This measure represents the number of households which rely upon government support to meet their basic needs.

In 2016-20, 2.3% of MetroWest households received public assistance income. This was similar to the rate in 2000, but below the state (2.8%) and national rates (2.4%). Marlborough (2.9%) had the highest rate in MetroWest in 2016-20.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federally funded program administered at the state level, meaning that eligibility requirements vary from state to state. ACS does not ask specifically which program provides the income, although TANF is the primary source of public assistance funds. Families are eligible for TANF benefits for up to 60 months, although most receive assistance for shorter periods of time.

Studies have found that national survey estimates (including the ACS) of enrollment in public benefit programs tend to underestimate the true rate due to underreporting by participants, when compared with state-level administrative data. Underreporting can occur for a variety of reasons, including the social stigma of program participation and participants' confusion about the source of the services they receive. For these reasons, the estimates reported above should be considered a lower bound of the true estimate.