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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An earlier GBI program in Indianapolis gave 15 participants $500 monthly for 18 months ending in spring 2022.
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.
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.
This November, Oregonians will also vote on a universal basic income proposal to give all state residents $750 a year through taxing corporations.
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.
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].