33 basic and guaranteed income programs where cities and states give direct payments to residents, no strings attached

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, talks with Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, after holding his annual State of the City address from the Griffith Observatory, in Los Angeles.

Gary Coronado

• Guaranteed income programs provide hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to participants.
• The programs became even more popular during the pandemic as it became clear how much direct checks help.
• Insider found 33 active, or recently active, guaranteed income programs in the United States.

The concept of a "universal basic income" has inspired widespread interest in recent years. 

More than interest — when former US presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced that a UBI program of $1,000 direct payments to citizens every month would be the keystone policy of his platform, he drew an unexpected amount of grassroots support in a crowded primary year. Guaranteed income programs have been gaining even more traction during the pandemic, which took a particular toll on low-wage workers and threw many Americans into poverty. At least 11 direct-cash experiments went into effect this year, Bloomberg estimated in January.

Former Stockton, California mayor Michael Tubbs, took the idea to the next level by launching the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income network. As of this year, there are 60 mayors in the program, advocating — and launching pilot programs for — guaranteed income for their residents. California recently launched the first statewide guaranteed income program in the US, providing up to $1000 per month to qualifying pregnant people and young adults leaving the foster care system. 

The basic income program that Tubbs launched in Stockton in 2019, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, has been considered the model for other cities that have followed in its footsteps, offering low-income residents hundreds of dollars a month and measuring their job prospects, financial stability, and overall well-being afterward. According to SEED, participants improved in all those metrics. 

Nika Soon-Shiong, a co-director of the Compton, California, guaranteed income program Compton Pledge, told Insider in November that basic income programs help people who are typically shut out of welfare programs.

"Guaranteed income makes a case for investing in our undocumented neighbors and formerly incarcerated residents," Soon-Shiong she said. "In doing so, it addresses the reality of the nation's fragmented, punitive welfare structure."

This kind of program isn't a new idea, however. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Casino Dividend in North Carolina has been giving tribal members annual funds since 1997, for instance. Alaska has been paying residents out of its oil dividends since 1982. Canada ran basic income experiments in the 1970s. The general idea of providing people with a universal basic income is itself hundreds of years of old. 

Here's a look at all the active or recently active guaranteed income programs in the US, in no particular order.

Are you helping to start or participating in a basic income program? Reach out to this reporter at jlalljee@insider.com.

Compton, California

An aerial view of a street in Compton, CA

David McNew/Getty Images

Program name: Compton Pledge

Duration:  December 2020 to December 2022

Income amount: $1,800 every three months for 2 years 

Number of participants: 800 

Tacoma, Washington

A view of Tacoma, Washington, against Mount Rainier.

Meleah Reardon Photography/Getty Images

Program name: Growing Resilience in Tacoma

Duration:  December 2021 to December 2o22

Income amount: $500 every month for 1 year

Number of participants: 110

Stockton, California

Lorrine Paradela walks with Sukhi Samra, executive director of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration in Stockton, California on February 7, 2020.

Nick Otto/AFP/Getty Images

Program name: SEED (Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration)

Duration: February 2019 to February 2021

Income amount: $500 every month for 2 years

Number of participants: 125

Alaska

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in Juneau, Alaska, with Sen. Robert Myers show in the background. Dunleavy proposed a constitutional amendment dealing with the Alaska Permanent Fund and the Permanent Fund Dividend.

AP Photo/Becky Bohrer

Program name: Alaska Permanent Fund 

Duration: Annual

Income amount: Based on the annual dividend from state-owned oil companies, ranged from roughly $2,000 per person in 2015 to $800 in years with lower gas prices 

Number of participants: Alaska residents

North Carolina, Cherokee Tribe

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Casino Dividend pays every tribe member annually.

Dan Brownsword

Program name: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Casino Dividend

Duration: Annual

Income amount: $4,000 - $6,000 per year 

Number of participants: Every tribal member 

Oakland, California

Oakland Resilient Families gives 600 households $500 per month.

Thomas Winz

Program name: Oakland Resilient Families

Duration: Summer 2020 to present 

Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months

Number of participants: 600

Richmond, Virginia

ferrantraite/Getty Images

Program name: Richmond Resilience Initiative 

Duration: October 2020 to December 2022 

Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 55

Columbia, South Carolina

The guaranteed income is targeted specifically for Black fathers, in collaboration with the community resource group Midlands Fatherhood Coalition.

Lightvision, LLC

Program name: Columbia Life Improvement Monetary Boost

Duration: Early 2021 to present 

Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 100 fathers, in collaboration with the community resource group Midlands Fatherhood Coalition

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana.

Denis Tangney Jr.

Program name: n/a

Duration: December 2021 to December 2022

Income amount: Up to $600 per month for 1 year

Number of participants: 100 single parents or legal guardians of school-aged children

Ulster County, New York

The pilot guaranteed income program in Ulster County, New York will dole out funds through next spring.

Portra

Program name: Project Resilience

Duration: Spring 2021 to Spring 2022

Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year

Number of participants: 100 

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe's program is targeted toward community college students.

Walter Bibikow

Program name: The City of Santa Fe Learn, Earn, Achieve Program

Duration: 2021 to 2022 

Income amount: $400 per month for 1 year

Number of participants: 100 community college students 

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is providing two years of assistance to 100 families.

Steve Proehl

Program name: Direct Investment Program in Sacramento

Duration: June 2021 to June 2022 

Income amount: $300 per month for 24 months  

Number of participants: 100

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania skyline with bridge.

