Coronavirus: Live in these Bay Area cities? You may not be getting a stimulus check

Bay Area cities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic that has shut businesses and put millions out of work across the country, but they will see some of the fewest benefits from the federal stimulus checks being sent to help households across the country weather the economic paralysis.

An analysis by New York financial technology and advice company SmartAsset that looked at U.S. Census Bureau data for America’s 200 biggest cities found Sunnyvale has the fewest residents who will qualify for the relief. And San Francisco, Fremont, San Jose and Oakland rank among the 15 cities with the fewest residents qualifying for full and partial stimulus benefits.

Cities with the most residents who will receive benefits are mostly in the South and Midwest, including Hialeah, Florida, Brownsville, Texas, and the Ohio cities of Toledo and Dayton.

The reason is simple: The benefits are means tested — meaning they are aimed at households that earn the least and need it most. And the average household income in the five cities with the most who will receive benefits is a third of what it is in the Bay Area, where paychecks and the cost of living are higher.

“Based on income limits for those direct payments, people in some parts of the country will benefit more from this portion of the stimulus bill than others,” SmartAsset spokesman Casey Luneva said.

The $250 billion in stimulus checks are part of a $2 trillion package approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last month to provide relief as stay-home orders freeze the economy, with only public safety, health, food and other businesses deemed essential allowed to operate.

The orders are aimed at slowing the spread of the highly contagious virus and keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed by patients suffering the respiratory disease it causes, called COVID-19.

The economic gut-punch is just beginning to be felt, and there is no clear sign when the lockdowns might ease and more businesses be allowed to re-open. New U.S. jobless claims last week doubled to 6.65 million from 3.31 million the week before. Gov. Gavin Newsom said more than 1.9 million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance since March 12.

The full stimulus checks range from $1,200 for individuals to $2,400 for married couples with an additional $500 per child. But full benefits will only go to individuals whose adjusted gross income is up to $75,000 and to couples earning less than $150,000. Individuals earning up to $99,000 and couples up to $198,000 will receive reduced benefits, and those who earn more than that will get nothing.

Nationally, 89 percent will receive benefits and 80 percent the full check, SmartAsset said.

But in Sunnyvale, which topped the list of cities with the fewest residents receiving benefits, less than 55 percent will receive a check, and just over 40 percent will get the full amount. It was followed by Washington, D.C., suburb Arlington, Virginia, then San Francisco, Fremont and another Virginia suburb of the nation’s capital, Alexandria, among the five cities where the fewest will benefit.

San Jose had the 10th fewest residents receiving benefits, with just under 70 percent receiving a check and about 57 percent getting the full check. Oakland ranked 13th, with 74 percent receiving benefits and 64 percent getting the full amount.

The company noted its analysis has limitations. Chiefly, because of limitations in the Census data, it could not account for the differences between heads of households and married couples, which receive different benefits under the stimulus bill.