the top most affected states:

1. District of Columbia
2. Maryland
3. Virginia
4. Alaska
5. Hawaii

See the full report from Wallethub, and how they came up with the point system to rank the states affected.

Given there are mostly "state" parks in Minnesota, those will be open. Voyageurs National Park will be closed as well as Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. Most other services will be open in Minnesota.