Andrea Evangelo-Giamou / EyeEm

Program name: Assured Cash Experiment PGH (AcePGH)

Duration: Late 2020 to late 2022

Income amount: $500 for 2 years 

Number of participants: 200

Alexandria, Virginia

Old Town, Alexandria taken from the Wilson Bridge that crosses the Potomac River.

Photos by Cole

Program name: Alexandria Guaranteed Income Pilot

Duration:  December 2021 to December 2023

Income amount: $500 every month for 24 months 

Number of participants: 15o 

Hudson, New York

HudsonUp provides participants $500 per month for 5 years.

The Good Brigade

Program name: HudsonUp

Duration: 2020 until 2025

Income amount: $500 per month for 5 years 

Number of participants: 25

Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson's Guaranteed Income program offers participants $400 a month for one year.

Joseph Sohm/Visions of America

Program name: Guaranteed Income

Duration: July 2021 to July 2022 

Income amount: $400 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 110 

Newark, New Jersey

Newark Equity pays participants $6000 per year for 1 year.

Howard Kingsnorth

Program name: Newark Movement for Economic Equity

Duration: Fall 2021 to fall 2022

Income amount: Bi-weekly payments of $250 and semi-annual payments of $3,000 over a two-year period

Number of participants: 400 

Jackson, Mississippi

Magnolia Mother's Trust gives 110 low-income African-American mothers $1,000 per month for 1 year.

Denis Tangney Jr.

Program name: Magnolia Mother's Trust

Duration: December 2018 to present 

Income amount: $1000 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 110 low-income African-American mothers

St. Paul, Minnesota

The People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot pays participants $500 per month for 18 months.

Walter Bibikow

Program name: People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot 

Duration: October 2020 to May 2022

Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months 

Number of participants: 150 

Lynn, Massachusetts

The Family Health Project paid participants $400 per month for 3 years.

Denis Tangney Jr.

Program name: Family Health Project

Duration: May 2021 to May 2024

Income amount: $400 per month to new moms for a child's first 3 years

Number of participants: 15

Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Cambridge Recurring Income for Success and Empowerment pays participants $500 per month for 18 months.

John Piekos

Program name: Cambridge Recurring Income for Success and Empowerment

Duration: June 2021 to December 2022 

Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months 

Number of participants: 120

Chelsea, Massachusetts

The Direct Assistance Stipend Program pays participants between $200 and $400 per month.

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Program name: Direct Assistance Stipend Program

Duration: November 2020 to present 

Income amount: Between $200 and $400 per month

Number of participants: 2,040 

Gary, Indiana

Guaranteed Income Validation Effort pays families $500 per month for 1 year

Douglas Sacha

Program name: Guaranteed Income Validation Effort

Duration: Spring 2021 to winter 2022

Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 100

Gainesville, Florida

Guaranteed income programs are helping low income people pay their bills.

Oscar Wong

Program name: Just Income GNV

Duration: Winter 2021/2022 to early 2023 

Income amount: $1000, then $600 per month for 11 months 

Number of participants: 115 formerly incarcerated people

Santa Clara County, California

Looking NE from over Downtown Mountain view at Google and the easternmost SF Bay and the Shoreline Amphitheater

David Pu'u

Program name: County of Santa Clara's Basic Income Pilot

Duration: June 2020 to early 2022

Income amount: Up to $1,000 per month 

Number of participants: 2,400 to 2,500 young adults transitioning out of foster care

Marin County, California

Marin County provides program participants $1,000 per month for 2 years

Elena Pueyo

Program name: n/a

Duration: 2021 to 2023

Income amount: $1,000 per month for 2 years 

Number of participants: 125 women of color raising at least one child under the age of 18

South San Francisco, California

bluejayphoto/Getty Images

Program name: The South San Francisco Guaranteed Income Program. 

Duration: October 2021 to October 2022

Income amount: $500 per month for 12 months

Number of participants: 135

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Chones/Shutterstock

Program name: n/a

Duration: 3 years

Income amount: $1,204 per month 

Number of participants: 150

Los Angeles, California

Downtown LA is a centrally located hub with quick access to many nearby neighborhoods, especially less-touristy Eastside areas like Koreatown, Silverlake, Pasadena, and Highland Park.

Madison Vanderberg for Insider

Program name: Big Leap

Duration: January 2022 to January 2023

Income amount: $1,000 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: Approx. 3,000 

Providence, Rhode Island

Shobeir Ansari/Getty Images

Program name: PVD Guaranteed Income Pilot

Duration:  November 2021 to December 2021

Income amount: $500 every month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 110

Long Beach, California

View of Long Beach California coast line taken from the ocean with blue sky’s and palm trees.

Annie Otzen

Program name: n/a  

Duration: Fall 2021 to fall 2022

Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year 

Number of participants: 500

California

California state lawmakers passed the first statewide guaranteed income program in the country.

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

Program name: n/a 

Duration: Indefinite. Local government agencies and organizations apply for state funding and set up programs at the local level. 

Income amount: Up to $1000 per month 

Number of participants: Former foster youth and qualifying pregnant people

 

San Francisco, California

Some cities have started guaranteed income programs to help artists struggling during the pandemic.

Guido Mieth

Program name: Oakland Resilient Families

Duration: Summer 2020 to present 

Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months

Number of participants: 600

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