Annual report - updated July 2026
State of Lifeline 2026: eligible households, enrollment gaps, and the post-ACP digital divide.
Lifeline is still the permanent federal low-income phone and internet benefit, but enrollment remains far below need. This report turns Cliq Mobile's state data into a public resource for journalists, libraries, benefits navigators, and digital inclusion teams.
Eligible households represented
26.8M
26,760,076 across states with complete data
Current Lifeline subscribers
7.2M
7,247,171 active subscribers in this dataset
Estimated enrollment gap
19.5M
Eligible households not currently enrolled
Overall participation
27%
Subscribers divided by eligible households
Key findings
Post-ACP demand did not disappear.
ACP ended in 2024, but the need for low-cost connectivity remained. Lifeline is smaller than ACP, more restrictive, and harder for many households to discover.
The biggest states still have the biggest gaps.
California, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and other large states show substantial eligible populations that are not enrolled in Lifeline.
Local navigation is the missing layer.
Most households search through benefit portals, EBT cards, Medicaid names, county offices, and provider brands. Outreach should meet people through those local paths.
Largest enrollment gaps
| State | Gap | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|
| California | 2,744,282 | 1,581,567 |
| Florida | 2,076,357 | 419,464 |
| New York | 1,734,706 | 958,898 |
| Illinois | 1,209,465 | 212,872 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,136,657 | 401,542 |
| Ohio | 1,119,185 | 300,331 |
| Georgia | 865,326 | 315,593 |
| Michigan | 816,863 | 445,632 |
| Arizona | 639,726 | 165,979 |
| Indiana | 607,708 | 147,690 |
Top states by estimated Lifeline eligibility
These state pages are priority internal-link and content-refresh targets because even small ranking improvements can reach large eligible audiences.
| State | Eligible | Subscribers | Major cities |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 4,325,849 | 1,581,567 | Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco |
| New York | 2,693,604 | 958,898 | New York City, Buffalo, Rochester |
| Florida | 2,495,821 | 419,464 | Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa |
| Pennsylvania | 1,538,199 | 401,542 | Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown |
| Illinois | 1,422,337 | 212,872 | Chicago, Aurora, Naperville |
| Ohio | 1,419,516 | 300,331 | Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati |
| Michigan | 1,262,495 | 445,632 | Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren |
| Georgia | 1,180,919 | 315,593 | Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus |
Methodology and sources
This report uses the state-level Lifeline eligibility, subscriber, and participation fields already powering Cliq Mobile's state guides. Rows with incomplete eligibility or subscriber data are excluded from summary calculations.
Treat this as a working public report, not an official government publication. Before media outreach, reconcile the dataset against USAC's latest published Lifeline program data and document any calculations in a downloadable CSV.
Get future Lifeline data updates
Monthly-ish updates on provider changes, recertification reminders, and benefit-program changes.