By Chris Woodward, The Center Square

Wyoming and Montana are among the states that are most dependent on the federal government, according to a new ranking.

The ranking, from the personal finance website WalletHub, compared the 50 states across metrics such as return on taxes paid to the federal government, federal funding as a share of state revenue, and share of federal jobs. 

Jill Gonzalez, policy analyst at WalletHub, said both Wyoming and Montana receive a large amount of federal funding as a share of state revenue.

“In Wyoming federal funding represents more than 56% of the state’s revenue, the highest share nationwide,” she said. “In terms of residents’ dependency, both states have a large percentage of federal jobs, over 2.8% of total employment.”

Wyoming ranks sixth out of 10 when it comes to most federally dependent states. Montana ranks ninth. 

Other states finishing in the top-10 are Alaska (No. 1), West Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky, New Mexico, South Carolina, Arizona, and Louisiana (No. 10). 

The least federally dependent states are Nevada (No. 41), Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Kansas, Utah, Washington, and New Jersey (No. 50). 

Wyoming and Montana did rank among states with the lowest amount of federal contracts received per money in federal taxes paid.

Wyoming has the lowest amount of grants received per money in federal taxes paid. Wyoming also has the lowest amount of other financial assistance received per money in federal taxes paid.