A few weeks ago, the New York Times posted a nice info-graphic on the dispersion of government transfers over time. The report show that American’s income that comes from government transfer programs has more than doubled over the last 40 years, rising from 8 percent in 1969 to 18 percent in 2009.

The info-graphic allows you to use the sidebar to look at the different geographic patterns of the beneficiaries of government programs and break this down by Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, and Income Support. But that’s not all! The arrows on the top right let you browse through decades, going all the way back to 1969. If you roll over counties, you can view a time series for the corresponding region against the national average.

What is most surprising to you about the patterns of government transfers?

HT: Flowing Data

Featured Image: The New York Times